A Good Collection is More than a Gimmick
I have the largest Pringles collection that I know of. I have the largest Pringles collection that most people know of. I imagine there are larger collections out there, but not many. I have over 100 different cans consisting of over 70 different flavours. Most people's response is, "I didn't know they had that many flavours!" That or, "Why do you have those?"I started my collection unintentionally back in 2001 as a youth intern. Most church desks have some kind of candy or mint to offer to visitors, I didn't want to go the candy route so I decided I should offer Pringles. Why I ended up choosing Pringles I cannot recall, perhaps simply by God's appointment. I thought it would be neat to keep the cans and someday build something out of them (re-creation of the tower of Babel perhaps?). Years later I had 300 empty Pringles cans in my office and as a joke one of my leaders stole them. In my typical fashion, I didn't respond. I didn't even mention at youth that they were missing. Months went by and I got used to the extra office space. The leader got bored and didn't like taking up the space in her apartment so she returned them all. I kept the one-of-a-kinds and recycled the doubles.
Since I stream lined my collection to only singles it has continued to grow. Students and families have brought me Pringles cans from places like Spain, Chile, Mexico, Japan, Australia, Thailand and more. I have gotten Pringles related items like a vanity license plate and large display tins. I've also collected a lot of Pringles art from students from water colours to pastel drawings to a 2'X2' metal plaque made in shop class.
Why do I tell you about my Pringles collection? I think it's important for every youth pastor to have a "thing". I don't like the word gimmick but I guess that's essentially what it is. Lots of youth pastors collect Coke stuff from around the world, perhaps you collect retreat and camp T-shirts exclusively from camps and retreats you never attended, maybe it's miniature colonial figurines.
Why should every youth pastor have a gimmick? 1. It's a conversation piece. I can't tell you the number of times complete strangers (perhaps for a wedding, funeral or graduation) have been in our church and had to pop their head in my office and comment on the collection. People have even asked if they could take photos of my collection (I often joked that if you visit Medicine Hat there are two things you must see, the World's Tallest Tipi and my Pringles Collection). 2. It makes you more approachable. So many great conversations have started with, "Where did you get all these cans? Are they empty or full? Did you eat them all?" 3. Your students will want to contribute and feel part of your collection. I have students from years ago who are still proud that they contributed a one-of-a-kind can to my collection. I have people going on family vacations asking for a list of cans I don't have from the area they are traveling too. 4. It's something to look at. Sometimes students want to talk and it takes them a while to get to the point. Many times I've had students spend 30 minutes looking at my collection, asking about my favorite flavours (Mexican Layer Dip) and the worst flavours (Soft-Shell Crab) before they feel comfortable enough to bring up the heavy topics.
So what do you collect? Is your office overrun with a great collection? Does your collection scan the globe?
21. Shared Experience, Defining Moments
We were on our way back from an awesome youth retreat in the fall. Unable to afford a bus for the trip we had 9 cars and vans caravan style coming back home, a 6 hour trip. A little more than 2 hours away from home the 7th car saw an emergency vehicle and slowed down. The 8th vehicle hit the car and the 9th hit the 8th. It was a youth pastor's nightmare. The highway was shut down, 3 cars were completely totalled. Ambulances, fire trucks, police. It was a scene, and I was in charge. By God's amazing grace no one was severely injured. Some amazing parents drove out to pick up students and take them home. Not one complaint came to my ears against me or my leaders who were driving. Many hours later than scheduled every student eventually made it home safely. It was traumatic, some people were struggling with everything that had happened so we had an impromptu get together the next night in the youth room. We just put the word out there that we'd be hanging out if anyone wanted to talk or whatever. Almost everyone showed up. We talked about it. Students gave testimonies of how God spoke to them through the event, how kids riding in those 3 cars felt God protect. I took pictures for insurance purposes, I didn't show them to the kids but when a couple leaders and I looked at the photos we were amazed that no one was injured or worse.
