1st Year Ministry Observations

Having just completed my first year of student ministry at Calvary; I'm taking a moment to jot down some observations. Sitting here at a coffee shop called Cosmo in Tulsa, I reflect on my time in the..... OK state??? (is that the state motto???...who knows?) Anyway, here they are.

1. Maybe I'm getting old, but ministry is tiring. I mean I'm tired all the flippin' time. These students wear me out...in a good way. I am tired when I come home on Wednesday nights, or from youth events on Saturdays, or from Mission Trips or Camps. Maybe that means I'm workin...and I feel good about workin.

2. Good people in OK. Some of the best people I've ever met; and the nicest people I've ever known are here in....you guessed it...OK. Leon and Delois, Scott and Jana, Barry and Tanya, Michael and Susan, Tom, Cliff, Bobbi, Clayton and Rhyan, et al. You guys (like they'll ever read this) recharge my batteries. If ministry wears me out, you guys are the reason I can continue to reach your kids. That's the way it should be...Believers leaning on one another with the common goal of ministry in mind.

3. Kids will be kids. Kids, students, young people, adolescents, whatever you want to call them. Most of them are irresponsible, undependable, and frustrating....but so am I. I have to constantly remind my human mind that youth ministry isn't about being comfortable, it's this...a person who is a little farther down the spiritual line trying to reach students that inevitably think he is a dork. That's it, and when I think about it, I wouldn't have it any other way. God has given me a place in my heart for students, and equipped me with every resource to effectively minister to students in Duncan, OK. That's what I want to do.

4. Honesty is the best policy. When I came to Calvary, I wasn't sure which hat I would have to wear. Hat#1 Conservative ABA Youth Minister - Short ties, beer guts, and polyester suits, man I'm glad that wasn't the case. Hat#2 Wealth of biblical knowledge commentator - I'm really glad that this is not the case. I'm glad I can talk about my love of violence, (including horror films and Jack Bauer) sports, and Home improvement equally with biblical stuff. Hat #3 (me) Just normal old me- Kramer factor in full force: a key loosing, man purse wearing, Light-blue sweater sporting, country music loving, Falsetta singing, Own foot tripping, wall demolishing, mexi-melt eating, normal guy, YOUTH PASTOR. I feel sorry for alot of people at churches where they have to fit some mold. I'm glad I don't have to be something I'm not at Calvary.

Father, help me to glean much more in my years at Calvary. Bless my feeble attempts at ministry. Teach me, mold me as an instrument. Amen