Well, much has taken place since my, yes, September 5th posting. But now that I am officially sharing this blog, I intend on being a better blogger from this day forward. For those of you who have not yet heard, Shane and I are expecting our second child! We could not be more thrilled. It’s about time Ann Clayton had a playmate. What a great big sister she’ll be!
Ann Clayton is on the verge of walking . . . I can just feel it in my bones. She walks so well when she’s holding my hand, but she’s been timid in letting go. Lately, however, she’s been getting braver in trying to stand up on her own and she’s even taken a few small steps by herself. Today she came home from school with an “accident report” which occurred when she hit her head on the floor after an attempt at walking. Bless her little heart! She’s got a big bump. It will be any day now when she’s actually getting up and taking off all on her own. Wow! It’s all happening so fast. I’ll be sure to post a picture after Halloween of her in costume! The picture to the left is Ann Clayton waiting on Daddy to come home! Yep, she's a Daddy's girl.
You may be wondering about my title for this entry, “Our First Hurdle.” I knew that Shane and I would face challenges as youth pastors. I knew this. The first time I talked on a Wednesday night, I accidentally chose a worship song from itunes that was sung in an African language rather than in English. I thought choosing Chris Tomlin’s “We Fall Down” was a safe choice, but apparently Tomlin takes a good bit of mission trips to Africa each year. Needless to say, that was sort of a kink in the service. I recovered somewhat in saying that God is in all languages and that maybe we ourselves would mission there in a few years, but they totally thought it was weird—you could just tell. I never choose a song without listening through it entirely before services now. Those types of things are to be expected, of course.
So, call me naïve, very naïve, but I just didn’t think our youth would ever be so disrespectful as to outright defy our rules which we’ve established at church. I want to be their friend. I want to show them the love of Christ. But, how do you be their friend and lay down the law at the same time? I think I’ve been too concerned with being the new, "hip" youth pastor, that some now feel like they can walk all over me. That's my fault. I should have expected such things from teenagers because the Lord knows that I was not an angel in my late-teen years! Thus, from hereon out, we’re their youth pastors, we’re their mentors, we’re their spiritual leaders, we’re even their friends, but we won’t be walked upon, and we expect respect. Unfortunately, I’m learning that the position of youth pastor means also having to be the “mean guy” at times. I only hope they come to see that we do it out of love and it’s all in the best interest of both the youth and the church.
So, we’re learning and we have much to be learned down the road. We’ve jumped the first hurdle. I think we may have hit it, but we didn’t knock it down. And we’re back on track, ready for the next one (I think).
Prayer request: We’re taking the youth to the farm next weekend for an overnight retreat. Pray for us, but mainly pray that God will open their eyes on this retreat and create in them a deep desire to want to know Him more.
Proverbs 4:11 I have directed you in the way of wisdom; I have led you in upright paths.
Ann Clayton is on the verge of walking . . . I can just feel it in my bones. She walks so well when she’s holding my hand, but she’s been timid in letting go. Lately, however, she’s been getting braver in trying to stand up on her own and she’s even taken a few small steps by herself. Today she came home from school with an “accident report” which occurred when she hit her head on the floor after an attempt at walking. Bless her little heart! She’s got a big bump. It will be any day now when she’s actually getting up and taking off all on her own. Wow! It’s all happening so fast. I’ll be sure to post a picture after Halloween of her in costume! The picture to the left is Ann Clayton waiting on Daddy to come home! Yep, she's a Daddy's girl.
You may be wondering about my title for this entry, “Our First Hurdle.” I knew that Shane and I would face challenges as youth pastors. I knew this. The first time I talked on a Wednesday night, I accidentally chose a worship song from itunes that was sung in an African language rather than in English. I thought choosing Chris Tomlin’s “We Fall Down” was a safe choice, but apparently Tomlin takes a good bit of mission trips to Africa each year. Needless to say, that was sort of a kink in the service. I recovered somewhat in saying that God is in all languages and that maybe we ourselves would mission there in a few years, but they totally thought it was weird—you could just tell. I never choose a song without listening through it entirely before services now. Those types of things are to be expected, of course.
So, call me naïve, very naïve, but I just didn’t think our youth would ever be so disrespectful as to outright defy our rules which we’ve established at church. I want to be their friend. I want to show them the love of Christ. But, how do you be their friend and lay down the law at the same time? I think I’ve been too concerned with being the new, "hip" youth pastor, that some now feel like they can walk all over me. That's my fault. I should have expected such things from teenagers because the Lord knows that I was not an angel in my late-teen years! Thus, from hereon out, we’re their youth pastors, we’re their mentors, we’re their spiritual leaders, we’re even their friends, but we won’t be walked upon, and we expect respect. Unfortunately, I’m learning that the position of youth pastor means also having to be the “mean guy” at times. I only hope they come to see that we do it out of love and it’s all in the best interest of both the youth and the church.
So, we’re learning and we have much to be learned down the road. We’ve jumped the first hurdle. I think we may have hit it, but we didn’t knock it down. And we’re back on track, ready for the next one (I think).
Prayer request: We’re taking the youth to the farm next weekend for an overnight retreat. Pray for us, but mainly pray that God will open their eyes on this retreat and create in them a deep desire to want to know Him more.
Proverbs 4:11 I have directed you in the way of wisdom; I have led you in upright paths.
