Thursday, October 15, 2009

Reactions to My Calling

When I tell people about God calling me to be a youth minister, it’s interesting to see what people say. Reactions naturally vary depending on who I am telling and their experiences with youth pastors.

People told me they were proud of me. I got some enthusiastic high-fives. A few “that’s awesome”-type comments.

Multiple people have told me that they can really see me being a youth minister, that I have some great qualities for it. This is probably my favorite response.

A ton of people tell me how awesome it is that I know what I am doing. Some even seem a bit envious that my plans are now so clear. “What a great feeling!” is a common response to my excitement.

Some people really didn’t understand, and still don’t. They think of youth ministry as a stepping-stone to being an actual pastor, which is not my plan. Or they think of it as something I’m going to do in the meantime before I figure out what I really want to do with my life. Thankfully, these people are few and far-between. I don’t think I could handle it if I got a lot of these types of responses.

A couple people have asked me if I decided not to be a teacher because I wanted to be a youth minister, or if I decided to be a youth minister because I don’t want to be a teacher. The former is correct, meaning that I did not say “Crap, I don’t want to teach anymore. What am I going to do? Oh, I’ll be a youth pastor.” Rather, God called me to youth ministry which necessarily meant that being a teacher was no longer in the plans.

My best friend told me that the more he thought about it, the more right it seemed for me.

I had someone joke, “What does God sound like? What’s his ringtone?” If only you knew.

I have been amazed by the support I’ve received. It’s not every day that you tell people, “Well, my first three years of college were spent going in the wrong direction.” So it’s great when people are so encouraging.

Thank you, to those of you who have been so supportive. I love my call, but above all, I love the people who have been involved in helping me toward it and now as I work through it.

Have a fantastic day! I know I will!



Today I turn around
Stop running away from Him.

Today I listen
And run toward.

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