First Middle School Event

Last night I held my first middle school event called Saturday Night Live (SNL). They were very popular last year and for my first one I had no clue how many to expect. I had some games in mind and I thought it would be fun to make our own pizzas (using English muffins or the thin sandwich buns). Well, the kids kept coming and I think I had a total of about 35. I guess I was expecting, perhaps even hoping, for 20-30 to show, but once their bodies are physically present, 35 seems a lot larger than it did in my head. I was so overwhelmed and I really had no idea what to do; they had so much energy. Plus they're really bad at listening. Extremely bad.

I learned a few lessons: order pizza instead of making your own... that takes too long to do! Reserve the gym... they can be more wild and crazy there. Have more ideas for middle school games: during the night I realized that some games I had planned out were not going to work with the middle school bunch. Over prepare. 


Middle school ministry is not one of my strengths and if it was up to me, I wouldn't want to do another middle school event... but it's part of my job. Before my next event I'll be sitting down with the DRE to talk about planning middle school events and how we can un-do what happened last year (where they only played games and had no faith or prayer elements). We at least prayed at the end of the event last night. :)

In 5 years?

What do I want to be doing in five years? Yikes, I don't even know what I'll be doing next year! I assume I'll still be working at St. Andrew with youth ministry, and maybe I'll be doing that in five years as well, but who knows! I've been asked that question twice in the past few months. I have hopes and dreams of what I want to do, but right now I'm simply trying to focus on my immediate job. It takes some time getting used to and settling into a new position, but I'm sure in a year from now I'll have things running smoothly. And maybe then I can put a little more focus on things I'd like to be doing in five years. What is it that I'd like to do? I would like to write more, not only for my blog, but also a book. I think that would be really awesome; I even have a friend who would edit it for me! I'd also like to have some speaking engagements - whether it's for a local parish or conference, or maybe someday a larger conference in a different state. What do I want to write about and speak on? Good question. I've always had an interest in speaking on and sharing the importance of chastity and purity, but maybe my interests will change as I continue to work in youth ministry. Lord, let it be done to me according to your word. God's got His plan and I have my hopes... maybe they'll coincide with each other. :)

Youth Ministry Obstacles

At times it seems like parents are the biggest obstacles to youth ministry when they should be its advocates! Not all parents are challenging and some understand what Comprehensive Youth Ministry means; I do not want to downplay the help they have already provided.

Last night was the first night of our "youth group" or "youth night." Ours may be a little different from other parishes because it also counts for religious education classes. It's open to all high school students and yes, there is a catechesis component to it. A mom came in to bring her daughter and to introduce herself, since she has been an important part of our middle school ministry in the past. When she heard that it also counted as religious education she was about ready to take her daughter home since she goes to the Catholic high school and gets her religious ed from there. And she somehow thinks that is enough. I suppose she assumed that my youth night would always be a social night... but I am not holding a strictly social night every Sunday! What about faith?  What about learning? Where does true fellowship and community come from? It looks like my challenge will be to teach parents what Comprehensive Youth Ministry means; it's not all about the fun and games, there are eight components that need to be incorporated into youth ministry. This could either be a rough year or a very fruitful year. I choose fruitful.

Why God Matters - Book Review

Why God Matters is a great little gem to have in your spiritual reading collection. It contains short stories and reflections on faith by a daughter and father, one a cradle Catholic, the other a convert. It has a simplistic beauty to it; the chapters are short, which makes it easy to put down and pick up on your own time. Each chapter is a great personal witness of their own faith, but what I like the most are the little extras after the stories. Each chapter contains a Life Lesson, a short Scripture passage, and a quote from the Catechism. The Life Lessons help the reader to reflect on their own faith life and can be a great guide for prayer, while the Scripture and CCC quotes tie everything together. This isn't just another book on faith and it doesn't tell you why God should matter in your life. I see it more as a witness to God's love and a tool for the reader to examine their faith and help them grow as witnesses of Christ.


Check out chapter two here:
http://tribute-books.com/whygodmatters/share_your_story.html

And while you're at it, check out the book's website:
http://www.whygodmatters.com

Curb Check

This past weekend I unfortunately hit a curb. I blew my tire and caused some damage to my car. I've had a frustrating and difficult week trying to get my car serviced with many trips back and forth from the dealership (which is about a 45 minute drive). August was a pretty rough month for me, it seemed like everything was going wrong, and this curb check was the icing on the cake. I've only had my car a month and now this happens!?

Yesterday I got a loner car from the dealership (a 2010 Altima which I fell in love with) and as I was driving it back to Fort Worth in the pouring rain I thought I'd reflect on this whole experience. I asked myself what lesson I could learn from all of this and then I started laughing. The first thing that came to my mind was "wake-up call." I think it was a wake-up call from God; just how I wasn't paying careful attention to driving, I haven't been paying close attention to God and His workings in my life. Yesterday I was given a ride by a Nissan courtesy driver and we had a nice chat about faith and prayer. One of the things that sticks out to me from that conversation is "we know who our Lord is, Jesus Christ, and he will always take care of us, but we've got to put our trust in him, too."

September is going to be a much better month: I'm going to put my trust in Jesus and work on my routine for prayer.

You Get What You Pay For

I wish that statement wasn't always true... as a person who tries to save money here and there I'd like a break once in awhile! This past week I have learned that sometimes it's better to dish out more money, especially with haircuts and hotels.

