What I do all day (part 3)...

I get a chuckle out of my students when it finally registers that I work at the church and that I'm here more than just the two nights a week that they might see me. And it's almost always followed by, "What do you do all day?"

Well, in the midst of emails, teaching prep, organizing events, Facebook (yes, it's a ministry tool!), filling out references, studying, meeting with students & leaders, picking out music for worship, cleaning up pens taped to my floor, and anything else I missed, I have few meetings that I need to be at each week.

Weekly Meetings:

• Monday Leadership - I meet with a few other pastors each Monday to watch a leadership related video or listen to a podcast. That's followed by some healthy discussion on what we're learning, how we need to improve, and how any of what we heard fits with our current ministries.
• Monday Youth Leadership - This is the newest addition, but I get together with 2 of my youth leaders who help with the teaching and we go over our upcoming teaching series, discuss the calendar and basically talk youth stuff.
• Tuesday Staff Coffee - The entire church staff hangs out and eats snacks. We all take a turn bringing something in (usually cinnamon buns from me). And every other week we end the time praying together.
• Tuesday Pastoral Staff Meeting - This is the big one. 2.5 hours of discussion about everything church related. We evaluate the past services, we look ahead to the next ones, we plan preaching schedules, we talk about door stops, we have animated conversations, we joke, we dream, we pray. We cover a lot of ground. And we're changing the loaction starting this week and I'm looking forward to that!
  
• Wednesday Youth Worship Practice - A weekly opportunity to work with the students on music as we try to prepare them to lead in upcoming Sunday services as well as just give them a place to grow in their musical abilities. Autotune made an appearance at the last one which was good for some laughs.
  
• Thursday Stand Up - We used to actually stand up at this meeting so we could keep it short. But then we added a few more elements to it, started sitting down and never changed the name. This is basically a last chance for us to go over things for the upcoming Sunday and make sure everything is in place. Songs, timing, lighting, people, announcements. We end it with some prayer time for each other and the church.

Occasional Meetings

• Board Meeting - Once a month the pastoral staff is invited to join the Board of Elders at their monthly meeting. I don't go often, but it's nice to know I have the option.
  
• Worship Practice - If I lead worship on a Sunday morning I need to be at a 3 hour rehearsal/practice on Thursday evening and then a 45 minute run through early Sunday morning.
• Youth Leaders - I hesitate to call these "meetings". We usually talk a little shop but mostly we just like to get together and have a lot of fun.

What I do all day (part 2)...

I have arrived twice in the last few weeks to find pens everywhere in my office. The latest one found them taped to the floor, under chairs and behind doors.

Am I bothered? Only in as much that I don't know who keeps letting them in.

If there's one place that I live up to some of the Youth Pastor stereotypes, it's my office. But here's a few things you need to know:

Office Hours
I'm in the office by 9:05 each morning after I drop my kids off at school. You'll find me here Monday through Thursday, as I get Friday's off. What time I leave depends on the day. I occasionally pick up my kids so I get to actually see them on Mondays & Wednesdays. Otherwise I usually try to get home for around 5:00pm.

Office Attire
I have a long, protracted argument for what I wear...and what I do not wear. But the basic idea is that I wear what I'm comfortable wearing, and I'm grateful that I have this privilege. (And no, I'm not comfortable wearing sweat pants.) Same thing goes for Sunday mornings. I remember a long time ago being told I should never wear sandals in the office because I might need to go on an emergency hospital visit. (That one still confuses me. Maybe hospitals have more visitation rules than I thought?) Anyway, that was the past and now I regularly wear flip flops when the weather allows.

My desk
I have a tendency to make piles. I also have an inability to understand how a filing cabinet works. This leads to semi-organized chaos. I consider it a miracle if there is one pile on my desk. As I type this there are more than 3. That is a sign that life has been crazy and I need to clean the office.


Next up: What would YOU like to know?

Moved too soon...

Ok, I'm not one to say that God made a mistake, but I'm beginning to wish that maybe we could have stayed in the Edmonton area for a few more months. My reason for that? Well, I believe it may have something to do with these guys...

