Pam Booher

Pam and Chuck have been married for 33 years and ALL of them have been IN ministry! They have 2 sons both married, and in Pam's words......."have given us AMAZING Grand Kids"! Their youngest son, Tim, is on staff with them as their Children's Pastor. Pam recently retired from being a Professional Photographer and now heads up the Photography Ministry at Crossroads Christian Church. I'm almost positive this is what first drew me towards Pam. I loved that she had a photography ministry at her church (I look forward to the day I can share the joy of taking pictures at church with other photographers). And when we finally met in person at the retreat we had an instant connection (she is really easy to talk to and she was one of the few women in the room with grown children....LOL).. I asked Pam if she could give some insight into being in ministry for the long haul and she did not disappoint! 

I have ALWAYS LOVED the Ministry! AND being IN ministry for 34 years has been one of the LOVES of my life… we were in Youth Ministry for 26 years!!!  Now we are in the Lead Pastor role!

It has sure evolved over the years too! I didn’t grow up with Christian parents – so I knew NOTHING of what “the Ministry” really was. The only Pastor’s Wives I knew – sang in the choir, sang solo’s during the service, played the piano AND made the suits for their Pastor Husbands! I was NONE of those things…   =) and I KNEW that was just not ME =)

A few of my LIFE lessons – being IN ministry

1. Early on one of our students made a comment “Don’t you do EVERYTHING right?” – HAHAHA!  Well… it was at that moment I KNEW I had to share with her things I didn’t do right – but they were lessons learned =)  AND both Chuck (my husband) and I decided that our lives were an open book – he has always shared a LOT of our lives with the church! It helps hold us accountable too!
2. Another thing EARLY on… I realized I could NOT minister to EVERYONE =) There are some people that just require a little more time than others. For me… I can LOVE on them then lead them to another person that has the skills to help them! AND I had to learn it is OK to not feel guilty about it!
3. We have had to move quite a bit in our early years too – I think we moved once a year for the first 5 years of our marriage!  It was for various reasons… but, IF we changed churches it was because God called us away – and we ALWAYS moved to that church like we were going to be there til we died! =)  We gave it ALL we had!  We didn’t use the places we were as stepping stones til something better came along!
4. I learned too… to be content right where GOD had me! Moving, babies, working outside the home, ministry, LIFE… =)  I used to think “one day it will slow down” – I think I am still waiting for that day!!  HAHA!!
5.  Another thing… think the BEST of people – it usually is NEVER what it seems! I have learned to do that in my marriage too  - I think that is where I had to learn it first! HAHA!! If something seems off – don’t jump to a BAD conclusion!
6. When you -or your husband -or your church are attacked – and you WILL be attacked! -  LOVE! It maybe difficult during that season… but IF you love -  your reactions won’t be as harsh! Realize that Satan wants to attack where it will hurt the MOST!  I have always thought if you are getting attacked then you are doing something right! If you are not getting attacked… ENJOY the moment and then - step it up a notch!  =)
7. Don’t take it too personal when friends leave the church. This one is the most difficult for me… I pour my heart and life into people – and they feel the need to leave =(  and it hurts! I don’t think that they intentionally set out to hurt you… BUT I do think that because we are the leaders IN the church -we  take it hard! And even personally! BECAUSE we are the leaders and they still leave! I have had friends leave for different reasons – AND each one hurt!

I have learned so MUCH over the years… and GOD still uses ME while I am learning! I am in a new phase of life now… and still learning and desiring to be used by GOD to GLORIFY HIS NAME! =)