Speaking to Seniors

Now you may think that because I am youth pastor this blog post will be about graduating students. But it is not. While I love speaking with high school students, they aren't always the most encouraging group. The group I spoke with this morning is however, I spoke with a group of individuals 65+.

Every wednesday morning from 1030-noon we have a group of seniors which come together to sing some hymns and hear a message. All the pastors on staff take turns preaching to this group throughout the year. I am always happy to preach but this group really makes it fun.

The first time I got up to preach I was blown away by the fact that the nearest person to my age that week was 50 years older than myself. I didn't know what to say, I thought I should be the one to be sitting and learning from the wisdom of those older than myself. But I got up shared my testimony and then began to preach from it. When I was done, I thought to myself how bad it went. Then everyone started sharing how that impacted them and what they learned from my story. I didn't bomb in their mind, they hadn't heard it all before but they really enjoyed it.

Over the few times I have spoken at Wednesday worship I have been corrected (by a guy who knows more about the Bible than me) I have been encouraged and I have had some good jokes pointed in my direction. But the best part is it is all from love.

By spending an hour every few months with my more mature friends I have begun to learn a lot about christian living, and I have got to hone my craft of preaching more. I never feel nervous in front of this group because even when I preach and things don't go as well as I hoped, the seniors always have a kind word of encouragement, a lot of insight and sometimes they even help me fine tune my thinking for when I teach a similar message in the future.

So I would encourage you, if you ever have the opportunity to speak at your 'Wednesday worship', take the chance and get to know these older people. They will love you, encourage you, pray for you, pray with you and will be good teachers and listeners. And it might surprise you but they will learn from you to (and as a preacher that always feels good).

The Hug

Today I was out at a local festival to see one of my students from my youth group perform a dance. It was a sunny day, I just helped host a youth event my intern was putting on. It had been an awesome morning. I was now hanging out near the ocean, waiting for the dance troop to get on stage when I saw another student and her mom coming towards me. Then it happened a hug.

Now hugs are big deals for people who work in churches. Some people think you can only side hug, hugging as long as it is a person of the same gender, others think hugs are never appropriate.
My personal thinking is that if the student initiates the hug, and it is an appropriate time, and appropriate setting it is fine.

Now the student hugged me at an appropriate time, in an appropriate manner. It was good, not because I need to be hugged but because it shows that I am making an impact in this students life. You only hug people you care about, you don't hug people you are uncomfortable around.

After a hug from my student I felt like my work is valuable. I am connecting with students and making a difference in their lives for Christ! What could be better?

So I started thinking, who can I hug and encourage that they are meaningful to me? I am going to have to pick someone and hug them! Weird thing to think, perhaps. Important message to give, definitely.