Turkey Splash!!

I've always said that a big part of Youth Ministry is making memories. When I think about my youth group experiences a few very vivid images flash across my inner eye. First off I think about when I was a teenager in youth group. Many times camping was the highlight of our summer experiences and that meant sleeping in a tent with my fellow guy youth groupers. Of course we didn't go to sleep right away and one of things we did was play "steamroller."

I guess that "play" is the wrong word-it was more of an event. My friend (let's keep his identity secret: we'll call him J. Coyer...) would scream "STEAMROLLER" and promptly roll over us all. Many grunts and groans could be heard throughout the night.

I'll always remember the lock-ins, in which we would play volleyball and basketball into the wee morning hours. I'll remember trips to Creation Music Festival and all night bowling. And I'll always remember that Grace is "an undeserved gift."

A few weeks ago, an event that I (and I'm sure the teenagers) will always remember occured. While traveling on the interstate I hit a turkey trying to cross the road. (insert cheesy joke here) As you can see from the picture above, it made quite the impact on my windshield. Luckily I was still able to drive the van and with the help of some creative engineering we were able to make it home safely too. Looking back on it, many "youth ministry" truths come out of that memory.

1. Be Proactive, don't just React: The whole turkey incident was something that I could see coming. I saw it cross the road, juke to the right and then back to the left and start running. My plan, in seeing this behavior, was to promptly line it up and run it over since I really didn't feel safe trying to turn out of the way. What I didn't plan on was it trying to fly---right into my windshield.

I had planned as much as I could and when things didn't go well, I rolled with it. We actually drove down the road for a few hundred feet and then I began to slow down and pull off. The teenagers in the car afterwards were very surprised at how calm I was and how cautiously I slowed down and pulled off the road.

When it comes to youth ministry we definitely need to be in that same mindset. We have to plan and be ready for every possibility and when things don't go how we expect we need to roll with it and just move on-cautiously and slowly. It's good to just pull over every once in awhile and inspect the damage...

2. Sometimes you just need to keep going: When I hit that turkey, I had no idea how hard it would be to find a replacement windshield. No one, and I mean absolutely no one, had it in the entire city of Erie, PA. I had really no choice. I was going to have to drive it home. So, after some creative engineering with the help of some friends we made the best of it and away we went. It was amazing how God provided. We missed all the major rain on the way home and the cracks in the windshield were all in the right place, that I had almost a perfect line of sight. We just kept going and the journey was safe.

Again, working in youth ministry is like that. Things happen and we just need to push through and trust in the Lord. It's amazing what happens when we do that. Those little bumps in the road and frustrations don't need to stop us from doing our work and reaching out to teens.

3. The Bigger the Turkey, the bigger the crater: That turkey was rather large and when it hit, it made quite the impact crater on my windshield. In youth ministry, the same holds true. The bigger the turkey/problem the bigger the dent that it can have in our ministry. It's important to handle the little things before they become big things.

If we don't take care of that little problem that Billy has with Suzie, it can become an even larger problem. When things get big they get hard to fix and the damage will be costly. Working with teenagers, sometimes we have to minimize the damage. I'd rather deal with a chip on my windshield, than a turkey sized crater in front of me.

I'm thankful for memories and the work that my Church Family has afforded me the privilege to do. Thank you for your support. Thank you for giving these teens memories that will always stick with them as they continue to grow in their faith.

Thoughts on being a father...

This is a repost from an old blog of mine. As you can tell this was awhile ago, but I still love being a father just the same. With our oldest turing 11 this week, I'm feeling kinda reminiscent...

I’m the father of three wonderful (sometimes frustrating) kids. 7, 5, 3, that’s their ages, odd numbers for sometimes odd kids. I love the little things about being a father. Everyday I come home from work to smiling kids. My youngest is always there to give me a hug as I walk through the door. The other older ones always stop and say "HI Dad!" and then go about their business (hey, they’re busy) I LOVE that.

Right now, we’re potty-training our 3 year. (OK, maybe its more like the Bataan Death March, since we’ve been at it since LAST September.) This potty training has a very unique component to it. At night, just before I go to sleep I take her to the bathroom. I stalk into her room and pick her out of bed and carry her off to the potty. It’s actually one of my favorite times of the day. When I pick her up she is still 95% asleep so she wraps her arms tightly around my neck and her legs tightly around my stomach and nuzzles her head in the crook of my neck. I LOVE that.

She’s so close and so fragile and totally my responsibility and the very best thing is that she fits perfectly in that position with my body. It’s like we were made for each other.

Its like that with all of our kids. Its those late night, grabbing them out of the car seat, still asleep, times that you realize it. You realize that this parenthood stuff is special, feels good, and is so humbling. You realize that you don’t ever want to lose that feeling of closeness that you have with your children at THAT moment.

Our Heavenly Father wants to have that same kind of relationship with us. He wants to be that close. He wants to be there, to carry us into our beds, tuck us in and kiss us on the foreheads. He desires that kind of relationship with us, His children. He wants us to stop what we’re doing, if only for a brief second, and say "HI Dad!"

Galatians 4:6,7 Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, Abba, Father.

Everything Turns to Nothing

Sometimes I really struggle. I struggle to keep it all together. I struggle in my faith. I struggle with balancing being a husband, a father, a youth director, a good employee. Point is: I struggle.

July was such a demanding month with a lot of things going on, and in the midst of that busyness, my struggles seem amplified. Sometimes I just wish that I had a pause button for my life so I could stop and catch a breather. There was definitely times where I said: "OK God. When is enough, enough?"

Tonight, God finally decided to give me the answer.

Like many times, He seems to always speak to me through music. The song is "Next to You" by Jay Michael. (You should really check him out--HERE! ) To give you an better understanding, here's the chorus:

Everything turns to nothing, Everything turns to nothing, Everything turns to nothing when I'm next to You.

Simple words, but powerful meaning. And it all hit home tonight.

Yesterday, we met a couple who is following God's calling in their lives to be counselor parents at a residential placement facility. They are uprooting their lives, their kids, their pets, and leaving well established ministries on the other side of the state. Their story is wrought full of how God has moved mightily and quickly to make this all happen. I'm blessed that Kelly and I have found ourselves part of that story.

Everything turns to nothing, Everything turns to nothing, Everything turns to nothing when I'm next to You.

Today, we had an awesome worship service and I was able to talk to one of our youth who I haven't seen most of the summer. She's working at a Bible camp and she shared just how great of an experience it has been for her and how she has grown in her faith because of that. I left feeling pretty blessed that once again, God has used me in part of that story.

Everything turns to nothing, Everything turns to nothing, Everything turns to nothing when I'm next to You.

Tonight, three students, two from the youth ministry, and one that just showed up tonight for the concert put some of their struggles at the foot of the cross and either rededicated or committed their lives to Christ. In speaking to these students, I'm amazed at the struggles that they are going through. Teenagers have it rough. Even more rough than we realize at times. I'm thankful that God has given me the opportunity to work with these kids and share and encourage them through these struggles. I'm blessed for the part God has for me in their stories.

Everything turns to nothing, Everything turns to nothing, Everything turns to nothing when I'm next to You.

Sitting here, reflecting on it all those words keep repeating themselves. That chorus keeps replaying in my head. My struggles aren't struggles at all. When I put them next to God, they aren't anything. In fact, these very struggles are what has prepared me for a lot of these things that I've dealt with and will begin to deal with. When I put them into a context like that, they really aren't struggles at all. They are part of my story and I hope that it can be an encouragement to someone elses' story...