It was a defining moment. It was one of the best things that ever happened in my 6 years at that church. People forgot about who said what about who. They forgot about jr high and sr high. It was one family bonded by a shared experience. Months later I was talking with some leaders and we admitted that we could not have planned a better event and joked that if we knew it would be so good we would have had an accident years sooner (I hope no one takes offense, it's not really a "ha ha" joke).
That brings me to the point of my blog today. Every group NEEDS a shared experience to bond. I bonded with a group of students doing chinese fire drills on a frozen highway in the middle of the night on the way back from a ski trip. 8 years later we still laugh about it. I bonded amazingly with students on missions trips to our backyard and across the world. I bonded with leaders on a drive from Winnipeg, Manitoba to Austin, Texas. We need these moments in our ministry.
This became painfully apparent in my last position. We changed our program and took away our weekly fun youth event. I liked the format, mostly because I'm not a games guy, but about 6 months into the experiment I looked back and thought, there's not one moment in this past year that we can look back as a group and say, "Hey, remember when (that crazy thing) happened at that event!"
Sure, we had worship and Bible study together. We shared that as an experience, but there were no real "shared experiences" to speak of, no defining moments. We changed the format back and had a huge "Eggstravaganza". It was awesome. We hadn't laughed, played and had so much fun all year.
What are your defining moments as a group? What are your most treasured shared experiences? Do you take these into consideration when you are putting together your calendar?
20. You Need Haters
First, I will be changing my updates from every Tuesday and Friday to every Thursday. When I started I knew I wouldn't be able to keep up with 2 blog posts a week forever, so the change starts now.Second, I am going to say something today that I imagine some people won't agree with, keep in mind, I have a very good imagination.
If you don't have haters you are not doing effective ministry. I've worked with people who I'm sure strongly disagree with me but I strongly believe that if you are doing effective ministry that you will have haters. I've had my share but as I reflect on my haters I stand by what I've done. Some of them sent me anonymous letters. Some of them tried to go over my head and complain to the senior pastor (with varying success). Some of them had the courage to come to me directly and deal with it head on (and I thanked them for doing so).
I'm definitely not saying that having haters means you do have an effective ministry. I had a friend years ago that loved confrontation. He loved playing the devil's advocate just to get in arguments. He thought it was funny to agitate people. Why I had a friend with such a warped sense of humor I'm not sure. But I'm not propagating that you make enemies just because some random out-of-work youth pastor said you need haters to have effective ministry.
I'm also not saying that you can't have times of peace during effective ministry. The bottom line is this, the Gospel is counter-cultural. It's scandalous. It's makes religious people nervous, even angry. Think about Jesus. Talk about someone doing effective ministry that gave Him His share of haters! How dare He heal on the Sabbath? How dare He claim to offer forgiveness? How dare He claim to rebuild the temple in 3 days?
When you are in youth ministry (any ministry really, but let's focus on youth for now) you are under a microscope. During my first parent meeting of the year I ask all the parents this question, "Who thinks that their child is the most important child in my ministry?" (Credit due to Marv Penner for the question) Obviously every parents raises their hand and hopefully gain the realization that my position does not exist solely to cater to their child but to do my best to help each student in our community and in connection with our community to grow in their relationship with Christ. Youth pastors cannot please everyone.
I've had parents complain that I told their kids that they should stop smoking pot. I've had complaints that youth ministry should be fun and not serious. I have a friend who was fired 3 times because his idea (and my idea) of youth ministry were vastly different from the churches he worked in. When a parent once confronted him on the fact that he was teaching too much about the Bible, that the kids just needed to have fun he replied, "If I was an entertainer you'd have to pay me a lot more money, I'm going to teach the Bible." He didn't last very long there.
