The End is Near

The summer is drawing to a close and that can only mean one thing for many people. SCHOOL! I have enjoyed this summer. I love spending time with the youth and watching them change and grow. I hope that I have made at least a small difference in their lives.

The last Monday Night Live is tonight in Maben at the Midway Church. I am excited about it, for one, because Sean has asked me to lead singing there tonight, and he asked that I bring the laptop to project the songs onto a screen. So I got to be creative with the slides, and O how I love being creative...I'm a Graphic Designer, what do you expect? I'm sure everything will go well, and maybe the place will be packed. I really enjoy going to Monday Night Lives, although, I am really bothered at what most of them have become, which is a regular ole traditional Sunday Night Service, well...except for the fact that it's on a Monday. I feel like tonight will be different from what Sean tells me. It really bothers me that most places aren't trying to adapt MNLs to relate to teenagers (which makes up 85% of the audience) in a language they can understand. I do enjoy talking with the kids that I have met from other churches and the other youth ministers there. I feel like I've started some friendships.

Tonight will be sort of the marker for the end of the summer, as far as youth activities go since school begins Thursday. School is probably the hardest place for someone to stand out as a Christian and make a difference because of all the peer pressure and expectations of a student, especially in high school and junior high. It can also be very trying on teachers who are Christians. I know because my mom is one.

Lord, bless this school year. Give strength to those in the youth group that they can withstand the peer pressure and be willing to be set apart. May they be the example that they are called to be. Be with the teachers among us that they may lead by example as well, and serve the students in their classes as if they were serving You. In Jesus' Name. Let it be so.