If you’re unfamiliar with the term ‘PK’ then it’s time to brush up on your church slang! PK = Priest Kid i.e. the awesome people behind every priest’s eye-bags and his beard (if he has one!) that’s gradually getting whiter and whiter. Don’t worry I have permission to say this – I’m one myself. I thought it’d be fun to share with you some questions nearly every orthodox PK I’ve chatted to has confirmed that they’ve been asked too.

So without further ado, here are 6 Questions Every PK Gets Asked (and my answers!):

1. “Erm…..so I don’t want to embarrass you or anything….and it’s TOTALLY cool if you don’t want to answer but I’ve always wondered about this…and seriously you don’t have to answer if you’re not allowed…. but…. does Abouna wear pyjamas?”

Yes. Priest’s sleep in normal p-jays just like everyone else. In the summer he might even….wait for it….wear a T-Shirt at home! #wild

2. “Is your dad allowed to go swimming?”

Priests can swim, play football, run a marathon and jump on a trampoline. The Church recognises that he’s a husband and a father… so yes he’s allowed to have fun! Some priests might prefer not to swim, some might not like swimming and others might prefer swimming in a private setting (….and maybe some are scared of sharks… you never know, the possibilities are endless!)

3. “Does Abouna get stared at on the street?”

Yep. I’ve lived in Egypt and in the UK and I definitely feel that in the West, dad gets stared at alot more. Simply because people are very unfamiliar and confused by his look. The remarkable thing is the confidence, peace and strength God grants to Abounas in order to witness to His name and preach His existence so bluntly and openly..

4. “What presents can you buy Abouna?”

This is honestly one of the greatest mysteries of the world. As we all know, the clothing side of presents is just a bit restricted and generally Abounas have a multitude of every kind of spiritual book you can imagine … so PKs have to learn to be very creative! For some reason I feel that the older I get the harder this is becoming!

5. “Do you confess to your dad?”

Personally, I don’t – I don’t like the idea of telling my dad everything I’ve ever done wrong… For so many years I assumed that every single PK had the same mentality but I met an incredible PK in 2012 who told me that he loved confessing to his dad because he really wanted to do everything in his power to view God as his Father – and confessing to his own dad made him really feel the shame of his sin before both his biological and his Heavenly father, and motivated him to stop repeating the same sins… I’m still in awe of this person and I admire and respect them for that choice immensely.

6. “What’s it like having your dad as a priest?”

Honestly, it’s the best! I believe that my family is so blessed because of the man in our lives that has decided to forsake all to serve The Lord. Of-course sometimes it’s a bit difficult because you’re exposed to a lot of stuff that other church kids might not be exposed to… but it’s always the coolest thing to know that your dad is God’s messenger and a representative of Our Lord Jesus in the Church.

I hope you enjoyed this little fun post! The main message I want you to remember is that Abouna is an ordinary human like you and I. There’s no reason to be scared of him, be super shy around him or feel that you can’t be yourself in his presence. He jokes, gets nervous, laughs, cries and loves – just like all of us.

So pray for your Abouna and spend time getting to know the real man behind that beautiful voice in your Sunday Liturgy!

I’ll leave you with my favourite PK question to date… you can come up with the answer yourself for this one…

7*: “You know how you’re Abouna’s son…. are you allowed to wear shorts?”