Holidays as a newlywed

Can I just say that I love being married? I mean I know that it has been just over three months since that momentous day...but I am truly in love with my wife and really enjoying being her husband.

And this was very evident in our first holiday season together. We got to enjoy family time with both sides, had several house guests and had a very solid time together over the winter break.

And now, we get to go back to the regular work schedule...with a new twist. My present to Marla was passes to 24 hour Fitness for the both of us...and I agreed to go with her whenever she goes. So, looks like I will be adding several doses of gym time to my weekly schedz.

Communities of Hope Day 1

So,

I am at the end of my first day for the Gathering of Communities of Hope that is being hosted here in San Diego by the National Network of Youth Ministries. Today was just the warm up to what promises to be a packed next two days of discussion and brainstorming with some Youth Ministry vets. I hope that I have valuable information to bring to the table as I am interacting with Youth Workers who have a lot more experience and wisdom than I do. However, we all share a passion for reaching young people for the Kingdom and I feel that I have a great deal to learn at the feet of these "experts". Here are a few highlights/Things I learned from today:

- Got to go to Petco Park and hang out with the VP of Marketing
-The Padres are actually a very cool organization, despite their inability to field a decent team on the diamond.
- Speed dating with Youth Pastors is a loud endeavor
- It is possible to be civil with Ohio State fans in the room, something that I didn't think was going to be possible
- I am starting to believe again in the Communities of Hope and I truly believe that there is going to be fruit from the conversations over the next two days
-It is possible to be in Youth Ministry for a long term career. Old Youth Pastors are super cool! Seriously!



I will return with my thoughts over the next few days...

Time off

I have enjoyed the last two weeks at a slower pace. It has allowed me to do some more reading, enjoy the holidays with my family and get in front of the planning for this spring at work. But I would be lying if I said it hasn't been hard to resist working on the days that I have had space.

My office has been running on a bare bones schedule for the holidays, which means that I still get a weekly day off and have had and have a ton of time that isn't "work" related.

But knowing how busy everything else will be for this spring, I am appreciating the slower pace. The workload and return to the set schedule will return soon enough...and I think I will be ready.

Principles

What are the principles that you run your Youth Ministry by? What are the wins that you are looking for at the various stages? How do you adapt structures that we read about to your contexts?

Just a few questions from work today...

Christmas Gift

My family has gone through some revamping for the Christmas holiday in regards to how we give gifts. I got involved with the Advent Conspiracy a few years ago and it helped me re-evaluate how I looked at both giving and getting gifts. We used to get everyone in our family a gift (which at six gifts a person is big challenge) and the morning would be filled with unwrapping fun. Well, as a result of AC, we switched over to a lottery system and now pick one name to get a gift for. It is great! I feel like I am able to get one really great gift and also give one really quality gift as well.

This year I picked my little sister, who is a camp director at Kidder Creek Camp, which is a division of Mt. Hermon, and she needed some new gear to help brave the winter. I was gladly able to provide a ponytail beanie (which are surprisingly rare) and a Leatherman Kick, both items which I knew would get good use.

As for me? Well I got the most excited for my new ESV Study Bible that has my name engraved on it...must mean I am a Bible nerd or something...

This Christmas has been great, lots of family, lots of fun and plenty of time to spend with my new wife together on our first Christmas...but more on that later...

Mentors

I just want to pause and take a moment to thank those people around me who take the time to listen to me ramble and bounce what sometimes feel like "world on my shoulders" type questions.

Kevin Boer- You are an amazing man who is blessed with wisdom and patience. Thanks for the long talks, great advice and for believing in me as a young Youth Worker.

Brian Aaby- Thanks for speaking my language and for telling me how it is. By far some of the best ministry advice I have gotten thus far in my not so long career.

Angela Hall- You just get me and allow for me to grow into the answers that are waiting for me out there. Thanks for your honesty and ability to let me answer some of my own questions.

If you currently don't have some one who mentors you or who walks beside you in your context, I highly encourage you to find some one. It is one of the best tools that has ever been demonstrated to me...

Some Thoughts

So,

I am in the process of reading through several books dealing with structures of ministry and how we are to apply them into our various contexts. As a Youth Director at a Presbyterian Church, I am finding that some of the staff that is out there fits our context really well and others require a bit of stretching. Here are the big questions that I have going through my head as a result of these readings:

Is Youth Ministry becoming more about equipping and partnering with parents? Should the Youth Pastor title be changed to "Pastor to Parents and Students?

What role does Campus Ministry play in the everyday and big picture planning aspect of Youth Ministry? Students are on campus far more than they are with us in church, so should we be going to them consistently?

What does multicultural ministry look like for small denominational churches?

Can networked/community Youth Groups work? Are we witnessing the end of the denominational church in Youth Ministry?

As you can see, these questions are not exactly small and are not going to be answered right away, but I hope we make headway on some of them soon. Feel free to jump in and add your thoughts...