Our youth ministry recently went on a weekend retreat. It was a great moment for our teens to unplug from their technology (if only partially), to get to focus on God, and connect with their friends and leaders in an intentional manner. Here a just a few of my reflections about the weekend.
- Having a great team makes all the difference in the world. There a few things that I am good at. For the many things that I am not, I’ve been blessed with an amazing team. One of the most encouraging and energizing things is to watch other people do well what you cannot do well. The glory of Christ’s body really shines when we each play our parts well.
- Planning is important. I imagine for most people this comes as no surprise. So much of the tension of events like this comes from the unknown. The more that you can plan or overplan the better. And we did a considerable amount of planning. And the planning that I didn’t do myself, my team did (see #1).
- Being a ministry spouse is hard. While I was running around with middle school boys and making s’mores, my wife was hanging out with our own little ones, dealing with toddlers and diapers. I’ve only recently begun to understand that my ministry as a youth pastor actively involves her because she shoulders so much to allow me to serve. I’m so thankful for her because she loves our boys so well and is an avid supporter of our ministry to the teens.
- God loves teenagers. I’m not saying anything new and I doubt I ever will. But I was struck by God’s kindness during worship to pour out his love on our teens especially during our worship services, to address each individual uniquely. God cares more deeply about the teens in our youth ministry than I ever could. That’s one of the many reasons he’s so worthy of our worship.