Lesson 12. There are those days...and then there are those other days.

Maybe it was because I had coffee at my breakfast meeting that morning. Maybe it was because I hadn't gotten much sleep the night before. Whatever it was, Wednesday morning in the office was, for me, incredibly slow. I couldn't seem to focus on anything, my hands were shaky, my mind (and probably my heart) were racing...I was fidgety, couldn't sit still, and I could only see negatives. My office wasn't organized, other churches had better websites, we need more ministry staff, and I wasn't getting enough people-interaction in my job. I love being around people and interacting, talking with them...but here I was, day after day, sitting in my office, doing...busy work? Had I chosen the right job? Should I be a teacher? Was I stuck here?

Thankfully, a sandwich from Quizno's calmed me down and I actually got some work done that afternoon, before meeting with one of our teenagers who had some relationship issues on his mind, grabbing a bite to eat, and then facing twenty-something 7th and 8th graders to discuss "Where did evil come from?" in our Wednesday night discussion class (which is probably the best part of my week). The difference before lunch and after lunch in terms of my demeanor is staggering.

I say all that to say this: Just because you have days where you think you've completely chosen the wrong job...doesn't mean you've completely chosen the wrong job. In fact, it means you're probably pretty normal. There are part of all jobs you won't like...even in ministry. No job is perfect, every day has its ups and downs, and there will always, ALWAYS be experiences that snap you out of it and remind you why you answered God's call to ministry in the first place. Trust me. And when those things happen...it's really good. :)

So, for goodness sake...don't drink coffee on an empty stomach in the morning, go to bed at a reasonable hour, and if all else fails...grab a Chicken Carbonara sandwich from Quizno's. They're pretty much fantastic.

Lesson 11. The hardest and most out-of-nowhere calls will always come when you are the only one in the office!

Somehow, everyone in the office conspired to be gone at the same one-hour block of time today...just so I could take an unexpected phone call. I think it was a planned event. Our secretary was buying office supplies, our Senior Minister was picking up his parents, and our other Associate Minister was out to lunch. Which left...me...to answer the phone and hear a very pleasant but frazzled lady explain that she needed someone to babysit for her and her husband. They both work 2:30-11:30 M-W, she as a 911 Dispatcher and he as a Sheriff's Deputy. Public servants, indeed! They had visited our church before, and her parents were members of a church of Christ in a nearby city.

What do I say? I certainly wasn'y going to say "No, can't help you. Feel free to come by anytime on Sunday for one of our worship services..." yeah right. That would be blatant hypocrisy! I told her I'd see what I could do and get back to her. I plan to bring it before our elders at our meeting tomorrow night to see what their recommendations are. I really want this opportunity to reach out to this woman and her family...but I'm not sure exactly how to go about doing that. I realized instantly that I was the first voice she heard from this church...I was the frontman, the first line...I was, in essence, Jesus answering the phone. Her impressions and views of our church all hung in the balance starting the instant I picked up that phone.

Looking back, I'm a little overwhelmed. I pray God will guide me, and our ministry staff, as we try to help this woman. I wish I knew more of what to say, more ways to answer her question without having to "get back to her"...because I'm sure she gets that a lot. I just pray our church can be a help to her burdens.

So remember...when everyone leaves, be prepared to answer that phone!

Lesson 10. THY, not my, will be done...and especially on Sunday!

This past Sunday was a frustrating day for me...and I truly brought it upon myself. It was sort of the first Sunday that really felt like a "work day" instead of "the Lord's Day." Those of you involved in full-time ministry work can probably relate to this. I slept in a little too late that morning and stayed out a little too late the night before. Thus, I arrived to church a little later than I like. I didn't as much prep time in before teaching the class that morning, and I felt rushed and stressed during worship. What should have been time devoted solely and completely to God was spent, instead, going over all the things I still had to do that afternoon. Meetings, things to type, people to call...and, namely, the youth-led worship service for that evening we still had yet to plan, including my half of the sermon!

I spent most of Sunday fretting, feverishly putting together a rather sloppy lesson outline discussing how children should honor their parents (like they've never heard that before), and thinking mean thoughts about our young men who were helping with the evening service as the clock ticked past 6:00 pm and they had yet to show up. All in all, I did a pretty lousy job of being not just a minister, but a Christian...and on the Lord's Day of all days!

