Just Say Yes

Rain.

He asked his students four questions. I wasn't his student, but I answered them regardless. What's your name? Where do you call home? What is your Church? And what is the most important thing in Youth Ministry?

Malialani. Heavenly calm, or heavenly clam if you know my uncle. It was once a family joke, as I tend to be rather - lively? But I have since recognized it's purpose with as much grace as I have. I'm not easily distressed or preoccupied and the more anxious others get, the more pulled together I become. I doubt I will ever attain heavenly, but I think I may have been blessed with the calm of my name.

Home is where I am. It is where I am safe. In the arms of a friend, in a warm bed, or beneath the stars. I find home wherever I lay my head. I am comfortable in all places and all circumstances. Home is where I find Love. Where I give Love. Home is wherever I make it.

Church is people. I have had few constants in my life and so my community has become my Church, rather than the other way around. It is made of the people I meet on trains and planes. The people I find in bars or parks. The people I share myself with and they share themselves with me. We are a church of humanity. Perhaps believing or worshiping differently, but a Church nonetheless.

The most important thing in Youth Ministry is reaching kids where they're at. But not just kids, adults as well. We are all in a different place with our faith and our lives. To group everyone together in the way that you reach out to them is ineffective and a mistake. It's not bad to talk to people all on the same level, but you should reach out to them on an individual basis as well. Do more.

I'm unsure. I have no plans or security set up to protect me. I'm in the middle of a field in a lightning storm and I am unsure. I don't know what is next. I have options, but options are not the same as having plans. And in a world where everything is about your plans, be it one or five or ten years into the future, I feel unsure. I trust God to make my plans for me and to show me them when he is ready. Until then, I don't know where I am going or what I am doing. But I have to believe it is something worthwhile.