youth ministry | basics

Here it is (after a two week hiatus)…the inner workings of a youth minister.

My Weekend Recap: How about the two week recap (I’ll keep it brief)!  Two weeks ago, I got the opportunity to go to the Master’s Practice Round at Augusta National Golf Club.  It was amazing!  I had never been before and the TV does not do justice.  I have never seen anything so green before in my life.  Holy Week went well; I have the message at two services at our church that week and we had a couple of kids who participated in our Spring Break/Holy Week activities.  The best part of the week was when we took 19 downtown for Church on the Street.  After fasting for just over 2 days leading up to Easter, I was very excited on Easter morning.  This year was one of my best years spiritually leading up to Easter.  I was really able to put a lot of things in perspective.  This past week, I had jury duty and no power for two days.  There is part of me that would have liked to have been picked for the jury, but I found out that the courts will never take someone who works at a church (according to a lady in the jury box with me).  This thought really upsets me.  Other than that, I spent the rest of the week reading.  This was an excruciatingly long week for class.

This upcoming week: This Wednesday, we are getting into the meat of our Revelation study with our high school students.  Thursday brings a youth worker lunch to Simpsonwood and Church on the Street.  Sunday is our Honduras team meeting.  Other than that, this is kind of a mellow week.  No meetings…No new LOST…Light week for class (so far!).

To Do List: I need to find some time to do work in our yard, but the weather is beginning to drive me nuts.  While I’m excited to finally be getting the rain, it makes it very difficult to do much in the yard.  At church this week, I will be putting some of the finishing touches on our youth center in the FLC (finally, after a year and a half).  I’m also hoping to get a jump on my reading for next week in school.

Not looking forward to: The end of the semester.  While it will be rewarding to have completed the class.  There is a lot to do between now and then.  I have to do a research project on homelessness and write a paper for my final.  We are also in that time of the year where we are closing out this school year, planning for summer, and looking ahead to the fall.  All of that equals stress and I usually end up feeling inept and beat down.

Book I’m currently reading: Finished The Next Christendom by Philip Jenkins.  It was a good book, but a lot of information and difficult to read at times.  I also read Tribes by Seth Godin and thought it was a good book.  I’m in the middle of unChristian, but probably won’t be able to finish that for a couple of weeks.  So far, it is a great book that really makes you think about what Christianity is and what it should be.

Recent Music Addiction: I tabled the Tenth Avenue North CD when they told me they were not going to be doing our concert.  I have recently been listening to Purrington, a band that one of my colleagues plays in.  They have some good music and will be releasing their first EP soon (hopefully).  My favorite is “Come to Thee”.

Attitude Right Now: Tired.  I was up half of the night watching the weather and waiting to see if I was going to have to move the family to the laundry room.  Lots of lightning and thunder, but fortunately, no tornadoes for us.

Have a great week!