Stay-at-home dads & holy work

Ps. 78: 70-21 He chose his servant David, and took him from the sheepfolds; from tending the nursing ewes he brought him to be the shepherd of his people Jacob, of Israel, his inheritance.  With upright heart he tended them, and guided them with his skillful hand.

David was a midwife before he was a leader and a king.  Some of the most holy preparation for ministry comes from the work of caring for young animals--and, it's not too hard to suggest--in the similar work of caring for small children.  David tended and nurtured his flock, and it was with that same heart and hand that the psalmist sings of how David guided the people of Israel.
Some of the best work in preparing for ministry leadership is the days of caring for babies and toddlers--feeding, swaddling, diapering and tending in the earliest morning hours, in the night and all through the day.
Stay-at-home dads and moms walk in path of great leaders as they nurture little ones and do the daily work of tending and caring for their families. Not just because it is holy work in and of itself, but because it is holy preparation for whatever God may bring into their lives as leaders, change-agents and pastors. A season of being a stay-at-home parent or farmer is a high calling for men and for women, and may be the preparation of leadership of a church or perhaps a nation.