Category Archives: Summer

Awesomenessness, Discipleship, Mission, Prayer, Summer, Youth Ministry

Mission Trip 09 Part 2

So I had just found out that the homeless shelter that we had planned to serve while on our mission trip was broke and on the brink of closing. We would no longer have a place to serve. That’s it. End of story. This was creating a giant black hole right in the middle of our mission trip.

When I was scheduling places for us to serve, a food bank in Atlanta had given me a list of non-profits that could host our group. I called the first one on the list: Project Open Hand.

Within 20 minutes we had scheduled time to deliver meals on Friday and Saturday and to pack meals on Monday for the clients of Open Hand.

Remember when I had prayed to God to step in a save our trip? He was about to deliver… big time.

On Friday & Saturday we delivered meals all over the city of Atlanta. We were welcomed into apartments and homes and we were able to pray with many of the families. It was an eye opening experience for all of us. We saw men and women of all shapes and sizes, backgrounds and classes. We met disabled people and we met the terminally ill. It seemed that no matter what the circumstance, these people were thankful for the little bit that they had. Some even offered to pray for us! It was such a blessing. Of course, we met difficult people and some simply reached a hand out the door, snatched the bags of food, and were gone. These were few and far between though.

We overwhelmingly had an incredible few days at Open Hand. On that Monday, I think we pack closed to 3000 meals. That is not a typo – Three thousand meals for people in Atlanta. Only by the grace of God!

The whole focus of our trip had started out to be aimed directly at ministering and serving the homeless of Atlanta. We were still scheduled to do this on Saturday night and Sunday morning. However by Saturday afternoon I had begun to wonder whether or not we would still be able to do this in a meaningful way. Again, I guess I underestimated how God would answer our prayers.

To Be Concluded in part 3

Discipleship, Ethos, Leadership, Life, Ministry, Risk, Summer, Theology, Youth Ministry

Poor Management

One thing that I have always prided myself on is my ability to manage my schedule in a healthy manner. I’m no where near perfect but I have been acutely aware of the need to schedule and manage my time while in full-time ministry. I do not want to burn out early and I do not want it said of me that I ran a poor and short race (ha).

It is easier to manage my schedule in the fall and spring. The students are in school. Athletic events and church events are usually scheduled months in advance and so I can work around these things. I try and find moments to disengage from my ministry hat and proudly wear and display my husband hat and my Micheal hat.

I covet Thursday nights with my wife and place fortified barriers of reminders to all that I am devoting this night and this time to my family. Years down the road it is things like this that will help me prioritize my family over my ministry.

For myself I do a lot of reading, personal development, movies, conferences, and concerts. I am a sucker for all of these things and they each help me relax, focus, and lead more effectively.

But now it is summer! Mission trips, camps, and late nights have pushed my schedule to the max. I have been forgetting that I must manage my time or it will manage me.

Example:
Last week I left on Wednesday for the Unplugged conference. The plan was to return home mid-evening Friday and then drive my teens to camp in Arkansas. What really happened was the my flight was delayed. I returned to Dallas late-night, drove to Arkansas the next day, and taught 12 classes in four days. We drove home Thursday evening. Whew! I was tired all week. These were all good things but I could have planned better for rest.

Instead I agreed to play golf early Friday morning! Great time with friends, my poor playing, but good putting all made for an enjoyable morning but still I was beat.

Then I had scheduled a fund raiser car wash for our mission trip. All saturday morning. In the heat. Under the sun. We met our fund raising goal (praise God!) but the thoughts of weariness plagued me all afternoon.

This was just two weeks of my summer. Could you imagine what would happen if this continued for another couple of months? What if I kept up this pace and this schedule for the rest of the year? This type of life is unsustainable. The human body is not meant to go this hard and this fast for extended periods of time. When I am this tired and worn down I am unable to be fully present with the people and events in my life. I’m on auto-pilot and I fear that I am missing out on important connections.

How are you managing your time? Are you giving where you need to give? Are you taking time to receive from God? Your family?

Youth ministers aren’t the only ones who suffer from over scheduling. Like Dave Ghrol of Foo Fighters asks, “Is someone getting the best of you?” If the answer to this question is “No” then take a long hard look at your schedule and see what need adjusting, what needs more focus, or what needs removing.

Guilty Pleasure, Popular Culture, Summer, Youth Ministry

Up to Speed

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Since I started blogging back in 2004, I have never gone more than a few days without posting at least something each week. That is until last week.

Last week was my last week of (relative) freedom before the beast that is summer had a chance to take over my life. I left my computer wherever. I failed to return emails. I kinda checked out of cyberspace.

It Begins…
Summer began for me in earnest today. We began Work Camp early this morning and that will last until Wednesday night. We have about 200 teenagers representing about 10 churches painting houses and cleaning yards in the Arlington area this week. I love the idea of teens and adults spending their first week of summer paying to paint other people’s houses in the hot, hot sun. What a great week! Bonus today as a cool front moved in at the end of the work day. Hopefully, we can continue to have mild and clear weather for the remainder of the week.

Summer Staples
I picked up a one volume copy of all of the C.S. Lewis Signature Classics to read through this summer. I have read some (Mere Christianity, Screwtape, The Great Divorce) and there are a few that I have not read (Problem of Pain, Miracles, A Grief Observed). I had already planned on reading through Miracles and Screwtape this summer but then I thought it might be fun to try and read through all of these master works over the next three months. I never tire of reading through Lewis. I get overwhelmed sometimes but never tired.

I Shall Retire to the Nerdery
Another of my summer plans is to decorate my office. Those of you who know me know I love movies and music and animation. What you may not know is that I love comics too. I’m not a total geek but there is just something in me that connects to mythology, storytelling, and folklore . What better place to find those elements than in the comic book heroes that I know and love? So in an effort to find some interesting pieces of wall art I headed down to the closest comic book shop to pull some issues with cool covers. I found what I was looking for but I also got sucked in to a new storyline from my favorite hero, Batman. At the end of this new series RIP… (dum, dum, daaaaaaaaaah) Bruce Wayne will no longer be Batman. Whaaaaaaaaaa? Sounds pretty cool to me. I’ve cross another line toward total geek-out.
I hope everyone has a great week. I’ll talk to you again soon.