This week has been a rough one. You pastors out there, you know what a rough week is like. No offense to people in other professions. You have your own kind of rough weeks, but pastors get a type of rough week all to theirselves. It’s not harder or somehow a superior to the rough weeks other have, but a rough week in the pastorate has its own – unique challenges.

This is especially true for those of us who do things differently, atypically. There are certain perceived expectations of pastors, and no matter how often you explain why you do things a bit differently, cultural inertia meets ministry centripetal force, and the two forces pull at you.

One of my quirks is that I don’t see the point of greeting cards. (This is a separate thought from the previous paragraphs.). I will write one out from time to time because I know it means a lot to people, but I am not a card person. Send me a card, and I will read it, then put it in a file and probably never look at it again.

Unless you’re seven years old and made me the card in school (in which case, it will be given a place of honor because my love of kids and their creativity cancels out my aversion to just about everything), odds are that you don’t need to send me a birthday, Christmas or any other kind of card.

But send me an email, and I will read it three times. I will consider it, analyze it, and process it. I will probably read it again another time.

I know. I’m quirky.

My wife sent me a Father’s Day email. It made my morning like no card could. She gets it.