For most youth workers, the start of summer ushers in a different pace of life for our families and ministries. Some of us experience a huge increase in activities and events, even as our own children get out of school and expect to have time to relax.…
We love summer! No more alarm clocks, bonfires, and planned spontaneity! And if you’re a youth worker, we’re guessing you probably love it too. Our summer youth calendar is jam-packed with cool stuff like camp, mission trips, and summer activities all designed to help our students grow in their trust in Jesus.…
Today’s teenagers are glued to their tech devices. They have tablets, laptops, and especially cell phones that suck them in and demand their full energy and attention, often to the exclusion of other important things in life—including sleeping, live interaction with family members and peers, and schoolwork.…
This has been an unusually busy season for my family. We all have them, there are those times when we feel the full weight of 24 hours in a day, five to eight of which are wasted in sleeping. If I could just harness the ability to never sleep, then I might get everything done.…
We all know youth workers who have lost credibility with their students. We often pass judgment on them and know personally what we would have done differently. However, what makes a youth worker credible in a teenager’s eyes may be different from what a youth worker thinks will make them credible. …
My pastor, Rick Warren, always says, “You don’t learn from people’s strengths, you learn from their weaknesses.” If that’s true, then I have a wealth of knowledge! But seriously, I’ve been doing youth ministry for a while now, and throughout my years in ministry, I’ve tried to be intentional about learning from my mistakes.…
Gratitude gets wonky when we sit down at our Thanksgiving banquet table and look side to side, doesn’t it? Look to your right, and there’s your neighbor who went to school for fewer years than you, works fewer hours than you, and makes twice as much money.…
Before our second Valentine’s Day after we started dating (see throwback photo on the left!), I (Jake) had purchased a present that I was ecstatic about. I couldn’t even contain my excitement enough to make it to February 14, so after some begging and my best impression of puppy dog eyes, Melissa gave in to getting her present a day early.…
**Disclaimer: The following has nothing to do with my current employment or my current feelings toward it. This is simply a piece designed to help those who are struggling in their work and ministry contexts as I know there are times we all question why we are doing what we are doing.**…
With New Year’s resolutions, I’m always shooting for the moon—I go for big, Batman-sized resolutions. But this year things are going to be different. Big, bold resolutions seems like a recipe for failure. Don’t get me wrong, Batman gets big things done, but this year my strategies will be Robin-sized.…