Yeah, I know...I'm a Habs fan. But due to the fact that I previously lived in close proximity to Edmonton, I also became a closet Oilers fan. It's kind of the same thing that happens with the CFL. I'm a Winnipeg Blue Bombers fan at heart, but I've also got a soft spot for the Saskatchewan Roughriders due to the time I lived in Regina.

In other news...it's Monday and I'm moving pretty slow today. It might have something to do with the fact that I haven't had a full day off in 9 days. Sure, it may not be the longest streak ever, but I'm ready for a day off.

Busy day...

Ok, so now I'm 2 for 9, with both winning rims getting me a free coffee (or hot chocolate in my case)!

In other news, I attended a workshop this morning dealing specifically with the sexual exploitation of youth. One speaker was a former prostitute who now does a great deal of work trying to help other sex workers get out of the industry. The second speaker dealt mainly with the topic of internet safety.

I'll admit that I wasn't sure what to expect and the only reason I really attended this was because I missed another community awareness event last week. But I will say that it was a very informative morning. And I totally appreciate the fact that they didn't come from a Christian perspective.

Then it was off to meet with a couple other youth pastors to watch the movie, Thirteen. Between the morning workshop and that movie, let's just say that it wasn't a light-hearted day. It really is an insightful movie into the lives of teenagers. I'm not completely convinced that the timeline of the movie is accurate as it seems to cram almost every possible major teen issue into a 4-6 month period in one grade seven girl's life.

But what do I know? I'm not 13.

Where did the week go...

Now that I'm feeling a little more settled at SOA Church, I'm realizing that my calendar is filling up like crazy. We had a community info fair in our gym today that I fully intended to attend so I could meet a few more community people, but then real life kicked in. You know, a teaching schedule that needs lots more work, a leadership audit that needed my input, a weekly youth leader email to go out, a church update that I need to give on Sunday morning...and about a dozen other minor things.

It's amazing how normal I felt today...and by normal I mean crazy!

But hey, at least I made it to my first official payday. And now it's on to the "weekend"!

Oh, and I'm now 0 for 3 in Roll Up the Rim to Win.

Without further delay...

Well, I have officially made it through 2 days. It's tough adjusting to a new place with new faces. In some respects I feel as though I have completely changed career paths. But then I got to hang out with the SR Highs last night and I was reminded of why I do what I do: God & students.

I had moments yesterday when I asked myself what on earth I had gotten myself into. I think that was God reminding me that I can't be doing this on my own. And that's something I'm going to have to remind myself everyday.

Today was much better as I was able to connect with a few more of the staff. It's tough when you get used to doing church life a certain way for 5 1/2 years and then try to adjust to a new way of doing things. I've got lots to learn...but what else is new?!?

Tomorrow is my first day off. I know I only worked 2 days, but in my defense they were a long 2 days. Besides, we're meeting with our realtor to look at some more housing options. It's looking less and less likely that we'll be anywhere close to the church by the time we find a place we can afford.

Housing costs out here are through the roof! That can't be normal...can it?

With all that being said, I'm loving it here so far and I'm very excited about the future. Lots of great people, and lots of great potential for the church and for the youth. This is definitely going to be an adventure!

The night before...

I'm a nervous wreck right now. I'm awaiting my last sleep before the new job begins and my mind is racing with a hundred thousand different things, not all of which are life altering, but they still make my brain hurt:

• What will my office look like? (And where is my office?)
• What do I do on day one?
• How will everyone else respond to the new guy?
• Who do I direct certain specific questions to?
• What will I do for lunch?

And let's not forget the all important question: Where on earth are we going to live? That one seems to be eating at us the most, especially after spending the afternoon with a realtor showing us how slim the pickings are in this neck of the woods. This will definitely have to be a God-thing if we're going to find a place to call home that isn't a 40 minute drive from the church.

The office...

Today I decided to try and get back to normal by going to the office. Since I can't drive, my wife had to drop me off at 7:45am on her way to work. Incidently, have you ever tried driving a stick with a full leg brace on your left leg? If anyone has any pointers, let me know!

