Scott Meier
Scott Meier is the director of high school student ministries at McFarlin Memorial United Methodist Church, a 5,500-member congregation in Norman, Oklahoma. Scott has served at McFarlin for 15 years and has been in youth ministry for over 22 years. Scott grew up in Walla Walla, Washington, studied marketing at Washington State University, and has served churches in Washington and Oklahoma. Scott married Kristin Agent in October 2003.
Mile 20!
- By Scott Meier
- Published 10/20/2008
I woke up this morning feeling like I was in mile 20 of a marathon. While I have never run a marathon, I have had people who have tell me that around mile 20 your body begins to rebel and you feel as though you just want want to give up. You forget the months of training, the previous 19 miles of success, and the face you have a short 5 miles left in the marathon, all because the running gets to be too much.
Those in youth work know exactly what I mean. Kids and their issues, a lackluster youth gathering, lack of parental support, administrative duties (I wonder of Jesus ever had to deal with this!), and not to mention the feeling of being out on an island all by yourself! Sometimes this just gets to be too much.
I usually hit "Mile 20" about 4 times be year: in the early fall when the thrill of a new school year suddenly departs; the middle of winter right before our annual spring break mission to Mexico when the planning and fundraising starts to pile up on me; the end of the school year when everyone is just so doggone tired of the routine of the school year and still there are so many things going on (I sorta feel like this time of year is similar to pulling teeth to keep kids and people involved); and the and of the summer leading up to a new fall when the summer programming is winding down but I realize that I haven't even started to think about a new school year, let alone taking a summer vacation for myself!
Paul, in 1 Corinthians 9:24, says it best during my times of "Mile 20": "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize."
Run in such as way as to get the prize? Hmmm...much easier said than done on a day like this. But I know I have to fight through it...fight through it in prayer, in getting back into the scriptures, and by focusing on the "victories" in my ministry and not the defeats and frustrations. Usually I am a "glass half full" kinda guy, but when I experience my "Mile 20" the glass looks more than half empty. And not matter how many times I have experienced this "Mile 20", it still feels like this is the worst of them all and that it will never pass.
Run like I am getting the prize! Paul's inspiration to me is that I can't focus just on the past or even in the way I feel right now, but rather I must put my life and my context of the bigger picture. I must focus on where am I headed so as to see the overall goals and not just the frustrations of the moment. I must remind myself that fighting through the discouragements and overwhelming feelings are for a bigger purpose and not just survival.
Somewhere deep down inside I know this too shall pass. I am not sure it makes it any easier, or that it prepares me for future "Mile 20" experiences, but I do know that my calling is to fight through this. I also know, from many past experiences, that running through the "finish" line, whatever the finish line may be at any particular point, is one of the greatest feelings of all!
Those in youth work know exactly what I mean. Kids and their issues, a lackluster youth gathering, lack of parental support, administrative duties (I wonder of Jesus ever had to deal with this!), and not to mention the feeling of being out on an island all by yourself! Sometimes this just gets to be too much.
I usually hit "Mile 20" about 4 times be year: in the early fall when the thrill of a new school year suddenly departs; the middle of winter right before our annual spring break mission to Mexico when the planning and fundraising starts to pile up on me; the end of the school year when everyone is just so doggone tired of the routine of the school year and still there are so many things going on (I sorta feel like this time of year is similar to pulling teeth to keep kids and people involved); and the and of the summer leading up to a new fall when the summer programming is winding down but I realize that I haven't even started to think about a new school year, let alone taking a summer vacation for myself!
Paul, in 1 Corinthians 9:24, says it best during my times of "Mile 20": "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize."
Run in such as way as to get the prize? Hmmm...much easier said than done on a day like this. But I know I have to fight through it...fight through it in prayer, in getting back into the scriptures, and by focusing on the "victories" in my ministry and not the defeats and frustrations. Usually I am a "glass half full" kinda guy, but when I experience my "Mile 20" the glass looks more than half empty. And not matter how many times I have experienced this "Mile 20", it still feels like this is the worst of them all and that it will never pass.
Run like I am getting the prize! Paul's inspiration to me is that I can't focus just on the past or even in the way I feel right now, but rather I must put my life and my context of the bigger picture. I must focus on where am I headed so as to see the overall goals and not just the frustrations of the moment. I must remind myself that fighting through the discouragements and overwhelming feelings are for a bigger purpose and not just survival.
Somewhere deep down inside I know this too shall pass. I am not sure it makes it any easier, or that it prepares me for future "Mile 20" experiences, but I do know that my calling is to fight through this. I also know, from many past experiences, that running through the "finish" line, whatever the finish line may be at any particular point, is one of the greatest feelings of all!
