It's almost
National Youth Gathering time! Approximately 25,000 Lutheran youth
and their adult chaperones, a seas of yellow shirted volunteers
passionate for building up youth in our churches, another sea of
orange shirted young adults passionately serving Him in New Orleans,
it sounds absolutely wonderful to me. I can not wait!
This year,
I get to bring my oldest daughter. If you can not tell, this mom is
super pumped. I'm sure that some of you remember sharing a “first”
faith milestone with a child – the first time they went up for the
children's message, the first time they could speak the Lord's
Prayer, the first time they belted out a song or hymn with the whole
congregation of God. It's exciting when God gives us these glimpses
of His work in them. This milestone, my daughter's first national
youth gathering feels like a big one. I'm not sure who is more
excited- her or me. ;)
One reason
I am looking forward to NYG for her is that she has the opportunity
to be swept up in the largeness of the Body of Christ. She
gets to see the wider expanse of the people of God coming together.
On any given Sunday, Macee only sees the Church from the perspective
of our congregation in Northwest Ohio. It is a wonderful
congregation, but I want her to understand the full diversity of the
church - different sights, different sounds, different people in
fellowship, in the Word, and in worship.
For all of
us, but for teens in particular, this is a unique opportunity to
understand the scale of the church and say,
I'm
not in this alone! This walk...we're in it together.
I
have decided that this is particularly important for a PK or other
church work kid. There is an ugly factor in the church that these
kids see, no matter what protection factors we put into place. There
are also occasionally weird expectations for these kids within their
home congregations, that they can shake free of at a mass event or
program at NYG, in a way they may not be able to at home. For this
time, they get to be one of the crowd.
And
the crowd...it may seem like a small thing, but it isn't. At our
small church, sometimes Macee is the only one at youth night or her
Sunday School class. The crowd is a gift that I can't give her within
our normal life. Even this, this is a blessing for us.
And
so, I'm setting out to love on some PKs, DCEKs, DeaconessKs,
LutheranTeacherKs, any church work k's at the National Youth
Gathering. It's part of my mission in life to love on our PKs and
encourage them. This builds up our church work families and also
builds up our churches. I do not know the statistics, but I
personally know countless stories of church work kids walking away
from the church or at least the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, and
if I can do one tiny thing to help them to stay, to share with them
the beauty of this Body together, as broken as we all are, to share
with them that they are loved and valued members of the body of
Christ, I'll do it, however I can.
Church
work kids – find me at NYG! This should be
a challenge, given the other 25,000 people traveling the streets
together, but I think you are up for it! I will have a giant
orange sunhat to identify me. Inside
my backpack I have a thank you gift for you from myself and Grace
Place Wellness Ministries. This is what we do - support and build up
church work families, helping to keep vitality and joy in ministry.
What's
the present??? Hmmmm....should I tell? I can't decide. My daughter
assures me it's cool. It is consumable and substantial, but easy to
carry. Any guesses? ;)
I
can't wait to see you at NYG. I can't wait to say thank you and take
a minute to acknowledge that we're in this together - all for His
glory. Visit me! Pass the word around, otherwise, no one will know I
have treats. ;) If you'd like to be involved in loving on some church
work kids this summer, give me a holler.
See
you in July!
