The funny thing about growing up with a disabled sibling is that you forget to see the disability. Of course you see the wheelchair that helps them get around, or the cane that aids them when they can’t see. However, they are just your sibling, simple and true.…
I once had an interesting opportunity to be one of the parent volunteers for a trip for “another” youth group my kids were involved in. It was not one in which I was a leader in any capacity. In this setting, I was a mom and a volunteer.…
Recently I read a hysterical article comparing back-to-school from the 80’s to back-to-school circa 2016. It joked about the simplicity of an era that involved lunches with processed bologna, metal lunch boxes, and the need to only supply a pencil and pen for the first day of school.…
We have been in the throes of graduations galore. Hats are thrown in the air, celebrations had, and gifts given. Then it’s over, but it’s not. The pomp and circumstance has died away, but students are still in a waiting space for the future to arrive.…
A couple of times a year I survey my teen students about our programming. What do we do well? What needs to change? What topics are we missing? There was a time when I recieved an overwhelming response that there was a desire to do more and be more.…
The current generation of students is being considered a group that is marked by a fear of failure and public scrutiny. Of course everyone blames the rise of technology and social media for the pressure this current generation of adolescents is under.…
Once, I had the awesome opportunity to offer some training and speaking in a dear friend’s small town in Kansas. After five days away, I sat on the plane ready for home. Plugging into music, a favorite worship song came on just as the plane engines started to roar.…
The proverbial “good kid” can come in many shapes and forms. They might be the ones that always show up early to actually help set up, or sit in the front row so they can pay attention and take better notes, or we ask to be on the student leadership team, or are the first to sign up for the missions trip, show up to every fundraiser and actually pay on time.…
For as long as I can remember I have been the poster child for relationally driven ministry. Perhaps it’s because I came out of the roller skating party era of youth group where it was more about programs than going deep.…
This time of year we hear a lot about all the ways the Lord has “blessed” so many around us with answered prayers. Sometimes they are silly: “Wow, I was asking God to find me a good parking place, and here I am up front at the mall.”…
