Back to Jesus ...

I know God doesn't take off a few weeks in the summer for a little "me time" ... although I did hear he enjoys surfing the Outer Banks and hiking the Blue Ridge. When my youth group gets together during the summer it's geared towards our mission trips, which is pretty much what our summer revolves around ... but we're on hiatus from our weekly Sunday gatherings while school's out. I know. I know. I've put God on an academic calendar so I could have a summer break. I hope there's extra credit I can do later. So now I'm a week out from getting the motley crew back together and I'm pacing the cage. Gotta get pumped up to show them where to find God's grace and mercy and how to be good, upstanding Christian yoots that will amaze and astound their non-Christian friends. Throw in a few car washes and a walk for hunger and we're sure to get approving nods from Church Council. I always come back with this over-zealous image of what our youth group will look like once we're all together again. I imagine it to be like one of those awesome soft drink commercials where everybody's at the beach running in slow motion through the sparkly water. They're all smiling and hugging each other while playfully tossing ice cold cans out of a vintage cooler to quench their adolescent thirst. Then later when they're all tired and tanned, they gather 'round a campfire to talk about their relationship with Christ and how they're going to make the world a better place. And I'm 10 years younger and play the guitar and do speaking engagements. Darn those soft drink commercials for getting my hopes up.
The fact is I'm anxious and excited. I've got a captive audience and I don't want to screw it up. The captive audience changes on a weekly basis; the apathetic, the enthusiastic, the begrudged, the theology scholar, the bored, the texter, the talker, the broken, the confused and the lost. The thing is they all need to have their souls fed one way or another. I pray I find ways to inspire and keep them in tune. So while I pour through books with titles like "Christian Object Lessons with Jell-O" and "How to Make Jesus Exciting for Teens" ... I look forward to another year of running in slow motion through the sparkly water.

Be prepared. You're up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get,
every weapon God has issued, so that when it's all over but the shouting you'll still be on your feet.
Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them.
You'll need them throughout your life. God's Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way,
prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters.
Keep your eyes open. Keep each other's spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.

-- Ephesians 11:13-18 The Message