It’s Been a While

(Insert lyrics to the song by Staind)

Well, it’s been a little over 3 months since my last post. It happened like it usually does, right? I missed a few weeks, and then meant to get back to writing, had a post half-way done for a month, and a mixture of laziness and busyness won the day. And even though I’m posting this now, I can’t promise that I’ll have regular blog posts again for a few weeks. I’ll be on vacation, taking a group to a conference in Maryland, and taking a group on a mission trip to Guatemala. So hopefully we’ll meet again by the middle of August haha.

I didn’t want to simply post that, though, and give you the old “I meant to post, didn’t post, and it’ll be a bit before I post again.” So here’s a list of 10 things I’ve learned or given thought to over the past few months:

1. How seriously do we take God’s wrath, and see it as an attribute for us to imitate? God intensely hates sin, and we should too.
2. Even the biggest plastic tote you can find doesn’t fit as many board games as you want to bring on that retreat (and they will weight your card down a lot).
3. Its amazing how strong the common bond of Christ can be. I ran sound for a funeral at our church, where I didn’t know anyone and the deceased hadn’t attended the church in 20 years. And in that, I was able to worship and be united to people who were complete strangers aside from Christ.
4. Bobby’s Burger Palace is a gift from heaven. (not that I didn’t know this before, but the burgers of the month have been lit – google teen slang if that doesn’t make sense) If you have one near you, go often.
5. Officiating a wedding and being in that spot to see the bride and groom close up is one of the coolest things. Especially when they were high school students when you started at the church and are volunteer leaders in the youth ministry now.
6. In a similar token, being able to attend graduation parties and celebrate students who you had in 6th grade Sunday school is a tremendous blessing. Be committed and in it for the long haul – please don’t fit the stereotype of the 18-month youth pastor!
7. Our church really needs to get our own grill and a shed for it. Lugging grills back and forth to the pool club we share them with is pretty much the definition of a first world problem, but it’s obnoxious.
8. God is faithful and provides when you’re doing his work according to his purpose. Our mission trip was fully funded really quickly, and our conference (which we weren’t raising support or fundraising for) was also generously donated towards. So shoutout to faithful saints who believe in youth ministry.
9. Remember to put on sunscreen when you go to a theme/water park for the day. Unless you don’t mind a few days of pain for a nice base tan.
10. Community is so important (this also speaks to being committed and not jumping around ministries). When you have a group of people who you can walk through life together with, it’s immensely energizing and a huge blessing.