Moving Onward

This is just one of those observation posts. It’s what I’m seeing from the corner office of my life.

The summer between high school and college is both exciting and depressing at the same time for graduates. Unlike any other class, I got really attached the class of 2006. And, whether they like to admit it or not, they got attached to Kristen and I. It was a great 3 years with them. I love them, I don’t regret my time invested in them, I can’t wait to continue being a part of their lives as we begin the transition from Pastor-Student to Pastor-Adult. It brings me a lot of joy to have been apart of their lives and to know that I get to be a part of the next stages of their lives somehow. (If they let me share it!)

But their time with me, at least in the form they have known it, is ending. It’s a natural cycle in youth ministry as graduates leave and new students come in. We have no other choice but to let the graduates leave and pick up our boots and begin investing in the next group. Every single year it is hard on the ones leaving. Trust me, it’s hard on Kristen and I as well.

What about them? Perhaps the hardest part for the class of 2006 is knowing that the things they were working so hard on are not completed yet. Being a part of the beginning process is never as much fun as being in the glory days of the final product. This is extremely evident to them in two areas:

1. Music. For 3 years we’ve struggled to get music off the ground in Light Force. The worship team has worked hard and prayed hard and done everything possible to jump start music. It’s been good but during their time we weren’t able to get it to the final stages of development. We had always hoped it would get there… and it just didn’t. Obviously, this summer we’ve taken it to a different level with having Dave here. It’s not that we don’t appreciate everything they’ve done… we’re just finally getting it going and somehow I sense they are frustrated. But they need to know that even if it didn’t happen through them… they set it up so that it could happen.

2. Leadership development. I’ve invested in them, they’ve done a great job. Now I can feel their frustration at our investing in younger people. Our time isn’t exclusively theirs anymore… and that’s a bitter pill to swallow. At the same time… they are leaving and it’s time to begin the process of doing with a new crew what we have done with them… of course it will be different and hopefully even better. But that pill is awful bitter nonetheless. (A pill made more bitter as they see my time most invested in Dave this summer.)

All this to say, while the youth ministry cycle is at times harsh and at times may seem unfair, it is a cycle. We have no choice but to, for lack of a better term, move forward. God’s agenda is not limited to the past. Instead we invest in the here and now for His glory. In the same way that I expect my graduates to take what they’ve learned and embrace the next stage in life, I challenge the up and comers to take the batton, step up and take Light Force to a whole ‘nother level.

It’s a little easier for me to say that because I’ve experienced it many times. As a student, as a volunteer, and as a youth guy. I see it coming and even though I warn the seniors it’s coming… every single year they don’t.

p.s. The best thing about recent graduates is seeing them come back the first time from college. It’s then that they see how time just marches on. Is that an evil thought?