Soon I will return to the world of professional ministry. This is the first time I have worked outside the home since my husband died. I am filled with anticipation. I am feeling so blessed to find a ministry that will enrich my life and will add very little conflict to my children’s lives. This is a different ministry though. My direct service will not be to adolescents. My ministry will be with the much younger youths and their families…the pre-school bunch.

When I think about transitioning ministries, I am considering all the gifts and grace that being a youth minister has bestowed on me.  I truly believe that of all the ministries out there, youth ministry is transcendent.  The principles are sound and I can carry all those wonderful things I’ve learned as a guide for adolescents into a fruitful ministry with any age group.

Walking side by side with teens and their families through their struggles has prepared me for many things in my life.  Watching teens face the struggles of the past decade or so has convinced me that they are a precious generation and their impact will be one of the greatest gifts our society will see.  It has been in the listening to their story, watching their lives, and sharing our love of God that I have become more fully aware who God intends me to be.  From Columbine to watching our young men and women go to war to protect our freedom, their courage inspires me to be a better person everyday.  They inspire me to continue to be the servant leader that God has called me to be.

So as I begin my new ministry to the adolescents of the future, I will walk with them, listen to them and witness to Christ’s light and work in their beautiful, little lives. I will call forth the gifts that I have gained from my relational ministry with adolescents. I will surrender each day to Christ knowing that I will be held and healed in every new step that I take.  I will live with the blessing of continuing to be a youth minister to the youngest of our youth and their families. In humble service to them, I will watch with a grateful heart as they live out and grow into their call.  I will also know that God’s grace and planning can be so much better than my own.  I never would have thought of this great opportunity years ago.  I never thought that my journey through ministering to adolescents and their families would have prepared me to advocate and serve the littlest ones…but it has.  It is again with great amazement that I witness God’s ideas of who I may become and that I could get here. I give thanks to God for all the diversity in youth ministry and how that diversity helped me build up so many skills…from getting in touch with my own silliness to getting in touch with the surrender that guides me through the seriousness of working with teens.

I remember so clearly hearing the Emmaus story read as a call to youth ministry for the first time.  I remember how my heart was set aflame by the thought of being lucky enough to walk with young people, hear their story and witness to Christ’s work in their lives. Now, even though the youth will be much, much younger, my heart is burning with anticipation to hear their story, walk with them, share and witness to God’s miraculous work in each of us.