Proud Dad

Two weeks ago our family had the opportunity to go visit our oldest daughter at Seattle Pacific University. Other than dropping her off at school for her freshman year we had not had the chance to explore the city. We blocked out 6 days and enjoyed discovering the sights and character of this unique city.

As fun as that was it was even more fun spending time with your daughter, Kelly, reuniting with her friends, meeting new friends and catching up with former youth ministry students. Several students from the Santa Barbara ministry settled in Seattle. In addition we met up with a former youth ministry student from my seminary days as a youth pastor. Sitting at lunches, dinners, breakfasts and coffees with these people was rewarding for Nancy and I. These are people I knew as Jr. Highers, now married with children who include a PhD college professor, a college/young adult pastor, administrative assistant in a local ministry, food service specialist with a non-profit helping homeless get on their feet in the job market and senior citizen pastor in the Seattle downtown mission. This is just the beginning of what they are now doing to serve Christ in their world.

Anybody in youth ministry for awhile would know how it feels to be around long enough to see your kids grow and serve God. Anybody in youth ministry would know you do feel like a proud parent in these situations. Anybody in youth ministry for awhile would also know with these "success" stories come the stories of pain and those who are lost. I still love these kids too. I will keep praying for all my youth and be ready to welcome them "home" at any time.

My verse for today? Proverbs 27:23, "Know the state of your flocks, and put your heart into caring for your herds."

Island Fever

Sometime late last week I felt restless. In hindsight maybe I really was "rest - less!!" I have had a full schedule over the past weeks filled with the good things about being a youth pastor yet there may have been too many of those things and so I longed for a little "unplug" time.

This feeling came even stronger when I found out one of our staff was taking off with her husband to Puerto Rico for the week. Suddenly all those memories of flying into Puerto Rico on my way to Antigua, West Indies (where I was helping to establish a church) came back. While I have always wanted to visit Puerto Rico I found myself ready to get on the next available plane to the country I visited for four straight years so I could greet the church, reunite with my island friends and chill on a white sandy beach with clear blue water.

Since then I have been thinking about it everyday, for at least a few moments! What does all this tell me?

1)It is time for a break - Good timing. This Saturday I leave with my wife and daughter to go visit our oldest daughter in Seattle for six days. Sun, a white sand beach and warm water are not in the forecast but God's beauty will still be there. More importantly I will be unplugged with my family.

2) I'm attracted to the slow life - Life on Antigua is slow, sometimes to the point of frustration. Why is it frustrating? I'm too accustomed to the fast pace. I think I want to slow down and then I have a hard time adjusting when the opportunity arises. Nonetheless, I am still drawn to it.

I'm not the first to say that ministry is not a sprint. It is a marathon. I pray daily for wisdom to use my days wisely. Wisdom challenges me to take regular breaks, whether it is a consistent day off or use all my vacation days. These times of rest give me strength to keep going and finish well.

Ministry could not have been meant to be this busy. Some would argue Jesus worked long hours. How do we prove that on a consistent basis? I also observe he took time off, not to mention he spent the first year and a half of his three active ministry years preparing his disciples.

I may not get to the island soon but I will go there often "in my mind" as a reminder to rest in God.

General Thoughts

A few things I'm happy about:
*Today I'm happy about a day off, it has been a full week
*My work with Young Life Committee. I'm meeting some great new people and getting a feel for where I can most contribute.
*My daughter Kelly. I have been helping her edit papers for college and she is a wonderful thinker who challenges me in a good way.
*Going to a Youth Specialties One Day seminar on teaching the Bible. These are great times of encouragement and I love being with our leaders.

A few things challenging me:
*I have a lot of writing assignments due in the next week or so.
*Finding times to "unplug." My mind is going a thousand miles a minute with some good stuff but I would like to "turn it off" at times.
*The thought of a possible salary cut due to the recession.

A book I'm reading: A biography on John Quincy Adams. I am reading biographies of all the presidents in chronological order. It is interesting to read about their lives and their leadership styles.

Connected

A few times a year, as a youth pastor, I am required to go join a bunch of other lead pastors, associate pastors, youth pastors, worship pastors and every other kind of imaginable pastor for some of time interacting, training, praying and being encouraged. These days away never seem to come at good times BUT when I'm there I am thankful. Why? Days away from family, a back log of work, people who need to be visited and more hardly ever sounds appealing. Getting together with all these teammates puts it all back into perspective.

I was born into a connectional denomination. Translation: We do a lot of things together we could not do individually. Our connection brings additional resources. Interacting offers challenging ideas and new directions. Being trained together adds encouragement and sense of purpose in Christ.

