Winning...

          Next week, I am taking a large number of students from my ministry on our annual Summer Retreat. There will be one big difference this year though, and that will be that my children will be coming along with us. My wife and I attended the Simply Youth Ministry Conference earlier this year, and we realized both while we were there, and when we returned home, that the length of the trip and being without Mom and Dad, took a heavy toll on our little guys!

Love Like a Hurricane...

          Another title for this post could be "In Case of Emergency..." or "Duck and Cover..." but I prefer to stay on the upside of things. Wednesday night during our weekly youth service the weather here in Northeast Ohio went from pleasant to treacherous in a matter of minutes.

Strategies for success...

Summer vacation is nearly upon us, for some ministries that means a break from weekly ministry, but for us it means continuing on and adding in more outreach events. This Friday will kick off the first of a monthly movie nights series that will run through the summer for my ministry. We'll be showing faith based films and having a short discussion afterwards. But before we get to Friday, we'll be having some small group discussions about sharing our faith, and about those in our lives we would like to share it with.


So we're employing these strategies:

Spent...

          I'm sure many of you know the feeling. A busy week, followed by a busier weekend, followed by yet another week waiting to greet you. For me this past week was not only busy, but taxing emotionally and spiritually. I've had a number of issues brought to me by students, and volunteers, and am in the middle of doing what I can to deal with them, and help each individual find a healthy resolution to them.

It's Friday...

          Now don't start singing Rebecca Black just because of the title of this post! I just wanted to check in with everyone to see how this week of ministry has gone for you? Or maybe you're just gearing up for your big night in ministry this Sunday? Either way I hope it has gone, or is going well. Please share your weekly routines/traditions with me! I'd love to hear them!

          Remember to squeeze in a sabbath this week, and get recharged before the next week rushes up on you! Have a great weekend everyone!

Blessings,

Jeremiah

It's Wednesday...

For many youth workers Wednesday is THE day! For my ministry it's the night of our weekly service and a good chunk of the week is spent praying, planning, and preparing for this night. Over the past year I've kind of settled in to a nice weekly routine to get ready for Wednesday night, but every once in a while things get a little wonky because of the day job. The good thing is with a routine in place it's easy to get back on track and finish strong.

Gaga's Kingdom?

          What's this? A second post in one day? I know, hard to believe. I wanted to link a video here that I found by way of Doug Fields' Blog. I think as youth workers this video has many teachable moments, however the original had a few expletives in it, so I grabbed it and cleaned it up a little, so you won't get any calls from parents, elders or pastors!

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this!

Blessings,

Jeremiah

Fritter, and waste...

Ok, I grew up in a house that among other things gave me a decent education in classic rock. And when I think of the past few days I've had, the line of an old Pink Floyd song comes to mind "Fritter, and waste the hours in an offhand way". I haven't prioritized my time well, haven't even made a simple checklist of things that need to be done. I know that things are piling up, but I've found little motivation to even start let alone finish any of them.

Friday/Sunday...

           Today I want to share with you a video that I produced with my "Core Team" these are the student leaders within my ministry. I gave them about 2-3 days to memorize the script and we shot both sequences in a little under 2 hours. They did an amazing job!