That is my job title. I have to say, so much about this new job just snuck up on me. Yes, I was looking for a job, but it wasn't my plan to work in a church again and I never thought I would be working with youth full-time. If I would have ignore that little nudge when a friend emailed me the job posting, I could have missed a lot. This is again one of those times in life that God's blessings have been so much greater than my imagination. And looking back I can see God has been preparing me for this place as long as ten years ago. Maybe even longer. I am able to do so much in this job. Yes, I have great responsibility, both to my new church and to God. I would be foolish to overlook that. But this position within the church has already opened doors I never knew existed. It is a ministry of my heart, with a paycheck, something I have wanted but wasn't sure even existed.
I get to hang out with teenagers and enjoy with them, this stage of their life. I am now the one they listen to. I hope to be the one they will come to. And I have the church backing me on this! The pastors, God and I are in charged of the spiritual development of young people. I work with the best! Part of the blessing is being mentored by the pastors. We are already quite a team! Many others in ministry want to help and have offered to mentor me in this new place in life. So many people are excited with me and so ready to share resources, experience and knowledge. To top it off, I have a great group of adult youth coaches, who show up and invest in the lives of the youth.
One of the best parts about this new place in life I am in, is that I now have practically unlimited access to this lovely prayer chapel. It is a medium sized room with pews practically stacked to fit about 75 people. I can hardly enter the doorway with out first feeling the need to take off my shoes. It is holy ground, and makes me think of the faith of all the people who have before me, darkened the door of this holy place. After my shoes are off, I usually then notice the flood of eminence peace wash over me. Most days it fills my spirit and satisfies my soul.
Once inside, I will often walk a few steps to the altar and kneel down on the kneeler which has been used for the last 100 years, and talk to God. I pray til my knees hurt, which doesn't take long since the kneeler is made of hard wood without a cushion. Not comfortable, but nether was Christ as he carried my sin. I then will sing praises as they come to mind, or flip through a hymnal and sing the songs I know. The acoustics are amazing in that space, and I like to think that no one can hear me excpedt God. No one has complained yet. :) I have learned not to go into that place without pen and paper, for it is often in the quiet in the chapel that a great idea for a talk will come to mind. Sometimes that is the very reason I wonder in their to begin with.
The blessings have been great in this new season of life thus far, but God has also stretched me quite a bit and I haven't forgotten to give it all back to him. I am not so far out of the woods yet to forget the what being lost feels like. I read a wonderful blog on this a few days ago, that I would highly recommend. It is something that I know I will reference again and again for encouragement in the desert times in my life. I very much wish I had read something like this before.
As I am enjoying this time of blessing, I have to remind myself to seek God first and let that be my focus, because I am already looking for the next big blessings! However, I am not naieve enough to believe I will not end up in the desert again.
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