By December, I was frustrated; and my husband was tired of hearing me complain. I set up a time to meet with the pastors and informed them of my intention.  I wanted to be the youth director. Did I have any experience? No, but I had taught for six years and four of them had been with junior and senior high school kids. Why did I want to do this? Well, if complaining every Wednesday night and being completely dissatisfied with the way the youth group has been treated and run is not a call from God, then I don't know what is. Could I commit to a year? Sure (though that answer was a bit hesitant). Could I do it without pay? No problem, I have been for the last few months. No big deal! So I thought.

Let me begin this paragraph by saying I had no comprehension of the challenges of being a youth director. My first order of business was to get a letter sent home about the upcoming mission trip in the summer. The pastor had set the goal for 30 participants. I spent three days just photocopying letters and stuffing envelopes. This did not include the time spent planning lessons, making sure we had enough adults, and sorting through things. On the positive side, I had stopped complaining on Wednesday nights. Who wants to complain about themselves?

After getting out the mission trip letters, there was the task of getting a 30-Hour Famine up and running. While the kids assured me this was what they wanted to do, I struggled to get the help I needed from them. I quickly was learning their idea of getting things done was for me to do most of the work. We had approximately 2,900 crosses to put in the ground in front of the church. While everyone thought the message was great, no one wanted to help put them up.  Frustration.

So between me, my husband, our two children (who are not even old enough for youth group) and three other youth members, we got a majority of the crosses up one afternoon. Another night, a few more helpers came out, including a couple of moms and a couple more youth members. We came close to having all the crosses up. Still, not until one of the pastors got involved was the job done.

Failure one (in my eyes). Why couldn't I motivate them to do it? Then, as we found ourselves speeding along through spring, every day closer to the famine and Youth Sunday, I realized there was no way we would be ready. I still was struggling to get help from the kids. Failure two. What is wrong with me? I have no choice to postpone. By this time, I was convinced in my mind that people were criticizing me, especially the youth leaders who had left in the fall.  Failure three.

But there was a glimmer of hope. While discussing why we would be postponing in a meeting, one of the kids pointed out that while everyone is quick to complain about what I am doing, they are not stepping up to help. Score one?

Despite all the struggles, I love my volunteer job. Sure, the famine flopped. I had kids being disrespectful in every way. They complained. They told off adults.  They got testy with each other. They blatantly broke the rules.

What did I learn? A LOT!  But you know what? When those kids succeed, I get to witness their excitement. When I come in in a bad mood, they cheer me up. Not because of anything they intentionally do, but because I just enjoy them. I just enjoy them.

Now, as I sit here on the finished side of the famine, Youth Sunday and mission trip (we did not get 30 by the way), I am excited about the fall kicking off soon. While I have a lot of failures under my belt, I have a lot of successes, as well. So maybe we did not get 30 on the mission trip, but the 10 who went had a life-changing experience. I hope to use those 10 as a core group within the large one to help transform some of the day-to-day challenges we face. While time was a huge challenge for me, especially in April and May when I was working full time and could not squeeze out a second to work on youth group, I have re-set my priorities for the fall.

What's first? Youth group. It will take a lot of time, but I'm going to have time to give. I'm going to have time to plan the service projects and roll up my sleeves and get dirty with them. I'm going to have time to give them they lessons they demand and deserve. I'm going to have time to enjoy them. I'm going to have time to support them. And when they challenge me with the crazy teenage things they get into, I'm going to have time for that, too. The first year has been a struggle, but I'm ready to go again. My time could not be better spent!