I was at the National Youth Workers Conference a couple of weeks ago. It was a gathering of youth pastors from all over the country. It was a time for people committed to the development of teenagers to share their joys, sorrows and dreams together and it was a beautiful thing.
Adolescence is a fascinating period of development. It’s a time when we begin to pull away and establish ourselves a part from all of the other influences in our lives and strive for some independence. The period from 13-21 is integral to the formation of each of our identities. It’s when we decide who we want to be, the principles by which we’ll live, the people with whom we find chemistry and the beginning discovery of why we might have been put on this earth.
But in simple terms, it’s a period of change.
One of my best friends (a married couple) just had a baby. Zeke is absolutely the most beautiful child… and I seriously mean that objectively, rock.star.baby. (WTG Corey and Laura). Despite watching five younger siblings be born and grow up, it’s been unbelievable to watch how quickly Zeke has grown. Weeks go by with monumental growth and improvement. Things he couldn’t do last week, he can do now. It’s incredible. His life is in the most intense period of change he’ll ever experience.
And you know what? It would be unhealthy for him if he didn’t experience that change.
This has been incredibly relevant to me the last couple weeks. The director I’ve served under the past three years, my personal mentor and a Spiritual father to me, left AIM unexpectedly. I came into work one day and in a couple hours everything had changed. He walked out the door and hasn’t been back. He’s not out of my life, in fact I had coffee with him this morning.
But my dad gave me some wise words: “no matter how optimistic you are, no matter how calmly you approach the new days ahead, this will change your life.”
…and it has.
In short, I miss him being a part of my job. I want him to be just a phone call away. I want the security of knowing he’s there to back me and counsel me. He’ll always be in my life, but this role has changed for this season.
As the seasons outside change, the leaves that were green and lush turned into a fireworks display of fiery color but they’ve eventually given their last breath to fall as we enter winter. It’s a season of dormancy and rest and waiting. I find winter to be incredibly reflective. It’s a season to think about what happened and prepare for the next spectacular display of growth.
Ever heard of “growing pains”? It’s when you grow so fast it hurts. Change must happen…it simply must. In fact, it’s unhealthy if it doesn’t. But sometimes whether slow or quick, change hurts. What matters is whether I celebrate the adventure or kick and scream through the inevitable (thank God He’s mature enough to just laugh at me when I do…).
I watched “The Polar Express” last night for the first time…I loved the quote at the end: “The thing with trains is…it’s not about where they’re going, it’s about deciding to get on.”
