Middle school is a beast that I feed pizza too and then step aside and watch in amazement as ‘it’ devours the meal in seconds and then fills the room with ear-piercing squeals, body odor and an overall hormonal wave of awkwardness.
Now that I’m on the ‘other side’ of ministry as a PARENT VOLUNTEER the view is much different from being the one ‘in charge’…though I never signed up to tame the ‘middle school beast’ I was much happier directing the ‘high school drama’. 😉
When I told my youngest I was going to volunteer tonight at the church’s EDGE Social his response wasn’t of great enthusiasm and excitement, can you believe that? 😉 Instead I received an expression of mock horror and “Are you really? Does that mean you are going to like watch me? How creepy is that?”
Creepy? Me? Creepy?…. Hmm….in the twelve years I’ve done work in youth ministry I don’t believe I’ve ever been called ‘creepy’. Maybe this is validation that staying on as my children’s youth minister was indeed not a good idea? 😉 Even though I hated leaving youth ministry for our parish (I still speak at LIFENIGHTS in other areas and speak to teens at other churches) that it was a directive from God in order to sanctify the relationship I do have with my sons as both their mother and minister at home?
🙂 I assured him I would be in the background, serving pizza and cleaning up which made him relax. Humph.
Thing is, I’ve received some ‘un pleasant’ comments from fellow ministers in the industry that have made it known they didn’t feel I was ‘in touch’ with youth of today unless I was a youth minister. They disagreed with my viewpoint that my ministry to my children as parent should be different from the relationship they would have to a younger youth minister that is more neutral but yet still on the same page as the very beliefs I instill within my children.
When I left work as an actual ‘youth minister’ for our parish it didn’t just hurt me personally to walk away from a gift God had given me but it hurt me professionally in some areas as well and for a few years I’ve held onto resentment and even harbored uncertainty about the path I have felt God is leading me on.
Tonight, though, tonight God healed some wounds and opened the door wider so that the light shines on my path a little brighter. I walk with the Lord, I should not doubt my path because of someone else’s unjust opinions.
We trust in the Lord, not in man.
Blessings
Shannon
(FYI, Day 12 and Day 13 will be written on the same day – Sunday, Day 13). Neal and I will be on a couple’s retreat so I give myself permission to skip a day. 🙂 )