Instead, the worrisome day I had envisioned in my mind turned out to be wonderful in terms of what was done on God's behalf. While I was worried about things being done the way I wanted them and on my schedule, God was busy helping our young men lead our congregation in a beautiful evening worship service filled with songs, prayer, and Scripture. My hastily-compiled lesson (while I never condone under-preparedness...after all, God loves a prepared speaker) went smoothly and easily (so it was obviously not me doing the talking!), and at the end of the day I looked back on a day that, in essence, sums up what is probably a normal day for most of us Christians out there:

While we're busy worrying, fretting, stressing, and ____-ing (you fill in the blank), God is busy in the background, forming things to His blessed will, and quite frankly not really paying attention to what we're worrying about...which is probably a good thing. If only we could learn from the Master, think how much more we could accomplish for Him on a daily basis!

So, lesson this Sunday...let go, and let God.

Lesson 9. Elders' Meetings are intense, encouraging, funny, and long...all at the same time.

I attended my first elders' meeting last night as a minister. I've sat in on parts of other meetings, but this was the first one I stayed in for the whole time...over 3 hours! It was a time of fellowship, encouragement, prayer and intense discussion. After listening to the things going on within our church family (hurts, praises, concerns, sickness, etc) I felt better informed and empowered as a minister to encourage and really do the ACT of "ministry" to our congregation. I'm blessed with my job position to work not just with the Junior High, but with the church as a whole really, through Involvement and Children's Ministries as well.

I'm blessed to work under a terrific eldership, men who care deeply about our church family, reaching the lost, and abiding by God's Word. Praise God!

Lesson 8. Sharing the load isn't a sign of defeat; on the contrary, it's Biblical!

Our second new minister started this week. He will be overseeing our High School youth ministry, as well as various other aspects. Already I can tell we're going to be a great team- we think along the same lines, have the same goals and changes we'd like to bring to the group, and are about the same age, too. The elders have stressed over and over how much they labored over their hiring decisions to make sure they hired two people who would work well together as a team.

I'm thrilled to have our new minister here. However, it means sharing the load and making decisions, for the most part, as 2 people instead of 1. When I think about the idea of sharing responsiblity when it was needed most, I think back to Moses and the advice his father-in-law, Jethro, gave him during the wilderness wanderings. Jethro could tell Moses had too much on his plate as the leader of over a million Israelites. Moses had no one to delegate to, and se everything-from the tiniest squabble to the biggest pickle- came before him for his decision. After all, he was God's man, let him handle it! Upon seeing this, Jethro took Moses aside to give him some advice I think all of us, including me, need to hear. He told him he had taken on too much, and gave him a system to meat out the responsibility. Judges over various groups and levels and the Israelites were put in place, and from then on only the largest and most pressing issues came before Moses.

Surprisingly, this gave Moses more of what he wanted- the ability to really LEAD God's people, instead of constantly making decisions and listening to arguments. Leading isn't about making every decision. Leading well is about good delegating, knowing who is better suited for a task when you aren't, and knowing your limits. Our new minister has a head for sports and athletics that I don't, and so I know he'll bring a whole new level of fun and leadership to our youth program.

Sharing the load isn't a sign of defeat- in fact, the success is much more obvious and complete when 2 people put their heads together! I pray God will give all of us the eyes to see when we need help, and for Him to bring those people into our lives. Ministry isn't a one-man show...ever.

Lesson 7. Take it one day at a time, and don't get ahead of yourself.

I have a very frequent and somewhat frustrating tendency to get ahead of myself in my work. It's always good to "see the big picture," but only once in a while. I have big plans and goals, but I'm looking so far down the road that I can't focus on the here and now. Ironically, if you don't focus on the present, the future will never become what you envision for it! There will always be lessons to write, people to visit, programs to map out, rooms to rearrange, blogs to write on, people to call, and so on and so forth...so don't sweat it if things aren't exactly the way you want them right now.

Teens, and adults too, don't, and won't, care all that much about what your "vision for the youth ministry" is if you can't do the day-to-day things well. Map out your day with what needs to be done today, in order of importance. Make that call, send that newsletter for the week, write your lesson for Sunday, and reserve that retreat site. Get the little things done today...so later on, the big things will fall into place. Big things are really just lots of little things with something in common. It starts small. A retreat starts with transportation and campsite reservations, not a one-day work-a-thon to plan the whole thing and wear yourself out.

So, take it one day at a time. Get the things done that need to be done today, and then start looking long-range again. The future won't be what you envision it to be if you can't see what's right in front of you.