Emily Maea: a rich full life serving God and the community
Raising six children while working as a full-time solicitor and supporting her husband’s church ministry leaves Emily Maea feeling torn. “Church work never stops, nor the legal work, nor your work at home, so you’re always not giving, to somebody or some group.
“Someone might nudge me during worship, saying, ‘I need to speak to you!’ I usually refer them to my workplace. But some families turn up in the middle of the night, traumatised and you can’t say, ‘Look, I know you are crying but these are my work hours!’”
- Emily with the supportive staff at the community law centre
As managing solicitor in a community law centre, Emily can give parishioners free legal advice. She says she gets great support from her workmates. “The staff here are wonderful. The kids do their homework here, and then go home to dad.”
Support also comes from the extended family – Emily says parents, sisters and cousins helped out as their family grew. “After my second baby, we shifted my parents to live near us and they stayed there for two years before my mum passed away.”
With four children, Emily's 'Wonder Woman cape' was getting tattered
But even with this support Emily has had her low moments. “By the time we had four children, I was well and truly depressed. I couldn’t do everything and be everything to everybody and my Wonder Woman cape was getting a bit tattered.
“Other ministers had traditional wives who didn’t have their own careers, but that wasn’t what I’d spent many years studying for – it just wasn’t enough. So we brought my cousin over from Samoa, and employed her to help.”
- Elama and Emily Maea (centre), daughter Lala (left) and “church daughter” Tia (right)
Now, with six children, life is even busier. “Our house is never, ever tidy! And my poor ‘number one’ daughter complains that she feels like a young mother!”
Despite the difficulties, Emily can't imagine life any other way
However, Emily’s life is full and rich, and she can’t imagine it any other way. “I’ve got stimulation using my legal skills. I’m able to do things for a higher being.
“There’s been a special person at church who’s taken an interest in each of the children. And I’ve got kids that make me smile, drive me crazy and make me cry, and a husband who’s doing so well, and really good friends.
“I would hate to think a decision I made differently could have led me somewhere else.”
Read more about how Emily's parents influenced her decision to be lawyer
