Kick Me: Adventures in Adolescence

Last week I finished reading Kick Me: Adventures in Adolescence by Paul Feig. Through comical recollections of his adolescent years  I was instantly transported back to my own growing-up years. Beyond simple entertainment value, the biggest takeaway for me was simply remembering the awkwardness of those years. As a youth worker it is always good to be reminded of the incredible amount of change my students are going through.

I’ve often said, the older I get, the better I was. Reading this book reminded me that I too was once a weird kid, and I too once dealt with all of the things that kids today are dealing with. While kids today deal with some things more intensely that we did due to the advent of the Internet and social media, the reality is that kids are still kids, and at the core the things they struggle with are the same things we struggled with. Identity. Security. Relationships. Purpose.

Useful Dog Tricks

Adriana found this video yesterday. Love it!

Our Relational Approach to Reaching Students For Christ

Mission Impossible Parody: Bridge Jr. High Secret Mission

Today I took a bunch of our Jr. High kids on a secret mission to raid the Tweens campout and capture the 6th graders who are about to move up into Student Ministries and take them out as something of an initiation/we’re-excited-you’re-moving-up-this-summer time. I’ll post footage of our event soon, but for now here’s the video they were shown before engaging the mission.

Visiting Our Favorite 92-Year-Old Youth Worker!

Last night Natalia went on our church’s Tween campout. Adriana and I drove Claudia to Smithtown to spend the night with her best friend. We decided to take the scenic route down Rt. 25-A. As we were driving through our old stomping grounds I felt led to stop in and check on our favorite 92-year-old youth worker and friend Granny Frannie. While she can’t get out of her home much any more, this woman loves teenagers and in my book continues to be a great youth worker because she prays so diligently for them. We picked up a card and popped by unannounced, but we ended up staying for about 45-minutes and loved visiting with our dear friend. Her house is like a museum of black history (literally) and we always learn so much when we visit. Newsday recently did a piece on her. So neat! Granny is so full of life and wisdom and it was indeed an honor and a privilege to have her speak into our lives. Before we left we prayed for her and she prayed over us. A very special God-moment. We cherish every minute we are blessed to share with her.

SRC Student Ministries Summer Calendar!