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Introductions!

Hello!! Glad to have you here. Let me tell you a bit about myself.

I am currently volunteering as the interim youth director at my local congregation. Their previous director had to leave unexpectedly due to family illness. I had been working with the youth group as a student previously, and began leading them at the beginning of March, 2016. I was youth director at my previous congregation for 3 years. We'll see where all of that takes me in the coming weeks.

I am part of the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America). I received my seminary degree in 2012 in diaconal ministry from LTSS (Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary). I have 5 units of CPE (clinical pastoral education), and therefore I am considered a clinically certified chaplain. I am currently working on obtaining a certificate in Youth and Theology from Princeton Theological Seminary.


Enough about me - what about the blog? That's the main reason you're here!

My vision for this blog is to share my ideas & thoughts, share my successes, and also share those moments of "well that didn't work well!" I'm not promising a predictable blog - ministry isn't predictable (and neither am I!) I'm very interested in intergenerational ministry. The main focus in this blog is youth, but you'll also find things about/for children, young adults, middle-aged adults, senior citizens, and whoever doesn't happen to fit into those categories.

I hope this blog aids you in your own ministry - whatever that ministry looks like. We're all in this together.


Learn and grow in God with me!

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Thoughts and looking forward

It's been a bit since I've posted. Last week, I was away from the youth group for Princeton Seminary's Institute of Youth Ministry's annual forum. I got to hear from some amazing, brilliant people who really have a heart and understanding for youth ministry. I'm still processing it all! That will be another post, though. The week before, the youth had a jam-packed Wonderful Wednesday. It was our turn for clean-up after the meal. I didn't realize it would take quite as long as it did. That's one of my shortcomings - judging the amount of time it will take to do anything. I'd be chronically late to new places if it weren't for GPS telling me exactly how long it will take me to drive! I digress. We cleaned every pot, pan, knife, and spoon in the kitchen, as well as the tables and anything else we could get our hands on! I say we ... Really, the youth did most of the work.  Photo source: Cliparts After all of that cleaning, we played with the ...

Easter Egg Dyeing Party - Reflections

This one goes in the books as a "must do again"! We had a lot of fun, especially for something that got thrown together last-minute. For this year's party (which was actually more of a hang out), I bought the following: 25 clear plastic party cups (5 ounces) 1,000 toothpicks (I thought it said 100 - oops!) 100 vinyl non-powdered gloves 5 dozen eggs 1 gallon of vinegar (this was entirely too much!) 2 boxes of regular, assorted food dye 1 box of Neon food dye (We need at least 2 boxes) 1 party size bag chips 4.5 dozen cookies plastic tarp/sheeting plastic tablecloth shaving cream crayons gemstone stickers I found a chart for a lot of different colors you could make with food dye plus water & vinegar. I printed that out and one of the teens happily took charge of counting out the 20 or more drops of dye for each color. These produced wonderfully vibrant colors on the eggs. I showed the youth how to draw on the eggs with crayon which would le...

Sheer silence

One chilly morning, the power went out before I was awake. I was sleeping with an air purifier and the ceiling fan going, plus the heat. It seems counter intuitive, but I enjoy the airflow from the fan; I digress. The sudden silence from none of those things, which have become seemingly unimportant noises in my room, is what woke me up. It's amazing how loud silence can be sometimes. It reminds me of Elijah's story in 1 Kings. In chapter 19, Elijah has fled the town where he had been prophesying because he was afraid he would be killed. He went into the wilderness and fell asleep under a tree, he had a vision, and when he woke up he wandered a bit further and found a cave. He fell asleep there, as well. The word of the Lord came to Elijah and asked him why he was so far from the town. Elijah explained that he felt he had done everything he could and now was afraid for his life. Then, in verses 11-13a: [God] said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord , for ...