Sometimes...

Sometimes being a youth minister is awesome, but sometimes it's really lonely. Sometimes, I really get tired of being the strong one. Sometimes, I really just want to depend on someone else to get things done. And it's at those "sometimes" that I try to remember that God is the one that I need to depend on.
Sometimes, it's so hard to depend on God when I cannot see him or touch him. I really wish that he would come down and talk to me like he did to people in the Old Testament. It would be so much easier. But when I have these "sometimes", I have to remember how He has touched my life and blessed me far beyond what I deserve.
When I get these "sometimes" I can feel God's comforting hand on me, whether it's through my personal study time with him or whether it's through somebody at His church. God, I thank you for you peace and love and hope that you give me. May I never lose it.
The other thing that's hard about ministry is the lack of real friends. You have all these people that put on their church faces around you because you are a "minister". I want so badly for people to know that I am just a regular person like them who messes up just as much and sometimes worse. I want them to know that I am made holy and righteous not by my own life but by Christ and his life and death, the same way they are made holy and righteous. And I want them to know that I do not judge them for their shortcomings. I love and care for them, not because it's my job but because they are God's creation and he sent His Son to die for them.

Father God, I ask for real friends in my ministry.

Josh

Another Answer to Prayer

The youth group I have been working in is mostly made of junior high kids and freshmen in highschool. The reason being I am new in town and when I got here there were only about three people 10th grade or older in the youth group and highschoolers just don't seem to be interested in new things. They are pretty much set in their ways and do not want to try new things. Well, as you can probably imagine our singing has been quite off since I have been here for several reasons. One, they just don't know any of the songs. And two, the junior high girls' voices have just not matured enough to sing out and sing loud. So anyways, I prayed to God to improve our singing though I'll admit I did it with somewhat of a doubting spirit. Well, last night my prayer was answered. There is a girl, an 11th grader, who goes to the other church of Christ in town where they have even less in their youth group than us and they don't have a youth minister. Well, she decided to start coming with one of her friends last Sunday. And now she tells me that she has decided to come to our church permanently. Now to the best part of the story. Last night in youth group we sang a couple of songs and I almost started crying. This girl has got an awesome set of lungs on her! She was belting it out! And with her singing, the other girls were encouraged to sing out and the girls were almost outsinging the boys! It was so awesome! These type of things seem so small. But the main lesson I have learned is the fact that God works when you ask him and give him the chance. I can hardly wait to see what he does when I ask for something big.

Josh

Travis being Travis... 

Chris and Jen at the going away party for Gavin and Lindsey and Travis 

My Family 

Bye to my friends who went to Japan

A couple of weeks ago I went to a goodbye party for a few of my friends who are going to Japan to teach English. They'll be over there for two years and boy am I going to miss them. Gavin and Lindsay (Not sure if that's how you spell it sorry if that's wrong) and Travis. We all had a great time at the goodbye party and Travis even showed us some Aboriginal Jujitsu which he created from the various defenses of Australian animals. Although I did get somewhat sick from Chris and Lindsay's cat (we had the party at their house). Anyways, I'll really miss you my friends. I hope that everything goes well in Japan and God bless you.