But now it's 9:00am and I'm already feeling my knee swelling up like crazy. And lets not mention the fact that I'm drowzy because of the meds. Hopefully, I'll at least make it to noon. I really need to get some stuff done around here.

I'm also getting ready for a short meeting tonight with my youth staff...or at least with some of them. They've offered to help out in any way that they can while I recover, and I appreciate that. I think I need to give them a raise in pay...they really are great!

Long time coming...

I must say it is about time that I got a Saturday off! Seems like the norm lately is to end up working at least half the day or more on church stuff which means less time with the family. We've been so crazy busy lately that I feel I hardly have the chance to have a decent conversation with my wife or hang out with the kids.

It's weeks like this that I seriously think "church life" tends to cause more harm to my family than good. Don't get me wrong, I try to be protective of my family time (like today when I didn't go to a worship seminar) but it still feels like "church" is always stealing me away. And when I'm not actually physically gone, I feel like I'm mentally missing. Sometimes I wish i could just leave work at the office.

It's been difficult these last few weeks. It's hard to gather my thoughts. It's even more difficult to come to any solid conclusions. Right now I'm just trying to make it through to holidays. Maybe that will give me some much needed time off to relax and gather my head and heart.

Busy week...

Lots going on around here lately.

Monday was board meeting and that was an experience. I don't think I have enough time to explain...except to say that it felt like I had the rug pulled out from under me. Time to heal now, but I'm not sure how.

Man Utd lost to AC Milan on Wednesday. We need a big win on March 9 to ensure we can have a chance at winning Champion's League. It's never fun to watch my team lose...especially when the only goal came after Carroll decided to not hold onto a shot fired at him. Good grief! And he wants a better contract?!?! Learn to hold on to the ball!

And then on Wednesday night it was all topped off by our Annual General Meeting. It never ceases to amaze me how trivial and tightwadded people can be. There were more questions/complaints about budget than I could process at one time. Lots of snotty comments and bad attitudes. And we call this the body of Christ?!?!

On a positive note, I get to bapatize 2 of my students on Sunday. That's always a blast. It always encourages me when only 1 adult wants to get dunked and we have twice as many students that want to. I actually had 3 other students take the Baptism class to prepare for the next one. So cool!

So it begins...

Happy New Year!

And now back to the norm of life. This is my first day back in the office and it's amazing how quickly things can start piling up. It begins with the stack of mail and continues with the 22 emails...most of which contains nothing important. And now it's time to plan, plan, plan.

All our youth programs start up again next week and now we're also adding a missions trip and worship teams to the mix. Once again proving that the next year will be busier than the last. Yikes!

But, at least it's not pointless. Loving the youth and watching them grow closer to God through it all is simply amazing. I just pray that they do actually grow...that the things we do aren't for nothing. I pray that they don't just "attend" but that they "participate". Please don't be complacent. Please don't stay in the rut. Live wide open for God!

"Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively." 2 Corinthians 6:13b (The Message)

Time for a job change...

No, not me...but my wife. We got a call at the beginning of teh week asking her if she'd like to work at a local X-Ray clinic. She has been working at a doctor's office in the city which normally is a 30 minute drive.

So, yesterday she went to drop off her resume and then they asked if she could stay for an interview. Then they told her they would call her by 4pm with an answer. They called about 30 minutes later to ask her if she could start the beginning of Januray.

Woohoo! Thia is great! She works the same number of hours & days each week (she's only P/T) and she gets an extra 50 cents/hour. This also means we won't have to fill up our beast of an SUV as much too. I can't tell you how excited we are about this.

Some days when she works we don't see each other from 8am to 6pm (when she picks me and the kids up)...that includes missing the kids. Now she's done at 3:45pm. Yeah...more time together as a family...less driving and gasoline...more money in the pocket. God is good!

Christmas Eve...just getting ready for the holidays. Service tonight at church followed by the last christmas ever in my in-law's house. They just accepted a job in Vancouver. Should be a memorable Christmas, but a little sad too. It's nice to be with family though.

Anyway...Merry Christmas!