Author: Wick

For good weather on Sunday so I could put up Christmas lights. (even though we totally won’t turn them on until after Thanksgiving, no worries. That’d be crazy.)

For daughters who did very good on a long van ride.

For no one noticing the puddle of what was NOT apple juice on the bench under my daughter at McDonalds, and for my wife’s patience as I continued to talk about how similar it looked. 🙂

For family. All of them. 🙂

For triangle crayons, so they don’t roll off every single surface we place them on. Although we totally ran out….we know they still exist.

For friends and relationships to be able to miss when we’re away.

For Lebda scoring a goal the other night against the Flames…

To be continued….

It won’t come from just making sure you went to church, or read something “Jesus-ish” recently.

This week, many in the world go crazy shopping. Many of us join in the craziness at different levels and locations. Many people will not do as much thinking and praying as they do spending money they don’t have.

Reminder for the weeks ahead: You do NOT need to spend money you do not have, to communicate love to someone. You DO have permission to be real and genuine with the people in your life. People who love you will not question how much/how little you spent on them.

Being honest with yourself, and with those you love can communicate a lot. And will help us all to remember the Truth in the meaning of these Holidays.

PS: Wrap with newspaper, write on a box of crackers (or a lottery ticket if you’re okay with it) instead of buying a $4 card that we all throw away anyways, write letters instead of cards, give away gifts from around the house, give to a special cause or someone less fortunate, and above all – Love.

pps. If you have a ton of money, and you don’t “get” why this blog post is important; you should probably give some away. If you’ve already given some – give more. 🙂

There’s a delicate mix in youth ministries usually. You want to reach out especially to teens who are lacking in positive, especially God-centered, community. But you also want to serve the families of the church, many of whom have children who have grown up in such a community.

You have 12 year old boys who still don’t shower much, and think that girls have cooties. You have 13 year old girls who know all 10 commandments, and can name the 4 gospels.

You also have young men closing in on 18, smelling of substances, who have little to no understanding of how to even “allow” a community like this to love and support them. You have young women who are grasping for an identity in how they look, and think “manly” guys have ill reputations.

You divide up, Junior and Senior High, male and female, as possible. We definitely need to do that more often, and I’m hoping God continues to bless us with volunteers to make that possible. Although you could switch the ages above, and still notice the same qualities.

In our church, the balance is constantly shifting. We have Sunday morning “sunday school” for our Youth Bible studies. We have Sunday evening “supper club” for our core, to deepen community in those who we hope/pray will come back Wednesday night to add their flavor to the atmosphere. Then we have Wednesday night – a conglomeration of those who come on Sunday, with a much larger group that only come this night. Many have no parental/familial connection to the church yet. I continue to be stunned by some that still come.

But they do come.

I know the balance in our group probably frightens/turns away some Sunday families from involvement on Wednesday. I hope and pray that as their strength/community builds with each other on Sunday, they would feel more and more comfortable coming as living testimonies on Wednesday night, drawing others to participate in more than the Wed. night crowd.

I guess this was just a random post to remind the world, I’m a youth pastor.

I love this job. 🙂