For a few months, the YS forums have had an on-going, ever-growing list of things YP’s say “no one told me about in my training. I added to that list a few weeks ago some things that I’ve learned. I thought it was worth capturing here:
1. Sheep bite.
2. You will have to empty yourself on the table everyday before the Lord…
3. The job is bigger than you. (OK, they said this… But I didn’t believe it.)
4. Contact work is more important than sounding good at youth group.
5. Ministry is what you do out of the office.
6. The pressure of leadership will crush your creativity, enthusiasm, energy, everything. Whatever is left comes from God.
7. Satan has a special ministry just for youth workers.
The other day, another forum member commented on my #6 on that list. They wrote:
This quote really hit me. I have been working for a little over 5 months now, and I look back at my original enthusiasm and wonder how I can get it back sometimes.
The more you do this, the more you realize how hopeless it is if you rely on yourself alone. When the trials of this job start to get to you and you feel empty, you know that it’s not about you and you are only capable with God’s strength alone.
There are a lot of times when I wonder why I continue to contribute to the YS boards. Afterall, I don’t get paid for it and I certainly invest a lot of my personal time and energy to it. I guess the “big reason” I continue to go back there and to comment is t wo-fold. First, I like to encourage others. Sounds so simple but I really do enjoy helping youth workers who are struggling with issues. Some of the issues are simple, they need to be pointed to a resource, other issues are complex, they don’t know what to do in a nasty situation. Encouraging them encourages me since it often point back to what a great situation I am in. Second, I get a lot of help there. For the most part I know I can bounce things off of this group of 4000 youth workers and see if someone has experienced the same thing or if they have an ounce of experience to share with me. It’s been an excellent source of book reviews, game ideas, etc.
I like to tell newcomers to the forums, if you give you will receive. It’s one of those simple principals in life that is true even on the internet.
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