Youth Pastor's Life

God, did you forget about me? Do you remember that I exist? Maybe I am the Grinch’s roommate. Here I sit and these questions as well as others like them are racing through my mind over and over the past weeks. Some days the voices are so loud that nothing else seems to be able to come through the screams and through the tears and cries that follow. Mentally I’m exhausted and worn out. Spiritually my armor seems to have holes in it than not and the darts and lies of the enemy penetrate every last inch of me. Slowly turning my heart into nothing but ash. Nothing but an empty space in need of life to be restored to it. Why is the battle raging inside of me? It’s the season. It’s the time of year.  My explanation to those around me – I just don’t like Christmas. I don’t like the parties, the music (I turn the radio station to avoid it), ect. That’s only the surface level answer I tend to give. I have tried countless times to express the real reason of the why – but each ti

I may be their youth pastor but these students challenge me to become the best version of myself. This past week, we finished with a challenge of stepping out in faith and building a boat by using God's recipe. Sounds strange or complicated?!?! Let me explain! The week before school kicked off (I have said it each year) I told the students "this is your mission field for the next 36 weeks". So I challenged them to pray for 1 classmate each week. Not to hard to do, right? For most of the students, this is very much outside of their comfort zones and a step of faith to pray for those who may have hurt them in the past. Just like Noah who had to step out in faith to build a boat that seemed to be the most absurd thing to do and the one thing Noah had to rely on was the instructions that God had given him. God asks us to step out of our comfort zones to do what seems crazy to those around us but He will always help us navigate those times. God gave us a recipe book - th

I am alive! 😀  Life has taken a few turns since the last time I posted - and life as I know it right now is 'under construction' with many new chapters and new journeys on the horizon. And I am so excited to share it with you all!  So for now... I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! And it feels really strange saying that. I feel like summer was only a few weeks ago.  "For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." ~~ Isaiah 9:6

WOW!! This summer has been an amazing/wild ride. It feels as if graduations just happened last week and I was looking towards summer camps and fair time was still months away. Now - its all done and over with and school is starting up. Yup - you read that correctly - school is starting again. I go back to "WOW - where did the summer go"! While the summer has been an amazing ride - I have learned many valuable lessons through the summer on 2018. Now that I am on the other side of most of the lessons from the summer - I would not trade them for anything. As painful and uncomfortable as those lessons have been and are I have learned many valuable things. I'll let you in on a few. Summer Camps. This year I was blessed to be able to attend both High School and Middle School summer camps. Each one brought something different to the table and at the same time both had the same core. Giving students the pause in life to connect with God and with those around them. Not having

'Broken But Beautiful' phrase has been placed on my heart for many years. If someone asked me what motto I live by - I would have to say it is "Broken But Beautiful". Now if I am completely honest more days than not, I would say yes I am very much a broken human being, but I'm not so sure about the the beautiful portion of it. Usually that is the last thing I see when I look at myself or think about myself. Luckily, I have been blessed with amazing friends who remind me who I am in Christ. Why have I taken this phrase that God placed on my heart years ago as my motto for life today? Let me give you a peek into the part of my life I usually like to keep hidden from the world.... Broken But Beautiful. -- God gave me this phrase a few years ago in a hotel room in Kearney, NE during an overnight business trip meeting. That same night, I began to write out my story, but after a few minutes I shut it down and pushed the entire idea aside. Over the past few years,

Puzzles!! The sound of that word either makes a person smile with pure joy or it will make them run in pure fear. I personally am the first person. I LOVE puzzles. Most times when I sit down to work on one, I become lost in it. The world quits spinning and nothing else seems to matter. Speaking with a friend about puzzles, we joked that when a person loves puzzles you tend to forget to eat, shower, and sleep. Any 'normal' activity that one should accomplish in a day goes to the wayside. Nothing matters but the completion of that particular puzzle. Now you may be wondering why I choose to write about puzzles. And if you have read any of my other posts, you know I write about how and what God's has been teaching and speaking to me about. Hang in there and I promise there is a good illustration/learning moment that God spoke to me and hopefully will speak to your soul/spirit. I feel as if I need to back up a bit and explain where and how my love for puzzles came from. My l