My family did the “normal” stuff for us again this year.  I bbq’d the bird.  My mom and Shannon’s mom made the “side dishes” and desserts.  TJ finished the whole leg for the first time. The “blessing pot” was passed around (I’ll write about that next time) and our post-meal dominos game was fun.  Bottom line: our table was full and we are all thankful for so much.   Seriously, I am beyond blessed.

WAY BEYOND BLESSED… 
One random reminder of that fact is oddly enough, the pile of legos that is in the “playroom” at our house.  I’ve had some of the pile for over 30 years and the rest is stuff my kids have steadily addd to on their own via gifts for the last 10 years.  It’s grown to be a GINORMOUS pile of legos that probably weighs close to 80 pounds.  It has parts from space ships, planes, star wars, cities, police, castles, cars, and so much more. Really, it’s gotta be at least 100,000 bricks and such.

Well, while in Disneyland earlier this month for Shannon’s b-day we poked around in Downtown Disney and went into the Lego store to poke around.  While in there, I found myself inexplicably drawn to the pile of bricks in the corner that were in bins sorted by color and style. It was like magnetic for me and it really bad made me want to fill a ginormous cup with parts and pieces and just buy bricks by the pound like I was 10 again.  I did not do that, but what I did do was think, “I bet if we organized our bricks at home like this, we’d have a great time playing with them.”  I bet I would have a great time playing with them.

So, last night Jake and I started sorting bricks in search of new inspiration.  We commandeered a rolling bin from my wife that was not being regularly used and started sorting away into it.  The result was awesome (we’re still only 1/3 of the way done though) and it also came with 3 reminders:

DANG. WE’RE BLESSED.  THIS PILE OF TOYS IS HUGE!!!  
Seriously, we still have pieces I’ve had since I was 8.  I used to carry them around in a green pillow case with a draw string.  Now the pile is simply too big.  I don’t even want to add up how much money we’ve spent over the year building this set of bricks.  It is A LOT though whatever it is.

CLEAN SPACES ARE MORE INSPIRING THAN DIRTY ONES.
Clean your office and you’ll feel more productive.  If you organize toys… old toys become new.  When you clean your car, you want to drive it more.  I mean even when you clean your own body, you feel better.   If your life lacks some inspiration, trying re-imagining a space you’re in.  We cleaned up the pile and made it into style and shape piles and the result was a forgotten pile of bricks became a blank slate of newness to enjoy.  Cleaning stuff up is simply inspiring for everyone.

Several years ago, we set a goal in our youth ministry to sponsor one kid on every continent that we could sponsor a kid on as a youth ministry.   We’re not there yet, but so far, our Encounter High School Ministry sponsors 5 kids or organizations monthly by asking students to bring $1 a week to our weekend services to help us sponsor them.  Here’s who we’ve been sponsoring for quite some time now:

1. A boy named Marvin in El Salvador through World Vision
2. A girl named Ruby in India through World Vision
3. A girl named Luyando in Zambia through World Vision
4. A boy named Hector in Tecate, Mexico through HIS Ministries.
5. An orphanage called Welcome Home where I adopted 2 kids from in Uganda

We are still very much committed to trying to help our students wrap their heads around the larger needs in the world through education and action for those who live in extreme poverty and this month, we did 2 things to add some more fuel to this fire:

WE VISITED HECTOR.

We made a day trip to Mexico on 11/11/11 to visit Hector and some of his peers at a Day Care center in Tecate where he goes daily and through which we sponsor him. In the process, we played with him, loved on him, put a name to a real face with some of our students and Hector, and we brought he and his family some food & household basics:  rice, beans, flour, sugar, potatoes, avocados, salsa, salt, oil, pots/pans, dish soap, and laundry detergent.   In the process, we found out that Hector’s Dad whom I’ve met before recently left his mom for another woman and kicked Hector’s mom and he and his siblings out of the house.  They are now living full time at the daycare center.  Words cannot describe how huge an impact this partnership is having with our students and Hector’s family.  Maybe these pictures might help.

WE ALSO HELD A “NO MEAL, ONE DAY” FASTING AND WORSHIP NIGHT.

We partnered with One Meal, One Day – an event that Compassion International puts on and we invited our students to skip a meal (or all their meals for a day) and bring the money they would have spent on food that day to youth group for a worship event so we could sponsor the poor around the world.

The result?   Students fasted and prayed and gave $354 toward the Famine in the Horn of Africa and pledged enough money each week for us to add another child to our sponsor list.   I’m so excited to introduce our students to a girl from Thailand that we now sponsor through Compassion International.   Her name is Keke.  May God use our youth ministry to completely transform her life as we partner with Compassion.

Here’s some pictures to tell this new story.

I sometimes post stuff over on on a blog called Slant 33.  It’s a blog where 3 people give their slant on an issue at hand that relates to youth ministry and youth pastors.

I recently posted an article in response to the question, “How do you find safe friendships at church?”  Here’s part of what I wrote.

Let me just start by affirming two things: 1) We all need safe friendships at church. All of us. 2) When you’re the youth pastor or youth leader, they are hard to find.  

Part of this is because you spend a lot of time with teens, and teens are not safe or healthy for accountability for you. So, the group you work with—unlike an adult ministry—is not a possible option for a safe friendship. Another reason is that, unless you’re at a really big church, if you’re the youth pastor, the pastors on your team are often people you answer to. Try as you may, it’s really hard to have a safe friendship with your boss who signs your checks or, when you confess your sins, doesn’t also muddy it with your leadership responsibilities. Which leads us to another reason we both need and find it hard to have safe friendships. Everyone around us is looking to us for leadership and guidance, and a safe friendship is one where you can be the uninhibited you. In a safe friendship, you share joys without creating jealousy and failures without creating judgment. So it’s hard. Understanding all of that, here are a few thoughts about how… 

Well, now next week I have another slant that is due, and this time, I’m wondering if you have thoughts you might want to contribute to the process.  Here’s the next question I have until Nov. 21 to post a response to:

WHAT YOUTH MINISTRY CLICHE NEEDS TO GO AWAY? 

Weigh in through the comments if you want.  I have a few ideas of my own, but what are some of the cliche’s that come to mind from your vantage point?

MIDDLE SCHOOL BOYS ARE CONSTANTLY GROWING AND CHANGING.  It’s like his body is in full fledged tilt mode.  Changes are knocking on the door of childhood and his body is pushing him into a young man. He just lost a molar last week & it was as if his body was saying, “Get the child out, it’s time to grow up now!”  As a dad, I both want to embrace and celebrate the change and also put the brakes on it too.  I’m eager to see who he will become as a young man, but I’m celebrating his fleeting childhood right now too as it’s literally ticking away day by day.