Enough ranting for today. It is so stress free to not be a youth pastor, still, I desperately wish I had my own students... and the obligatory haters that come with the position. Next Thursday's blog - How do face your haters. Thanks for reading - Subscribe and follow on Twitter - joshksmith
19. Becoming Replaceable
As a youth pastor I've come to terms with the fact that I will never be rich, that's never been my life goal, at least not in financial terms. Our first home we purchased was, to say the least, a "fixer-upper". We believe it was rented out by the previous owner and it appeared to me that no one took any pride in that home. Other than the basement ceiling there is literally no surface that we did not change. We re-painted our yellow-stained ceilings, we painted all our walls updated colours, we put in laminate or linoleum or carpet on all the floors. We put in new toilets, countertops, sinks, fixtures. We did a lot of work to that home and all along the way I did my best to not only make it a place I could be proud of, but also the people who would buy it from us, and the people after them. Throughout our extensive renovations I would use the previous owner's name in the exact same way that Seinfeld would say, "Newman". Poor workmanship and poor materials had left me with a lot of extra work.
Just before we left we needed to replace the water heater, no cheap venture. We bought the exact same water heater that we would have if we were planning to stay another 20 years. We were asked why would we spend that kind of money when we were on our way out? It's simple, we believe it honours God to treat the house like it's going to be ours forever even though we know it won't be. We know someone else will be using that water heater and we want them to have a good one. Also, we know that we'll be moving into a new home and we hope that they would do the same for us (on a side-note, the house we moved into has the highest degree of workmanship on their renos and the same water heater!)
So why is my youth ministry blog all about renovations? Like our homes, our ministries are typically only ours for a season. How are you building your ministry for the next guy or girl?
I believe that my ministry is to take unhealthy youth minstries, build in health and structure and release them so the next pastor can take it to the next level. I believe that my giftings help me to assess what changes need to be made and stick around for the next 5 or 6 years (or until terminated) to see those changes take place. My big goals aren't set in months but years. My goal is to always leave a ministry in a much better place than I found it.
It's not a new concept by any means, but I always have the goal of becoming replaceable. I do not want to be the linchpin that holds together a youth ministry. I know I've reached success when I could leave for a year and things would be able to run fairly unchanged in my absence. It means buliding up great leaders who are bought into God's vision for that ministry. It means being consistent with your students, giving them a safe place to worship, ask questions, grow and be challenged. It means giving away responsibility and not having your finger in every pie or your foot in every door. I always got so much joy from telling my lead pastor, "You'll have to ask (insert leader's name here) about that, they've really done all the work on this one."
It's not that I'm lazy, I think it takes more work to delegate than to do it myself quite often. I believe that a ministry shouldn't be build on one person. Jethro pointed out to Moses that, "this is not good". Jesus could have done it Himself but always chose to include others. Who am I to do differently?
As you lead your group, are you thinking about the next leader and the next leader after that or are you focused on using your own charisma to build it up and keep it running? Will the ministry flounder and struggle when you are away or will be prepared to keep going? I'd love to hear your stories!
18. My Other Office
For the youth pastors out there, how many of you have ever referred to the local Starbucks as your "other office"? If you said yes, how many of you referred to the Starbucks a little further away as your "other other office"? For those who said yes, how many have referred to Starbucks as your office and your space in the church building as your "other office"?I am currently writing this post from my other office. I'm drinking my grande skinny vanilla latte listening to David Crowder through my earphones, writing a blog post while waiting for a call to say that my van is ready to be picked up.
Do you remember the first time you went to Starbucks? I do. It was very intimidating. I actually didn't want to go to Starbucks because I felt so out of place. I'm used to Tim Hortons. I walk in and order a large coffee and I know what I'm getting. Smittys, Perkins, Dennys... I order a coffee, I get a coffee. The first time I went to Starbucks I had no idea what to get so I tried to order a large coffee. I refused to used their terminology because it made no sense to me. Why is grande the medium size? That sounds huge... so huge in fact that it's GRANDE! And why is the smallest size tall? I mean, it doesn't sound bigger than grande but still, it sounds impressive. I would never call the smallest person I know "tall".
So I order my big coffee, and they won't even let that go. What kind of roast? I had no idea. Do I want a bold taste? Something smoother? I told them I wanted the one that tasted most like coffee. By now you may have realized that I'm not a hipster. I'm not a coffee snob. I appreciate that my beans were purchased at a fair price from 3rd world farmers but I don't really care how they are roasted and blended when they get here. I ended up with a Venti Pike's Roast. It was ok. It took a lot of visits to get comfortable and find I drink that I could order and enjoy. Grande Skinny Vanilla Latte. Why did I keep coming back even though I felt uncomfortable? Because that's what youth pastors do. They go to their other office and Tim Hortons doesn't have internet.
What would make a student come to your youth group for the first time? What would make them come back? If a young person has never been to church, specifically your church, they may have no idea what to expect. They may have anxiety because they don't know the language. They have no idea what is expected of them. How stranger-friendly is your group? How do you greet the stranger?
Up here in Canada many youth groups are kicking off this week (oh how I wish I was back in a ministry position now!). If you haven't yet, it's a great time to assess how welcoming you are and how well your group makes a new comer feel welcomed and wanted. What does your group do? What's worked well?
17. King of Encouragement
I have a folder at the back of one of my drawers that I rarely look at but is incredibly precious to me. I'm sure most pastors have a folder like this one. It's a folder that tells me I'm not a failure. No matter how many students complain about an event, no matter how many parents think they could do my job better than me, no matter how many staff members think that being a youth pastor is like living on some kind of dream cloud drinking coffee and hanging out all day, I have a folder that tells me I have done some good things. When I get great encouragement letters I put them in there. The kind of letters that aren't just, "You're great" or "You have beautiful kids". The kind of letters that someone had to write because something I've done helped them in a real way, somehow I've been able to help them grow closer to Jesus (yes, I know, I didn't actually do it, the Holy Spirit did, but I got to be there and be part of it).I don't go to that folder very often, maybe once every few years. I don't need a lot of encouragement. Don't get me wrong, it's wonderful! It feels good when people appreciate things I've done, but I don't "need" it to keep going. I am like an encouragement camel, I just need a little appreciation every now and then and I can keep going. Other people need it daily. They need to be reminded that they are doing well, that they are meeting expectations, that what they are doing is making a difference. Once again, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that's a bad thing. There is absolutely nothing wrong with desiring that encouragement, I just wish it didn't take me so long to recognize that.
For years in ministry I thought people were like me. Volunteers knew I appreciated them, I didn't have to tell them, they should just know. I give them pizza, I let them work with students, I trust them. They should know I appreciate them, right?
Perhaps you are a natural born encourager. You just naturally see people and want to encourage them, it's your God-given gift to lift people up. That's awesome! If you're like me, you may need to put in a little more effort. Once I recognized that other need encouragement from me (as the head of the ministry) I asked me assistant to make a sign to hang on my office wall with the words, "Encourage Someone Today".
Do you know what's interesting? It meant a lot to people when I encouraged them. It meant so much to them that it bothered me. Am I so un-encouraging that the littlest morsel I give out means that much? Things had to change. I try to make it a habit to encourage others now. Not empty, shallow compliments but actually letting them know how much I appreciate who they are or what they are doing. It gives volunteers a feeling that they are actually doing well and acknowledges that our ministry is better because they are there.
Have you been touched by some timely encouragement? Have you been able to make a habit of encouraging others? Do you have any unique events or things you do to show your appreciation?
16. Full-Disclosure Candidating
Something terrible happens when a church needs a youth pastor and a youth pastor needs a church, they are tempted to settle. I recently came back from a candidation visit that went very well. The church was great, the people were wonderful and the city is the dream location to raise our 4+ children, but something didn't feel right. There were some red flags. Something in my gut that wouldn't allow me to fully embrace the job opportunity, more importantly, there was a lack of peace in my spirit.
To be honest, I would have taken the job back when I was starting out. I would have buried those flags and hoped they would go away. Now that I have more experience I know better. Just as I always tell my students and young leaders, never go into a relationship believing things will change for the better. They might, but don't bank on it. The flags I had would not likely go away, but get worse.
You may be wondering, "What are these flags?" To be honest, there was nothing wrong with the church, I just didn't think I'd be a great fit there. I need more flexibility in my office hours than I think they were willing to work with. I also had some concerns with what I felt were control issues. There are many youth pastors who would be able to thrive in that church, I just don't think I am one of them, and I didn't hide it. They ended up not calling me to the church despite how well the weekend went and I believe that's largely because I held back no punches. I didn't hide my blemishes. I wanted them to know exactly who they were hiring if they hired me.
This past week I had a preliminary interview in Calgary. It went extremely well, or at least that's my perception. At the end of the interview the executive pastor asked, "Josh, why should we hire you?" All I could say to him was, "If you chose to hire me, it would be most important that you know exactly who you are hiring." I went on to list every concern any supervisor has brought up with me. I brought up my need to have some flexibility in my office hours to suit my family. I told him what my strengths are and what I bring to the table. Finally, I told him exactly what he could and could not expect from me as a youth pastor.
I realize that it may scare them off, but as I have learned, I'd much rather lose a job for who I am than get a job for who I'm not. So my advice to pastors and churches looking to fill the call to minister to students, never get into a relationship hoping things will fix themselves. Hope they will get better but assume they won't, and if you can live with that and love what you do, you're set up to win.
I'd appreciate if you follow my Twitter and subscribe to the blog! Feedback? Have you been tempted to hide your true self to get a job (or a date)? Have you let great jobs pass you by due to red flags or jump in? How'd it turn out?
15. Preaching Shirt
First off I have to apologize to my readers, I broke the cardinal rule of blogging... I took time off. I know the number one rule of blogging is consistency, and I took a week off. I was on Vancouver Island candidating for a youth pastor position. The photo on this post was taken during the weekend. In the end it did not work out but we are thankful for the opportunity to get to know the church and for them to get to know us (see my upcoming post on full disclosure while candidating).But this is humourous Friday, not serious Tuesday so I will address an entirely different topic... Preaching clothes.
My brother told me a story years ago about his first computer programming job and dress codes. He went in his first day feeling quite uncomfortable because he had to dress nice. He put on his dockers and a golf shirt (or something like that) and went in to work. After some clients had come through his boss pulled him aside and told him that what he was wearing was unappropriate for the workplace. For a moment my brother was confused and wondered if he'd have to wear a tie the next day. Au contraire mon frere!
He was told that when clients come through they want to see nerds at messy computer stations wearing jeans and T-shirts with Atari symbols or lame jokes that non-programmers don't understand such as "I <3 Linux" or "I write poetry in COBOL".
This made me think about the youth pastors dress code. During my entire candidation weekend I wore the youth pastors' uniform, plaid button down short sleeve shirt, shorts and flip flops. That's pretty much the standard youth pastor look, you could substitute the plaid shirt for a tshirt with the logo of a missions trip, camp or retreat on the front.
There is, of course, the exception. My students always knew when I was preaching because I wore my preaching shirt. I have expanded my collection and now have 4 or 5 preaching shirts, but really, they are all the same shirt. It's the one shirt I have that fits properly, has no holes, no fading and no paint stains. Such a shirt that I refuse to hold my own baby before church because I don't want it spoiled by mashed cookie, drool or baby snot. Such a shirt that I take it off directly after church as to save it from extra wear and tear. Such a shirt that when I walk through the foyer students stop in their tracks and say, "Hey, you're preaching today!"
I admit, I did take it a step too far. I put on a tie. Yes, for many youth pastors a tie is a noose but I did it. In my first church I pushed the boundaries of casual and was the first pastor in memory to preach in shorts and flip flops (which was allowed because we were leaving for camp immediately after the service) and at my last church I pushed the boundaries of formal by being the first pastor in recent memory to wear a tie while preaching (and trust me, my senior pastor was told how refreshing it was to see someone dressed properly to teach the Word!).
