I Am the Moderator!

So, what games do your kids play at home?  My kids are usually doing one of the two things.  First thing they do is play on their tablets.  Sometimes it is playing games or sometimes it is watching parent approved YouTube videos.  The other thing they do very often together is role playing. 
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It’s cool, because I love having little “LARP”ers around.  LARP as in Live Action Role Playing.  They pretend to be knights and princesses, or kings and queens slaying dragons, trolls, and other unworldly beasts.  Sometimes they dress up, but mostly not.  Or they will role play as being student and teachers in school, or role-playing camping adventures in the house, or a cooking… you know what I would consider normal stuff.

But then I just overheard my daughter say something, that I am a bit curious about.  I heard my daughter say to my son, “I am the moderator!  You must listen to me!”  What?  Then I hear, “Ben, you have the floor, you may speak, but you have 5 minutes!”  Umm… what?  Then I hear, “You sir, are out of order!  I am the moderator; you must obey my commands!”  Uhh… what?

Ok, so most of you reading this knows that I am a pastor at Ward Ave. Presbyterian Church.  I am the moderator of the session for this church and now I just started being the moderator for the larger church as well in the region.  My daughter knows what I do, she has been to plenty of church meetings and presbytery meetings and even probably listened in on a lot of synod and national PCUSA meetings.  Now I know she knows that I am a pastor, and that I act as moderator sometimes.  But I do not think she quite knows what moderator means.

But looking at her role-playing activity last morning, I am concerned that her actions are only a reflection of my actions?  I hope I don’t sound like a dictator in my meetings!  I mean, yeah….

Norah’s got the pint of moderator, but I don’t think I ever sound like that?!  At least I hope not!
Also, why the heck is she doing role playing games with church and pastor!  That’s not what normal kids do!  Come on!  Do like, cops and robbers, or knights and dragons, or housekeeping games, or just whatever that normal everyday kids do!  Who the heck role plays church meetings?  I know… apparently my kids… and apparently my kids think that I am just some kind of authoritarian yelling man in my meetings.  Where in the heck did they get that idea?!

So anyways, for today, Norah is the moderator, so Ben better stay within the boundaries of an ordered meeting.  I gotta steer them into normal games here… maybe it’s time to play some “Guess Who?”

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