Youth Minister Babbling

There are many things about being a youth minister that i love. The first one is the relationships with the teens. I mean there is no way a teenager is going to listen to me talk about how much God loves us if I don't try to connect with them on a personal level. And that right there is the most challenging part of my job. It's hard to try to connect with all of them on my own especially when most of them are being forced to be there by their parents. But every now and then I am shocked when a teen I think has not listened to a word I said all year calls me in a panic when she thinks she is pregnant. It doesn't shock me that a teen thinks she is pregnant, I mean look around at our culture where sex is "no big deal" and parents hand out condoms instead of the truth about Who created it and what it should be used for. What shocks me is that the teens are soaking up the information I give them on Sunday nights even when they sit there with their arms folded and head down on the table.

Of course, not all teens are like this. There are some teens that THRIVE on being there on Sunday evenings. Some of them even find their identities and self confidence in what is taught on Sunday evening. It is those teens that I feel a deeper connection to because they are willing to speak up in small groups, sit down in my office and and tell me what relationship problems are going on in their lives, which friends are fighting, which classes they are failing, basically, every little detail of their life. I mean they are teenagers....they love to talk about themselves. And I love to listen. Sometimes they want advice and sometimes they just want to talk. I'm still learning when to say something and when to keep quiet. It's a tough position being a youth minister because the teens and I aren't exactly "buddies" yet we are friends. Not friends in the way where we hang out on Friday evenings at a party but in the way where I am honest with them and always there for them to love them without judging.

I have learned a lot in the 8+ years that I have been a youth minister now. Wow...has it really been 8 years? I will admit some years I have wanted to throw the towel in while others I couldn't imagine doing anything else. I was only 21 when I first started working with teens. I remember the very first event I took teens to...it was Catholic Youth Day at Six Flags. I had NO idea what I was doing. I remember the exact moment I realized I was in charge was when the teens unloaded from the vans of the parent drivers and one teen asked me what time they needed to check in for lunch. For a moment I wanted to say "Go ask your leader" and an overwhelming fear hit me that not only was I the leader, but I was responsible for all the teens and to make sure they stayed safe, and got home in one piece. My friend Jessica was a chaperone and thank God she was there for moral support!

I think back to who I was then and can't believe how much I have grown and changed. When I first started, I wasn't much older than some of the teens and now 8 years later, high school seems like a weird memory to me. I have found that my advice to the teens is so different now than just a short but long 8 years ago.

I love working with teens but I don't think you could pay me enough money to live high school over again. Too many heartbreaks, school stress, drama, you name it. I like it better on this side.