So do you have a go to outfit when you preach? Do your students recognize at first glance that it's your morning on the stage?
14. What Do You Do All Day? Part 2
Back in the mid 90's there was a masked magician who put out videos revealing the secrets behind "magic" tricks, better known as illusions. He had to wear a mask, of course, because if other magicians found out who was giving away trade secrets they'd blacklist him at the very least. Well, at the risk of being on the black list I am going to peal back the veil and give you an answer to the question, "What do you do all day?"Youth pastors get asked the question, "What do you do all day?" about 5.7 times per day. Last Friday I wrote about the perception of the typical day in the life of a youth pastor, today's post is an actual look at a day in the life of a youth pastor. The most difficult part of answering the question, "What do you do all day?" is that there is no such thing as a "typical" day in youth ministry. As a youth pastor, I had a very long list of things to do (yes, a literal list that I kept on the right hand side of my desk) and I prioritized the items on my list. There are some things that wouldn't get touched for months at a time and, obviously, things that had to be completed that day. Sometimes a phone call comes in that is more important that anything on that list and changes your whole day... or week. So here's my best shot at giving a glimpse into a day in the life of a youth pastor.
7am time to wake up with the kids (as in my own children. I take turns with my wife getting up with the kids, but on a typical work day my sleep in would be till 8am if Beckee's getting the kids). Get them fed and dressed and ready for school.
8:45am Head off to church for prayer. (At my last church we had prayer meeting everyday at 9). If it's Tuesday that means meetings until lunch time, if not I'm at my desk by about 9:30. Check mail, email and phone messages. Some days this takes an hour or two, other days only a few minutes.
Between 9 and lunch time I try to return emails and phone calls. Whether it's calling about camp reservations, calling parents, returning emails about a missions trip or booking a hotel for a youth convention there's usually plenty of phone calls and emails. I would typically try to spend some quiet time with God before lunch. I was once told by a supervisor that pastors shouldn't use "work" time for their "quiet" time with God. I personally think that's ridiculous. First, isn't that the most important thing a pastor can do? How can we empty ourselves if we are not first being filled? Secondly, a pastor's job doesn't end at 5pm, we are on call all the time. I spent many hours at home in the evening working on church stuff. I don't stop answering my phone or texts because it's no longer "office" hours. So yes, I did spend "work" time with God, and I don't feel bad about it.
At lunch I would come home some days but quite often it's a chance to meet with students and leaders. One day a week I would head down to the local high school for the Christian club meeting, other days I would try to meet with my students and leaders.
After lunch it's back to the office. I would try to work on my messages during the afternoons but often there would be a number of interruptions. We had a large staff so there were lots of "pop-ins" asking questions about different things. They say for a typical sermon you should spend one hour in preparation for every minute of teaching. I didn't do quite that much but I would put in 10-15 hours of prep for a message.
I would need to take breaks from my messages, I just can't work on them 4 or 5 hours straight so during my breaks I would go to my list and do things that needed to be done like work on the calendar, design brochures, update the Website, line up speakers for upcoming events and other tasks.
If it's a Tuesday of Friday I would have to spend some time getting things ready for the evening. If it's Tuesday that means pulling music, putting together the presentation stuff, connecting with leaders and making sure the room was ready for that night. Friday means a lot of different things depending on the night, but typically a lot of set up was needed for Friday events.
Other things that take up time, if the students were free in the afternoon that's a great time to meet for coffee. Texting and calling about different things from worship teams to drivers to leaders. I have students' school pictures taped to my wall that includes students from 2003 to the present and I would pray for those students a few times a day. Talking with students on Facebook is a also a great way to connect but takes a good chunk of time away from other work.
As I mentioned, a pastor's job doesn't end at 5pm. If there's not youth that night there are often sports games, plays and concerts that students are involved in. And it doesn't happen often but we get our share of phone calls at night from students who truly need some help. Sometimes it's a call from someone you know, other times it's a stranger need spiritual guidance. So that's what we do all day.
