Still Crazy...

...about teenagers after being out of formal ministries for almost a year and half. I'm thankful for that. You know why? B/c I thought that there was a possibility that after being away from jr. high, high school and college students that some how, some way I might lose that "something" for seeing them grow and experience the deep, rich life as people and followers of Jesus.

You know, I still bump around sites like Youth Specialties or The Ooze or DTour Community and get jazzed about serving, leading, and pursuing Kingdom and missional living with kids. Kelly and I still have a number of students come to our house to hang and talk about life, love, friends, and God. It makes me wonder if I should still be pursuing vocational opportunities in the context of the local church(right, Bret and LA?). It's wild. But there is something about living that kind of life in the context of a public or private school with students, families, and the school staff especially as I lives it out much more subversively. That's seems really exciting to me. And as my brother-in-law Donny puts it, "It's not about being excited about the next couple of years, but about the next 20-30 years."

But the tension in living in this time is not only fanning the flame that is a passion for teenagers, but also about working through the fear that comes with past failure, dealing with the words of the enemy that cause me doubt, and simply living a life of faith when it comes to the future. I really envy people that have some level of stability when it comes to the job they have (though I don't envy many of those same people because they have not pursued a career out of passion, but out of pulling a paycheck - and thus are a bit miserable). I so want that, but so want to live out of passion and a sense of this is what I was made for. In essence, I want my cake and I want to eat it, too. That's part of this ideal that we live from our deepest desires that God has planted in us.

I want that.

I need that.

So call me crazy - that's a good thing - for doing what I'm doing. I can't wait to formally get back into the lives of students and help them with all that life deals us. That will be really cool. Different (b/c of environment, organizational agenda, etc), but very cool (b/c teenagers are teenagers no matter where you go). It's crazy I tell you; just crazy!