I spent last night at an Extended Stay in Little Rock, AR. Through Expedia I only paid $40 for it, which I thought was pretty awesome... until I got here. My non-smoking room smelled like smoke had still seeped in somewhere, I was a little worried my car might get broken into, and the bed was terrible. The dorm beds at Notre Dame will probably be more comfortable than the bed I slept in last night. Live and learn, right?

Yesterday I drove 5 1/2 hours, today will add at least another hour of driving as I make my way to St. Louis. The drive through Arkansas is beautiful and quite peaceful. I think it's similar for Missouri too, but I'll find out soon enough! First things first: a stop at Target to pick up socks (if I actually find the time to take walks around the lake) and a highlighter to continue my studying. :)

Living in Crazy Town...

...and I don't mean Nashville! If you listen to country music you'll get the reference...

But seriously, things have been quite stressful, very hectic, and sometimes I have to stop to catch my breath. I just got back from DCYC (Diocesan Catholic Youth Conference - Fort Worth), a weekend event of 1600 youth, and now it's time to unpack my apartment! Hopefully this week will be less stressful and I'll have more time for studying. I can't believe how busy work has been - I thought I'd have time to study during the day, but that just hasn't happened. I'm also working on another blog which I'll probably put a bit more effort into, since it's for work. I thought it would be really cool to create a blog for my parish youth ministry. Right now there is only one welcome post, but I'll be blogging about DCYC, putting up pictures and maybe video (if it turned out), and as time progresses, other youth news or things pertaining to youth ministry. The purpose is for the youth and their parents (and parishioners, if interested), to check out the website to keep updated on events and what their kids actually do at these events. :) I'm really excited about it. Like I said, it's in the works, but if you want to check it out just go to www.standrewym.blogspot.com.

Ok, that's all for now, time to unpack and settle into my apartment. It's not very fun living out of boxes...

Summer in Texas

I cannot wait to escape from the Texas heat when I take my trip up to Wisconsin. Down here it's almost 100 degrees, but up north it will be in the 80s the whole week I'll be there. So excited! Down here you have to simply deal with the heat; you learn how to touch your hot steering wheel and what clothes not to wear. You just put up with it because it's the only thing you can do, unless you want to live your entire summer indoors. Tonight, despite the heat, a small group of friends and I went to "Stars under the Stars," they play a movie on a jumbo-tron in one of the parking lots downtown. It was a lot of fun - you bring your own chair or blanket (but who really wants to sit on the hot asphalt?) and they have some concessions there. Tonight they showed "Blindside." I saw the movie once with Jeremy and it was still good the second time and still made me tear up at different points of the movie. And again, I still didn't understand the reference to Lawerence whoever... I guess something about protecting the quarterback's blind side? Anyone know?

A Real Job!

On Tuesday I accepted the position of Youth and Young Adult Ministries Coordinator at the parish where I have been apprenticing for the past two years. 24 people applied, 5 people were interviewed, and one person was chosen. I feel very blessed and I am very grateful for this opportunity to serve this parish in a greater way. It will be difficult because it will be like starting from scratch. I just hope that I can be seen as my own person and not as the past youth minister. I also hope that I can work effectively at putting my vision and goals into place at the parish.

I officially begin July 1 and I'm thinking of giving this blog a new twist... I think I might focus it on church work and parish ministry - the day to day stuff that happens at the office, random things people say, my struggles and joys of being a youth minister. We'll see how that goes.

Right now I have a ton on my plate. On Sunday I'll be flying home to Wisconsin to spend a week there hanging out with my family and packing up things from my original home. I'll be attending two weddings and hanging out with Echo people at one of them (yay!), and then road tripping down with Jeremy to officially move myself from the Dairy State to the Lonestar State. I have an apartment all lined up, which I am super excited about. It has everything I want in an apartment and it's at a great location. On top of all that moving and starting a new job, I also have to continue to study for my comprehensive exam. Who am I kidding... I have to start studying! I hope a month will be enough time to go over the material... Prayers for that please!

Fireproof

It's amazing how things work in media production and how people can stretch things out. Don't get me wrong, I love the concept of the movie/book Fireproof and The Love Dare, but at times it seems like people are in it for profit. I'm not exactly sure what came first, if it was The Love Dare or the movie Fireproof (let's say the movie). It was a decent movie - the acting wasn't award-winning, but the storyline was. In the movie The Love Dare was introduced and that is what kept a broken marriage from dissolving completely. Viewers were then intrigued and wanted to know more about The Love Dare, so [they] wrote some more books. There is The Love Dare, similar to the journal in the movie, in two forms: hardcover or a leather journal (again, like the movie). There is also The Love Dare for couples, a year-long devotional. There are several more resources on how to "fireproof your marriage." So there is a movie, several books on The Love Dare, small group study guides, and then someone wrote the book Fireproof, which is how I first came in contact with it.

It seems strange that a book was written after a movie, but someone decided they wanted to expand the story. I enjoyed reading the book more than watching the movie; it allowed time for the characters and plot to develop and I was more emotionally involved. I was actually mad at the husband in the beginning because I thought he was such a jerk! He redeems himself by using The Love Dare and the book had me crying at the end. It's a great book about faith as well. Caleb (the husband) asks his dad "how can I love someone who constantly rejects me over and over again?" while his dad is standing by a life-size cross. This is a story about love, not only the love between a husband and wife, but the love that God gives us freely and graciously and He never gives up hope.