It's not as flashy and exciting as it sounds. It's typically not very physically demanding but emotionally and mentally it is an extremely demanding job. I don't think someone could do it for very long if it's not something they are truly called to and have a passion for. Your youth pastor would surely appreciate your prayers and support!!
13. What Do You Do All Day? Part 1
Have you ever been asked, "What do you do all day?" If you are a youth pastor you've probably been asked this numerous times by your students, parents, staff and your spouse. The position of "Youth Pastor" (or "Pastor of Student Ministries" for those a little more up-to-date or "Emerging Generations Pastor" for those who live on the bleeding edge) is shrouded in mystery.
Today I'm going to share the common perception so that those who are in youth ministry can laugh at the silly commoners (or "civi's") as we call them and their misunderstanding of the role of the Youth Pastor. Tune in next Tuesday as I peal back the veil to give an actual look inside, "A Day in the Life of a Youth Pastor". But first, let's have some fun.
The Perception
It's 10am on a Wednesday. That means time for the youth pastor to get out of bed. As he (yes, I'm using he. This doesn't mean only boys can be youth pastors, it just means I don't want to write he/she and I'm a boy so.....) slowly opens his eyes to the bright morning sun he listens as his wife and children are playing quietly in the living room.
He slides out of bed, finds yesterday's shorts and T-shirt, gives them a quick smell check. They don't smell that bad so he gets dressed and goes to the bathroom for his morning ritual. Empties bladder. Brushes teeth. Observes stubble on face, "Yes, the soul patch is growing in nicely... perhaps I should grow out the goatee for Ol' Skool Nite."
Goes downstairs and grabs iPhone. Checks email, only junk mail from the senior pastor, he'll get to that later. Checks Facebook to see who's dating who and who's broken up. Checks Twitter to see if Doug Fields finally reTweeted him... he didn't. Checks his text messages, most of which start with , "Dude!"
By 11:30 it's time to start the work day, but there's no point in going to the office for 10 minutes and coming home for lunch so he turns on MTV to do some "research" on teen culture. It's noon and his turn to make lunch for the wife and kids so he warms up some pizza pops.
By 1:30 it is time to get busy. He slides on his flip flops and drives to his office, and by office I mean Starbucks. He pulls out his lappy to get down to business. As he sips on his specialty coffee (feeling good about his purchase because the posters in Starbucks tell him how great he is for purchasing Starbucks coffee) he takes care of important business. That's right, he checks his emails. Oh, another email from the senior pastor marked urgent... read that one later. Check the Facebook, apparently those grade 9 students that were "in a relationship" since 9am have now become "single". Text them quick to make sure everything's ok. Within 3 seconds he gets two texts back, everything is ok, both students are now in a relationship with someone else. Checks Twitter. Still nothing from Doug.
Around 2:30 he goes to the Youth Specialties website. Nothing new since yesterday, checks job postings. Considers sending in a resume "just for fun" but realizes that would mean writing a resume and decides to go catch up on Jesus Needs New PR see what's happening on the YouTube.
By 4 he rolls into the church parking lot and checks in at the other office. Realizing it's a youth night and he has to be home by 5 he gets to work on the message. Carefully he pulls out a curriculum book and studies the lesson for tonight. Feeling confident about the message he is back at Starbucks at 4:15 to meet with some students. After talking to the kids about what happened last night on America's Got Talent he heads home for supper with the family.
6:30 he's back at the church for youth. Kids come in. They go through their worship songs, he leads the Bible study (right from the curriculum book) and they go to small groups. Afterwards he heads out to Taco Bell with some leaders and students and, of course, he's paying because of the two most beautiful words in the English language - "church budget". He ends his evening with watching SportsCenter before bed.
Have you felt this perception? Have you never been asked, "What you do all day?" Do you ask them what they do all day? As you read this did you just realize... "Hey, that does sound like my Wednesday!"? Subscribe/Feedback