I feel like a youth pastor again…

Our church is quickly crashing into Life Group season again and my wife and I have been asking God what kind group we should be a part of or start.  We have thought about newcomers, new believers, young couples—the whole gamut.

But our hearts have landed on students.

Not just any students, but students that either don’t attend church, or only come on Sundays and haven’t plugged into the student ministry on Wed. night.  Maybe it’s because we have girls in high school, but we are privy to the drama and trauma of so many young lives and our hearts have felt crushed by what they are experiencing and how it is affecting them—how they are acting out because of it.  Our hearts are breaking with the heart of God and you don’t have to go to Africa to hurting youth, they are in our backyard.  Suicides rates are skyrocketing while depression and isolation wrap their coils around their hearts and choke them out.

So in the past couple weeks I’ve been seeing God order divine appointments with the parents of these teens and I’ve asked what they thought about their child joining our group.  It’s been cool to see their eyes light up and when I finally contact these kids, not one of them has said no.  I know they aren’t all in a great place spiritually and I’m not sure some of them even know Jesus, but that’s where Heidi and I are drawn to invest our lives right now.

So I’m coming out of youth pastor retirement.  Haha.  After 13 years of working with adults, I’m going to take this next season to disciple students again.  I should say that I’m pretty excited about it.  I wonder if I have the chops to lead them, but I’m sure if I don’t, they will knock the rust and dust off me pretty quick.  All I know is that I feel a love for them and a passion to see them lay a firm foundation for their future and that foundation is God, their Creator and Lover.

This ought to be an adventure.  It’s time to climb out of our comfort zone and try something new.  That’s faith.