May 28, 2010

  • Check...

    Finishing "Sustainable Youth Ministry" was on my to-do list for this week, and I checked that off today.  It was hard toward the end.  I really had to focus on reading and processing the material instead of just getting through it.  I took over 20 pages of notes, detailing important thoughts and illustrations from each chapter.  It feels good to have that task out of the way, but the next task is putting those notes into presentations that I can use in vision casting meetings.  The time line for rebuilding a youth group seems to be at least 9 months, and the book warns against trying to expedite the process, but ultimately, that's not my decision.  I'm going to talk with Shelton about it because the ball is in his court as far as how fast the hiring process goes.  I'm not trying to work myself back into a job, but I'd just hate to see what happened to me happen to the next person.

    It's weird that I'm doing this.  It's weird that I'm reading a book on sustainable youth ministries when I'm resigning in less than a week.  I've learned a ton though.  I honestly think every youth minister should read it.  I have to stop myself from thinking about how things could be different if someone had told me about the book two years ago (when it first came out).  That's a universe that I'm not a part of, so there's no sense in thinking about it. 

    People ask me what I'm going to do this summer.  Honestly, youth ministry is the only thing I have planned.  I'd think about getting a summer job or taking summer classes if I could be sure it wouldn't take away from what I'm trying to do, but I can't be sure of that.  The amount of money I could make or the number of hours I could take this summer really doesn't matter to me at the moment.  What matters to me is that I finish strong with what God has given me the opportunity to do.  Now that I have an outline on an action plan, I'm confident that we can make some big changes to help the next person coming in.

    It'll be weird staying at the church, seeing someone else in my office, watching the kids interact with someone else.  It'll be strange to be the one setting things in motion for my successor, but I guess that's what any good staff person would do.  I'm not sure how successful I'll be at communicating the need for some of these structures, but it's in God's hands.  I'm glad He had me read that book.  I'm glad I am where I am.

    ...

    I talked to Brandi about my Georgia trip for the first time.  There was so much that went on that week that retelling that story gets draining.  I just got off the phone with my Dad, and told him a little bit about it as well.  Interesting stuff.

    ...

    It's 5:00.  I haven't been outside in a significant way in almost 2 days.  I'm going to go play frisbee golf.