Spiritual Advisory
Do you take precautions and protect yourself and your ministry spiritually? Gwen talks about the importance of always looking forward and remembering the battle is already won.
Don’t Clear the Backlog Just Yet
Coming Up For Air I sat down with a friend the other day. And, as we indulged in a hipster lunch in some gourmet coffee shop, he shared his plans to take a month off this summer. He is an excellent youth minister who has not come up for air in years. I was fascinated […]
Refilling Your Cup in Busy Times
Busy Summer can be (and most of the time, is) a busy time for youth ministers. Between camps, mission trips and conferences, it’s easy to finish the summer more exhausted than you began. It is vital to take care of yourself, allow the Lord pour into you, and take some time to rejuvenate. Whether you only have a […]
Panning for God
Where Is Your Happy Place?
Your Happy Place Are you sitting near a stream? Maybe you are in the stands, watching your child perform on the field or the stage? Are you in front of a blank canvas with a brush in hand? You could be sitting on the porch, on a cool morning drinking a cup of coffee? Instead, you may consider […]
Bruised, Dirty, and Muddy?
This past Saturday, several good friends and I ran a race called the Tough Mudder. We had a lot of fun, worked hard, and got muddy. Afterward, I realized that this race makes an excellent analogy for what the beginnings of many new ministries feel like. Initially it’s scary seeing the course that has been laid […]
I Wish the Saints Were Kidding Sometimes
Part of my Lenten activities this year include reading a book called “A Lenten Journey with Jesus Christ and St. John of the Cross”, by Rev. George Mangiaracina, O.C.D. This book has a reflection for every day in Lent. I have to admit, this hasn’t been easy for me. I am drawn to St. John […]
When Everything is Awful
No matter how many good days you have, how many wonderful friends are in your life, how great your relationship with God is going, how perfect your job is, there will be days when it feels as if everything is crashing in around you and you just don’t want this particular life. There will be […]
Battling Burnout
When I was new into ministry I asked a priest if he had an advice for a new youth minister. “Take care of yourself,” he said. “You have to look out for yourself because no one else will.” I thought he might be exaggerating, after all I was working for a Church and anyone working […]
Taking A Lesson from C. S. Lewis
“I have no intention of explaining how the correspondence which I now offer to the public fell into my hands. There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy […]