Typically Busy Youth Ministry Weekend

Recently, I had a busy weekend. This type of busy weekend is normal for a youth worker. And it used to be normal for me, too. Being away from full-time youth ministry for a couple months now, my normal weekend has really changed. Now it is more of a lot of time around the house with my family. I have really been able to cherish this time, but honestly I have missed the time in ministry "busymode" that seems to happen so often.

Here are the highlights from the weekend:

1st - I had a hard conversation with a college student. This started as an accidental conversation, as we connected while on a walk with my family. Talked about some tough stuff going on in their life and what they want to do about it. I felt like it was a good conversation from both sides.

2nd - I helped out at 5th Quarter. This one was a Saturday evening, since it was a Saturday afternoon game this week. I got to run one of the games, helped set up and tear down, and did some "security" to make sure teens weren't leaving randomly. It was a great event. Good times.

3rd - After 5th Quarter, I headed straight to a Displace Me '08 overnighter. I got called earlier that day to see if I could come help (a few of the other adults had to back out at the last minute). This was really a good chance to see some students I hadn't seen in a few months and meet a few more for the first time. Lots of laughs, sore muscles and lack of sleep were the three main outcomes from this night. I only stayed til around 12:30 or so.
Displace Me is part of Schools4Schools, which is a program out of invisible children. Find out more about each by clicking the following links...
Displace Me '08 - schools for schools - invisible children

4th - I taught Jr. High Class on Sunday night. This was the first time I had taught in a few months and I was ready to get back to it. It was fun to prepare the lesson. My only problem was that I had too much stuff, due to some adjustments to the overall evening that night, and I didn't watch the clock. I wasn't really paying attention to the time and ran out before we got to the end. It wasn't a total waste of a lesson, but I wish we could have gotten to the ending.

What a great weekend of youth ministry.

What about you? Do you love these types of weekends? Do you feel energized after something like this or do you feel drained?