So often I look at my Youth Group and think that I am a failure, I do not know what it is about myself, the crappy childhood, being American and growing up under a negative culture, my exposure to Fundamentalism and rejection of it, or a combination of them all, but it takes work for me to see the positive side of things.
Hi, My name is Tank, and I’m a Negative-holic.
Of course, my negativity does not stop with my Youth Group, it extends to all parts of my life, but since I am at a Youth Workers convention, that’s what I am really focused on right now. I have a group of kids who do not want to talk about God, the reason for that is that they do not know much about God (at least they do not think they do), but the real problem is that they resist trying to learn about God because after all God is boring and does not have anything to do with their lives right? He is just some far away thing, that watches, judges, and waits for fateful moments throughout the day to toy with us and really screw up everything.
Here is the thing that I tend to forget, or perhaps a better way of putting it, I do not even notice. One thing that they do want to talk about is their lives, and not surface stuff, they often want to really talk about their lives. I know a lot about them, and I fail to notice that I do. Of course, the negative side of me says, You can do better, What about so-and-so, she has not been there for two weeks and you do not know why, etc. And the fact is, there is a lot of truth in those statements, but if I focus on those statements, I will soon crumble, and then I really will not be doing a good job because I will be dead.
I want to be fully present with them every time I see them.
When I look into their faces, I find myself in every one of them; I see how our stories intersect. I guess you could say I see God, I see truth. I have the natural desire to find how we are connected, how we already know each other, even if we have never met.
I know that God is present in my Youth Group. I know that he is present in my life. I know that he is present in their lives. Now it’s time for me to realize it, and for them to realize it to.
God guide us.
Hi, My name is Tank, and I’m a Negative-holic.
Of course, my negativity does not stop with my Youth Group, it extends to all parts of my life, but since I am at a Youth Workers convention, that’s what I am really focused on right now. I have a group of kids who do not want to talk about God, the reason for that is that they do not know much about God (at least they do not think they do), but the real problem is that they resist trying to learn about God because after all God is boring and does not have anything to do with their lives right? He is just some far away thing, that watches, judges, and waits for fateful moments throughout the day to toy with us and really screw up everything.
Here is the thing that I tend to forget, or perhaps a better way of putting it, I do not even notice. One thing that they do want to talk about is their lives, and not surface stuff, they often want to really talk about their lives. I know a lot about them, and I fail to notice that I do. Of course, the negative side of me says, You can do better, What about so-and-so, she has not been there for two weeks and you do not know why, etc. And the fact is, there is a lot of truth in those statements, but if I focus on those statements, I will soon crumble, and then I really will not be doing a good job because I will be dead.
I want to be fully present with them every time I see them.
When I look into their faces, I find myself in every one of them; I see how our stories intersect. I guess you could say I see God, I see truth. I have the natural desire to find how we are connected, how we already know each other, even if we have never met.
I know that God is present in my Youth Group. I know that he is present in my life. I know that he is present in their lives. Now it’s time for me to realize it, and for them to realize it to.
God guide us.
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