Goin' Mercer…ramblings and rants!

When you hit the garage door opener button and the door stops then comes back in reverse, shakes vehemently, releases the door and then sucks a part back into the motor making a cracking sound. That just shouldn’t be. I called our landlord and then called the garage door company and had a technician come to see it. He saw it, diagnosed it, and now we are waiting on process. Until then I will be getting out a bed a tad earlier to open the garage door manually for Leah so she can go to work. This is when I’m thankful to be renting.

When you wake up at midnight because its incredibly warm and discover that your entire block has no electricity. This just shouldn’t be. I woke up because it was warm in our house and nothing was working. Then the electricity came on and I was excited. Then there was a flash and it was off again. That lasted until 3:30 am, yes A.M.! The moment the power came back on I knew because I could feel cold air once again and because I never fell back to sleep. There was no bad weather, just some kind of blackout I guess.

When you hear your wife say from the bathroom that her new hair dryer won’t work. This just shouldn’t be.

When you find out its not the hair dryer, but the bathroom electrical outlets. This just shouldn’t be! That’s right I am assuming that the plugs not working this morning has something to do with the electricity going out last night. And, yes I did check the circuit breaker box and yes I did flip every circuit breaker, but no luck. This just shouldn’t be!

There are tons of things in life that just shouldn’t be. How do we distinguish which ones to let go of and which ones to work hard to correct. There are people starving in every country (including our own and yes including Abilene). There are people leaving the church at an alarming rate. There are others in the church who want it to be all about them. There are little children who are abused, neglected, or marginalized. There are elderly who are homeless, broke, or completely isolated. Innocent people are in prison and guilty criminals are walking our streets. There are fatally ill people all around our globe with known and unknown diseases.

This Just Shouldn’t Be!

Can we do something and if so, what? Whom shall I send God asked Isaiah? Our answer with Isaiah in unison is “Lord, send me!”

What has God called you to change or to help change?
My first answer is the lives of churched adolescents and helping to further discover Christ and reaching out to their friends in and outside our church walls.
However, I am searching for the more that is out there.

What about you?

-Michael

It has been a while since I have posted anything that really could encourage youth ministers. Lately I have been consumed with…well…me! Something happen last night that made me think to write today about parents of youth ministry students.

From the time you decide to become a youth minister the jokes and concerns begin to roll. Most are innocent and some are even funny. One that you can be guaranteed is about parents. For some reason as soon as you begin studying and practicing youth ministry somehow parents become the advesary. Fortunately in both places I have done full-time ministry there has been great support of parents. I am not sure why it is we can sometimes be mislead into thinking that they are in opposition. For the last five years (the first two were a learning process) I have been using the line, “The youth ministry is here to partner with the parents to help their children in their spiritual journey.” It’s not just a line for me, I truly believe it. I don’t know how to parent adolescents, but I know a lot about their culture and have been trained how to guide them spiritually. So the parents and the youth ministry can work together and create an atmosphere and adventure that students will encounter God, Christ, Spirit, and be formed spiritually. That doesn’t mean that every parent or any parent all the time will agree with my reasoning or decisions. Let’s be honest, I don’t always make the right decision. Nor does it mean that I will agree with every parent’s decision. However, we can still work together for the glory of God.

Last night we had our last class for New 6th grader’s parents. It was three weeks long. My co-youth minister nor I are parents, much less parents of adolescents. So, the first week we taught about adolescent culture. The second week we brought in a guest teaching couple who has parented two adolescents and they discussed how parenting is different from 0-5th grade than it is 6-12th grade. Last night we had our youth elders and their sponsors come in and be a panel for the parents to ask questions regarding raising their kids spiritually. We had a great turnout every week and great participation in class. I now feel so much closer to those parents and am so thankful for how they parent their child and love the Lord.

The older I get the closer I am in age to the parents of our youth. What once was a twenty year difference is now just a 10 year difference and less for some. I am learning so much from our parents and how they raise great kids. The parents are becoming my friends not my enemies. So if you are reading this and haven’t yet stepped into full-time youth ministry and change in perception of parents could save your career before it even starts. Without them there are no youth and you have no career. Enjoy the parents of your kids and learn how to work through the differences you may have with certain parents. Don’t take everything so personally and always choose the parent over the student. The student will come back around and the parent will help influence that relationship.

Parents are my friends and my ministry is stronger and healthier because of their love for their kids and desire to see them grow in the Lord.

-Michael

Today we had a Greek Quiz. I feel like I aced the quiz. The translations are a different story. As a table we went over our translations. I had written my translations during the weekend and copied them down to a more legible reading last night. The funny thing is that the copy looks nothing like the original. I am not sure if I was tired or what but it looked nothing like it did in the original. When I explained this to my table we all had a good laugh.

School is fun, but somewhat overwhelming. Of course life hasn’t been easy lately so anything extra is overwhelming. I like my courses and professors and am looking forward to a great semester.

We have a Middle School camping trip and I am looking forward to spending some time with these students. It is going to be a great weekend.

Pray for my house to sell. In October it will have been a year and not one offer. God needs to work a miracle!

-Michael

Well, that’s my badge. Last weekend I took 16.5 hours to become a Grade 8 FIFA Referee. Which means that I can referee youth division games for the Big Country and adults as well. I enjoyed the course, passed my exam, and look forward to reffing my first game. I hope its the little guys, because my inexperience will speak volumes. Well, if your kid plays Big Country Soccer chances are I will get to see them play and maybe even referee or be the assistant referee. So be gentle to the guys in Gold!

-Michael