Well, what a terrible day it was ... except for a few shining moments.
First thing you need to know about me is that I'm a youth minister for middle and high school students in a Catholic Church. Second is this is mostly a thankless job that is usually crowned with a staff/parish who LOVES youth but does small things that push the youth out - like kick us out of our room regularly!
So today started at HRMS for 'See You At The Pole' - the national day when public school students gather at their flag pole and pray for their school. It was so nice to see the middle school teens praying out loud in front of their school in front of their peers. One of the families invited me to come out and it was so nice to see them.
Then, it all went downhill - an architect meeting (that I said exactly 7 words at - 60 minutes, wasted). Was supposed to meet with my DRE about something and she didn't have time. Then I went to the gym, which was actually good - 40 minutes on the treadmill and my first class with PF Mark. Took time to come home and eat lunch (a delish chicken salad!)...
Now here's where it all seemed to go down ... had a moment when a nun was upset with me, when my pastor bailed in teaching my HS teens, and then they moved my HSYM meeting from the hall (a very conducive space for our meetings) to the Church - now, this is never a great idea - 1 hour for Mass followed by 2 hours sitting in Church?! really?! All I wanted to do was SCREAM ... except I couldn't, I was in my office in a building with a TON of faith formation students and parents all around. So I stewed in my own filth and began middle school youth group (MSYG) study on Noah. I chose Noah since it's been raining for like 40 days (well, more like 6)!
We discussed faith - and had 3 new teens tonight! One of the questions asked who they see as an example of faith. They all answered with teachers in their schools, families members, and then one kid said me. WOW, put your filth back in the stew pot over there ... you're not worthless, you're making a difference, you matter.
Definitely made my day much better!
All this to even mean that it's nice to be needed and wanted, at least by the teens! Tomorrow's another day ... we'll see what happens.
First thing you need to know about me is that I'm a youth minister for middle and high school students in a Catholic Church. Second is this is mostly a thankless job that is usually crowned with a staff/parish who LOVES youth but does small things that push the youth out - like kick us out of our room regularly!
So today started at HRMS for 'See You At The Pole' - the national day when public school students gather at their flag pole and pray for their school. It was so nice to see the middle school teens praying out loud in front of their school in front of their peers. One of the families invited me to come out and it was so nice to see them.
Then, it all went downhill - an architect meeting (that I said exactly 7 words at - 60 minutes, wasted). Was supposed to meet with my DRE about something and she didn't have time. Then I went to the gym, which was actually good - 40 minutes on the treadmill and my first class with PF Mark. Took time to come home and eat lunch (a delish chicken salad!)...
Now here's where it all seemed to go down ... had a moment when a nun was upset with me, when my pastor bailed in teaching my HS teens, and then they moved my HSYM meeting from the hall (a very conducive space for our meetings) to the Church - now, this is never a great idea - 1 hour for Mass followed by 2 hours sitting in Church?! really?! All I wanted to do was SCREAM ... except I couldn't, I was in my office in a building with a TON of faith formation students and parents all around. So I stewed in my own filth and began middle school youth group (MSYG) study on Noah. I chose Noah since it's been raining for like 40 days (well, more like 6)!
We discussed faith - and had 3 new teens tonight! One of the questions asked who they see as an example of faith. They all answered with teachers in their schools, families members, and then one kid said me. WOW, put your filth back in the stew pot over there ... you're not worthless, you're making a difference, you matter.
Definitely made my day much better!
All this to even mean that it's nice to be needed and wanted, at least by the teens! Tomorrow's another day ... we'll see what happens.
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