In this video, Pastor Bill shares his approach to balancing family life and ministry.
how pastor Villa did you happen to
balance work and family in all these
years of ministry well family always
comes first so even when you have to
even when you have a period of time
where you have to work crazy hours you
have the responsibility to make up for
you know it’s like I like in a family
especially in ministry to like a wheat
farmer who every harvest season has to
work 18-hour days for two weeks
well you can’t maintain that as a
lifestyle and have a healthy family but
you can do it for two weeks
you just have to compensate later you
have to make up for it later and so my
view was my kids have to pay a price for
Who I am I can’t control that
so I’m going to use Who I am to bless
them and to help them and to give them
advantages or or whatever and because my
responsibility my responsibilities to
make sure that they do well and probably
one of the one of the main things in in
life is when you is when you’re the same
in the pulpit you’re the same in
ministry and you’re the same at home if
there’s no discrepancies between the two
then it helps to establish a rubix
standard for the kids to follow and just
having that value system just this helps
the kids to understand when you need to
be gone that there’s a reason and you
make up for it when when you’re home and
everybody gets to benefit from from that
so another part is I just paid attention
to Benny she she would know some you
know there were times she’d call me at
work she said mention one of the kids
there where they need you
so I just cut out early you know not
everybody can do that but when you’re on
the clock 24/7 you you tend to be able
to have those options sometimes others
don’t and if I didn’t have the ability
to just leave the office at that moment
that I’d make sure when I got home that
I spent extra time with that one child
or with the three whatever but she she
could monitor the kind of the pulse of
how the kids were doing on a much more
day-to-day than I could yes and she
would alert me she would tell me she say
you know they need some some dad time so
I would make the adjustments
what did you have set as your primary
goal in your relationship with your
three kids as they were growing up what
was your main goal with them oh goodness
pretty much to be there encouraged or to
be obviously there’s a friendship level
that’s important you’re still dead you
don’t want to lose that you don’t want
to be buddy-buddy in a in a way that
compromises your responsibility but I
want to be a friend you know to this day
that’s my that’s my goal it’s just to
just to be a friend and to be there the
one who champions their cause the one
who hears the voice and and stands in
their corner so to speak and and it
didn’t matter if as Little League games
or you know Christmas musical or the you
know it’s just to be there and to be
involved cheering them on in whatever
they’re interested in you know and they
would be interested in a sport that I
was interested in I was there they’ve
chose the sport I didn’t care for I was
still there you know and so my dad was
the greatest encouragement in my life
and I just want to make sure I was that
that for them and I would just be an
encouragement I could see things in them
that God was doing and I would
constantly speak to their future you
know constantly talk about the grace the
giftings that were in them you know I
remember um our our boys had this
amazing ability to encourage one another
even through their small childhood it
was it was unusual and Eric did
something for Brian I forget what it was
and I said Eric so do you know what that
was and he looked at me like he might be
in trouble but you could tell he didn’t
know why but I said that was a fruit of
the Spirit that was wonderful
and I would take him to the scripture
you know saying that’s gentleness
carrying this be I said that was a fir
the Spirit is beautiful and just
champion you know those things