Most of us who have been around the block a couple of times in youth ministry know that youth ministry can stink from time to time.  The endless parade of meetings can drain you.  Critical parents or leaders can steal your joy.  The neverending paperwork and administration can bury you in your office.

Don’t get me wrong, I love youth ministry.  There are just days when it’s hard to remember why.

Yesterday was the kind of day that reminded me of why I got into this profession.  It was an early morning with a Men’s Bible study at 6 am for me.  So I was in the office by 7:30 am.  After working for a couple of hours, I headed out to join some of my students who were playing “Ultimate Frisbee” in a local park  After a couple of hours of playing, we headed to a local pizza buffet bar for lunch.

While at lunch, one of my students asked what all students ask from time to time, “So what do you do all day?”  When I told him, he was shocked that the last 2+ hours of frisbee and pizza was “work” for me!  Then he said, “That’s a sweet job.”

As I thought about what he said, all the meetings, critical parents and leaders, mounds of paperwork and administration seemed to fade into the background and I really found myself loving my job.

I just needed to be reminded.

Maybe you do too.

Be reminded today!  Take a kid to Sonic for Happy Hour 1/2 priced Strawberry Limeades.  Take in a baseball game or soccer game.  Text a student just to chat.  But find a way today to remind yourself of why you got into youth ministry.

And be reminded.

Jim