It can be a whirlwind of feelings and emotions to have a baby and start summer touring season all in a span of 48 hours! It was less than 24 hours ago that my wife, Mary Grace, gave birth to our second little girl – Lenna Joy Richter! Now it’s less than 24 hours until I head out to our first summer camp of 2015! So begins a season where I’ll be on the road 40 of the next 58 days.
People often ask me how I feel about balancing life on the road with the priority of family and investing in our church at home. To be quite honest, I just don’t think there is such a thing as “finding the right balance.” Priorities… absolutely… but balance? I’m not too sure.
If I’m constantly trying to balance giving attention to everything, I’m giving my full heart to nothing. The last thing my family needs is for my body to be home, but my head or heart be somewhere else… The same is true when I’m leading worship for a camp or conference. I want my whole heart to be invested 100% into the people I’m in the room with.
I’m grateful and incredibly blessed to have a wife of six years and now two little girls at home! (At least I feel that way until they are ready to start having weddings :). My family will always be at the top of my priorities and hold my heart in their hands. Though the leaving part can be hard at times, I always feel that it is more of a “sending” than a “leaving.” I am inspired to get to go out to share the love of Jesus through music that can shape the lives of this next generation – to be a part of a spark that advances the Gospel. I’ve been doing this for seven years now and I love it more now than the day I began. It’s a dream for me to grow both a family and a ministry I can give my whole heart to.
I believe life is less about the balance
and more about giving our whole heart where we are.
Thanks for your prayers for a healthy baby… Lord willing Mary Grace will be back leading worship and we’ll get to have our little girls out on the road later this summer too!
-ben