I come home (I came home yesterday) honored to be a pastor of youth and more committed to excellence in my work and faithfulness to the Lord.

I like belonging to the Free Methodist Church of Southern California. We're not the only good thing happening in the kingdom of God but I'm happy to be on this team.

Want to know more? Check out http://www.fmcsc.org/

New Categories

To at least keep me weekly on this blog it's time for a new strategy. In the tradition of FACEBOOK categories and other stuff I have seen blogger friends do I will offer my own short-list categories:

A few things I'm happy about:
*Kicked off a great two week series on HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS with our Jr. High and High School students
*Parents who loved the UNDERSTANDING YOUR TEENAGER seminar to which I referred them.
*All the good books I have yet to read
*My oldest daughter will be studying in Uganda next fall.
*Being connected with a great Free Methodist ministry called Eden Reforestation Projects. Check it out at http://www.edenprojects.org/

A few things challenging me
*Working on a book proposal for Youth Specialties. Carving out the time easier said than done.
*High school guys who need followup and extra care
*Financial strain of this economy, the impact on our ministry, our families and me.

One thing God taught me: Keep walking with Him. I'm always wanting Him to walk with me.

A book I'm reading: SURPRISED BY HOPE, N.T.Wright. What a great book to read leading up to Easter. Review to come.

Music I'm liking: RED's newest CD. Great, hard-charging music with a little screamo mixed in. These guys are Christian and doing well on the Billboard charts too.

Camp Turnaround

Well . . . it was bound to happen! When you go to Winter Camp year after year sooner or later snow is going to be a problem. In my 25 years of being a youth pastor in Santa Barbara we have never missed a camp due to snow . . . until now. All week Southern California was facing a blitz of weather events. By Thursday before camp the roads to BIG BEAR mountain were clear. Friday morning the cold rain moved into Santa Barbara. I knew where it was heading . . . east and directly toward the mountains where it would turn to white stuff.

With a four day camp I chose to not leave until late afternoon so our adult leaders would only take one day off work. Leaving then would not put us at Pine Summit Conference Center until at least 10pm under the best of circumstances. When we left at 5pm the roads to BIG BEAR were clear and passable. By the time we got to Pasadena, 2 1/2 hours into the trip, we heard reports that chains were now required. We kept going with the hope the roads might be good by the time we arrived at the foot of the mountain. Finally we reached the decision point and the warning sign flashed, "Chains required in all mountain areas." Facing a 41 mile journey, 4 hour trip, with chains on a charter bus full of students on a cold, wind-swept night up two lane mountain roads forced a decision I didn't want to make but knew best to make: turn around.

Thankfully God had given me the wisdom earlier in the week to start preparing youth and parents of this possibility. When the possibility became a reality their response was as good as you could expect.

This one stop (at a McDonald's where I spent $89 on McFlurries and fries) 8 hour bus trip turned into a memory we will all remember for some time to come. It ended with our arrival in Santa Barbara at 1:45am and a sleepover on the church floor.

By 9:30am all youth had been safely deposited with their parents and I went home. I felt displaced and tired most of the weekend. For a few seconds I wondered about my decision. After all, many of the other 300 campers made it up there on Saturday around noon. I felt sad for our youth, our leaders and I knowing we were missing a great experience with God in His creation with His people but I also was affirmed many times by many people on a safe decision.

Later in the weekend God further affirmed the decision when another big storm came through closing the roads to BIG BEAR before camp had even ended. Even if we had gone Saturday we would have departed again on Sunday, just 24 hours later.

Just as God provided wisdom and safety I know He will provide another opportunity for coming together in His time. This ministry belongs to God!

50

I just turned 50 on January 29th and I have to admit it was fun. Whatever I thought 50 would feel like . . . well . . . it doesn't! I am just amazed I have been alive for 50 years. There have been a lot of changes in the world during that time. Anyway, I'm not going to get sentimental.

My birthday celebration began when our church surprised me during worship with a brand new guitar. Didn't see that coming! Then Nancy surprised me by inviting my parents and sister from D.C.. I also got an extra day off on the deal.

On the actual day my three children and wife surprised me a list of 50 things they love about me. I won't bore you with them all but here are a few:

*His love for crabs - eating them

*His love of M&Ms

*His desire to live to 100

*His facebook status

*His love of "Hockey pucks" and "Pineapple whips" at Disneyland

*His genuine laughter

*His love of cream-filled doughnuts and Suzy Qs

*His uncanny ability to dust off his trumpet and play Christmas carols annually with no practice all year

*He loves his wife and children

I feel loved!