Hey all- We are enjoying our time here at Glorieta. It's been a nice change of pace for me. I am sure the girls are having a blast at Nana and Papa's too. We are here for the National VBS Training Conference. We come here to get trained to go home and lead our own conference, state wide or associational. I am in charge of Younger Children, that's 1st-2nd grade. Then I will also be in charge of the adults who will actually be leading our VBS 1st and 2nd grade classes. I am pretty excited to use my brain again on something besides the family budget but it's a daunting task. You see, my problem is that I am really good at seeing all the work that will go into any given task. Even though I am really excited about leading a conference I know what kind of work it will take to do the kind of job that I will be satisfied with. It's a blessing and a curse really. I have a few months to prepare so maybe I can do a little at a time. That will be my best intention anyway!
Judson came with us and that has been . . . . . .interesting. He is the ONLY baby here. I used to do this kind of thing ALL the time when we worked at the camp. They really appreciated the fact that our whole family was a part of the ministry and they accomodated to that A LOT! Plus it was a FAMILY ministry, so it worked. I am realizing how uncommon that is. No one has made me feel unwelcome or even a distraction but it is very apparent that we are the exception. Which really makes sense, this is meant to be a time to get away and prepare for VBS. But for me, it IS time away. It also helped me realize that no matter how much we want Youth Ministry to be our family ministry, it just can't be the way we originally envisioned it. My first and foremost ministry is to my husband and children. My ministry to the youth group would come at the expense of my kids. It's just not a price I am willing to pay. SO we are having to revamp our view on our family involvement. It's a good thing. We are growing and learning. That's always good. We have realized how niave we were coming in to this ministry. I do what I can but I have to keep to focus on MY ministry to my family and THEN if it fits I can do ministry elsewhere. And there have been lots of things that I CAN do. They just look differently than we thought they would.
Back to VBS. It's going to be fun to dust off my old teacher self for a little while. I was really nervous about having to decorate my room, I was a Secondary ed. person so I didn't take classes in bulletin boards and the such. Thankfully there is a decorating team and they will just give me the stuff and I will put it up. The Lord is graceful! It takes WAY to much effort for me to do that kind of creative thing. I could do it but I am SOOO thankful I will not have to. Now I better go and try to catch the session on conference leading 101! Every one deserves a little refresher, right?
Judson came with us and that has been . . . . . .interesting. He is the ONLY baby here. I used to do this kind of thing ALL the time when we worked at the camp. They really appreciated the fact that our whole family was a part of the ministry and they accomodated to that A LOT! Plus it was a FAMILY ministry, so it worked. I am realizing how uncommon that is. No one has made me feel unwelcome or even a distraction but it is very apparent that we are the exception. Which really makes sense, this is meant to be a time to get away and prepare for VBS. But for me, it IS time away. It also helped me realize that no matter how much we want Youth Ministry to be our family ministry, it just can't be the way we originally envisioned it. My first and foremost ministry is to my husband and children. My ministry to the youth group would come at the expense of my kids. It's just not a price I am willing to pay. SO we are having to revamp our view on our family involvement. It's a good thing. We are growing and learning. That's always good. We have realized how niave we were coming in to this ministry. I do what I can but I have to keep to focus on MY ministry to my family and THEN if it fits I can do ministry elsewhere. And there have been lots of things that I CAN do. They just look differently than we thought they would.
Back to VBS. It's going to be fun to dust off my old teacher self for a little while. I was really nervous about having to decorate my room, I was a Secondary ed. person so I didn't take classes in bulletin boards and the such. Thankfully there is a decorating team and they will just give me the stuff and I will put it up. The Lord is graceful! It takes WAY to much effort for me to do that kind of creative thing. I could do it but I am SOOO thankful I will not have to. Now I better go and try to catch the session on conference leading 101! Every one deserves a little refresher, right?
1 comment:
Sounds like a fun getaway! - On the other note, my heart always goes out for those in youth ministry because it does take so much time away on weekends and nights. Adam and I have discussed how challenging that would be with little ones at home. I know, if anyone, ya'll will be able to figure out a way to make that mesh though. But I KNOW it is frustrating when things don't exactly happen the way you envision them - back to the drawing board I guess! I know the Lord will help your heart and body be able to juggle it all!
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