We have to do better than this. We can do better than this! These two sentences formed in my mind and pulled at my heart as I watched students come in the door confused and ready to turn around and walk right back out the door.…
It’s here. 2016 is calling out to us. Every new year inspires us to be who God has created us to be in a more committed and faithful way. We all hope to rise above our failures and to enjoy even the smallest victories throughout the new year.…
The teens we work with are are tempted just like us to make money to spend money (ON THEMSELVES). Spending habits start early. According to staticbrain.com, the average teen spending in a year for and by American teens amounts to 258.7 billion dollars.…
December is busy. The entire church schedule goes bonkers with Cantatas, kids musicals, and youth group gift exchanges. Your youth ministry cup will runneth over and before you know it, it’ll be 2016! Why not stop and use this special month and Advent season to notice who is missing?…
If teen spending in the U.S. tell us anything about what teens care about most, it may not surprise you to know that they spend 21% of their budget on clothing and 20% on food (according to investment management firm Piper Jaffray’s 2014 report on teen spending).…
Parents worry about their kids. It’s their job! As a parent, I totally get this. One of the biggest things I worry about is who my son is hanging out with and what kind of friends he’s choosing. I don’t just pay attention to this when he wants to hang with friends from school.…
As a youth worker, nothing was more exciting to me than getting out of the church, out of my office, and reaching students in public schools. I never found much success doing that behind my desk, with the expectation that they would come to me, participate in my youth program, on my turf.…
I was a youth worker in South Florida for seven years. Not much changed from day to day. There was the sunshine, the beach, and fresh seafood year round. Life was flip flopping good. It was always summer. This isn’t the reality parent’s and teens live in.…
Going back to school is a big deal. The summer is about to come to a screeching halt. Parents feel it, youth workers feel it, and students most certainly feel it. Soon, alarm clocks will enjoy being ignored again and parents will beg their kids to wake up for school.…
You thought you had the whole summer mapped out. You throw in your last load of laundry before the Sr. high mission trip Costa Rica and it hits you: “Holy smokes, who’s teaching Sunday school this Sunday?” Then, the second wave of panic hits: “Yikes, who’s teaching youth group while I’m gone?”…
