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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 beach ball for a bit. Due to technical issues, we then moved from the youth room to another classroom and watched a couple of videos about stress. We had a short discussion about what we each thought we could start incorporating into our routines to help alleviate stress. We then went back to the youth room and did some guided meditation. Both the videos and the meditation went over like a lead balloon for some of the youth, and were terrific for the others. The lesson did not include any references to God/Jesus/Bible. By the time I was gearing up for the lesson, it was time for most of the youth to go home. Lesson learned. Next time we have clean-up duty, I won't plan to do much. Maybe we can talk about Mary and Martha while they're cleaning, though!
This week, I want to spend time with the beach ball, and looking at the next few months to plan activities outside our usual Wednesday meeting times. The beach ball has over 100 questions and it's really gotten the youth talking. They have fun, we learn about each other, and we get time to talk theology. As far as the calendar, I have some ideas for the next 5 months that I'm going to present to the youth. Each month, I have at least one "servant event" and one "fellowship event" in mind. For this month, May, the youth will be helping with the church clean up day, decorating the bulletin board, and celebrating our seniors who will be graduating soon.

 I'm looking forward to the coming months with the youth and their parents. The forum has re-energized me and given me deeper understandings as well as new ideas.

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