5 Years Ago

It all started five years ago. I was dating this girl who volunteered with a Jr. High Youth group. She asked me if I'd like to come to the youth group with her to help out. Doing anything I could to impress her, I quickly agreed to come. I had a lot of fun that night-but I didn't have a job. There wasn't anything that I was told to do. I was just "there".
I remember leaving that night being slightly disappointed. I love doing things. I love having things assigned to me. I never have liked just being there. I told this girl as we drove away that I wished I would have had something to do. I also asked that if I came back again, if she could find a way to get me more involved. Her response to this shocked me. She flat out said no. She told me that the reason I was there wasn't to have something to do, it wasn't to be in charge, but that God wanted me there simply to be with the students.
This was a hard pill for me to swallow. I'm not sure if I agreed with her or not. Honestly, all I can remember is being so shocked that she told me no that I was a little upset. Now, 5 years later, I see just how important her words were.
In the past 5 years God has transformed me from that first time volunteer, to the full time youth leader in the same church. He has also transformed me from the guy who would do anything to impress that girl he was dating, to that girl's husband. A lot has changed in 5 years.
One thing hasn't changed though. God still has called me to this youth ministry for the same reason he called me 5 years ago. God wants me to be with the students. By "being with" these students, I am able to form true and deep relationships. I am able to minister to them. I am able to teach them. I am able to watch them grow spiritually. I am able to play a part in their lives. I am able to pray for them and with them. I am able to be with them.

If you've buzzed through the rest of this post-please slow down here!

I want you to know this. Being with students is the single hardest, yet most important job in a youth ministry. It is the job that all of the volunteers have accepted as their own. And it is the job that I struggled to understand when I first began to volunteer with the youth group.
So to all of my youth volunteers-Thank you. Thank you for being with the students. Thank you accepting God's call to minister to these youth. Your job, your "being with" these students, is the single most important part of this youth group.

Jesus chose them to be with Him. -Mark 3:14