October 6th: 300 reasons I'm thankful I'm a youth pastor (Original Link)
This blog--which started in 2005 as "Justice, Kindness, Humility" (Micah 6:8 is still my favorite verse, but it was more a description of who I want to be than the content of this blog)--is now at 300 posts as of this post. Not a whole lot compared to other YM bloggers, but still, I thought I should commemorate it in some way. And so I decided to make this list.
The title of this post uses the word "thankful" very deliberately. It is only by God's grace that I have the privilege to minister to and with students and their families. Here are the first 100 of 300 reasons I'm thankful I'm a youth pastor (I'll post the next 100 on Friday):
Update: Here are reasons 101-200 and reasons 201-300.
(Reasons 1-100, In No Particular Order)
- Water Fights
- Lock-Ins (as much as I profess to dislike them)
- When a teenager comes to know Jesus for the first time
- Ah-Ha moments
- When a believing parent is the most important person in a teenager's life
- As part of my job, I have looked for a bungee jumping instructor who was willing to take part in a video for a youth retreat
- Our amazing team of volunteer leaders
- The frugal lifestyle afforded by a youth pastor's salary is much better for my walk with Jesus
- Seeing a teenager use her gifts to serve Jesus
- Letting a volunteer be in charge of something and having it go really well
- Working with an amazing church staff
- Getting to go backpacking with students
- Serving with my wife
- Being at a church that doesn't necessarily expect my wife will always serve with me
- Bringing my two-year-old and eleven-month-old to a youth event and having them love it
- Partnering with other churches to pull off amazing events we could never do on our own
- Running an errand to Costo with my fellow student pastor and taking the long way out of the store so we can hit all the free samples
- Videoing same fellow student pastor signing David Crowder's "He Is Our King" in the middle of Costco
- Baptizing students
- Celebrating communion with students
- Our weekly video announcements that are written and produced entirely by students
- Partnering with parents
- "Benjer, you're not cool...but you are awesome."
- Going to a former youth's wedding
- Retreats with students
- Preaching
- Creating a safe place in students' lives
- Our senior pastor gives us the support, vision, and guidance we need as a staff, but also gives us the freedom to execute the vision as we're gifted
- Junior highers
- Senior highers
- Fifth grade students who follow you around the church on Sunday mornings because they can't wait to be in youth group next year
- Believing in a student when other people might not
- Being a part of the sacred places in people's lives
- Being on top of the church's bell tower with snow balls right before youth group
- When students lead worship
- When a student comes to me because he wants to start an accountability group
- When a student wants to know how to share Jesus with his friends
- Convincing people that I really do know where to find something in my office, no matter how messy it looks
- Our lead pastor is a high school small group leader
- Playing Ultimate Frisbee with students in the middle of the street
- Being with a student during a really tough time in their life
- When a parent takes the time to write a thank-you note
- When parents support a ministry decision that's not all that popular with the students
- When I feel like our students teach me far more than I could ever teach them
- When the Holy Spirit takes an event in a totally different direction and I just have to trust God
- High school soccer games
- When a student says, "Thank you"
- Grandparents who take their teenage grandchildren to church every Sunday because the parents won't or can't
- When a student leads a friend to Christ
- When a student is super-thankful that I came to their game/drama event/art show/etc.
- Leading small groups
- Great discussions with leaders for an hour or more after youth group
- When former students become great youth leaders
- Having a former student speak at a retreat for my church's high school students
- When students go out of their way to make someone feel welcome
- When students would rather do a service project than a "just for fun" event
- Feeling like I make a difference
- Eating a cricket in front of a bunch of junior high students
- Having a lead pastor (and avid Dallas Cowboys fan) who thought it was funny when we painted a Denver Broncos logo on his wall
- When a student gets to teach me about something that he's passionate about
- Young youth pastors who are excited to do what they do
- Knowing a lot of great babysitters who can help us out in a pinch
- Getting to know students by tutoring them in math
- Getting to know students during the long drive to summer camp or a mission trip
- Working at a place where there is tons of understanding if I have to miss work because everyone but me in the family is sick
- Volunteering at a local high school to get to know students in the community
- Praying with students
- Shaving my head because students raised $16,000 to feed hungry kids
- Going shopping with students to buy Christmas gifts for a family we've "adopted"
- Painting a youth room with students. Even when too much paint ends up on each other and on the carpet
- When a student is willing to give grace in a situation I've messed up
- Giving students the opportunity to share a bit of their testimony in front of their peers
- When a student makes me a Strong Bad song CD
- Introducing students to the glories of Chipotle
- When students remind me that I've already used a certain illustration, video clip, or story a bunch of times in the past
- When I receive another copy of Scattergories: Bible Edition
- Laser Tag
- When I make up a game to play with a group of students and it actually works
- Realizing that I really am getting old, but I can still be a youth pastor
- Realizing that getting older actually makes me a better youth pastor in a whole lot of ways
- When a student is thankful that I called to personally invite them to an event
- Making a student's day by visiting him/her in the hospital armed with amazing baked goods from my wife
- Allowing students to learn from my own failures
- When a guest speaker or camp counselor tells a student something about God you've said about a million times, and suddenly the light comes on for the student as though it were the first time they'd ever heard it
- Free t-shirts from conferences and summer events
- When a parent comes to Jesus because he or she sees what a difference Jesus has made in his/her teenager's life
- When I get a front-row seat to watch God do things I never dreamed I would see
- Relating a crazy video somehow to a lesson...and having it actually make sense
- When a student's first time out of his/her native state is on a mission trip
- When a student's first plane ride is on a mission trip
- Picking out books to give as gifts to leaders
- Sometimes screening movies is part of my job
- Church potluck leftovers
- Going to high school graduations
- Remembering that more than a decade ago, some YoungLife leaders loved me no matter how obnoxious I was during their games and lesson
- Sending care packages to graduated students
- Telling our lead pastor that one of his sermons made a big difference in the life of a student
- When a student photographs another student sleeping on the back wall of the auditorium during one of my sermons
- When a student gets something from one of my "talks" or sermons that I didn't even know I said
- Working for a church that gave me tons of flexibility while my newborn baby was in the hospital for a month
