Ragamuffins...

So I have been silent from blogdom for almost a week...My apologies to my readers (mom), but I do have a good reason...I left Sunday night to head to the annual Youth Ministry Conclave in Arlington, TX. It's an event put on by the BGCT that is aimed at helping, encouraging, and supporting Youth Pastors and Youth Workers across the state of Texas. Anyway, we stayed at the Sheraton, which is a four star hotel and is the "conference" hotel of the Arlington Convention Center and the internet was $13 per night! How can a hotel like that get away with not providing free wi-fi in this day and age?!?! I can't believe it, but nevertheless, thus sums up my lack of blogging...

On to the important part of this post...I got to spend the first part of this week with my absolute favorite people in the world...And it was so refreshing. I got to hang out with some of my closest friends, who just happen to be some of the best youth pastors that God has placed on this planet...I got to rekindle old relationships and meet up with guys who have taught me so much about life, ministry, and what it means to follow Christ. I got to meet some new friends who are beginning this crazy journey of what we call student ministry...And after all that, I can honestly say that I am convinced we are a group of ragamuffins. We are a group of outcasts. We are an insane, irrational, hard-headed, slow learning, scary, dangerous, rambuncious, rebellious, unpredictable group of folks...And I believe that Christ loves it! Who else would believe that the world can be changed through hormore infested 14 year olds?!?! Who else would be crazy enough to think that the ones in the church with no money, no power, no clout, and not even their own transportation could be the ones who would lead us to a great movement of God that might end in unreached peoples hearing for the first time the love and grace of Jesus? Who else would be bold enough to actually SPEAK OUT what everyone else knows and say that the church must change or die? Who else, but this crazy group of ragamuffins, would look at all the world has to offer, and choose to invest their lives, hearts, carreers, and souls in teenagers, knowing that the hours are ungodly (literally), the pay is poor, the strain on your own family is enormous, the encouragement and praise are few and far between, and the lot you've chosen is so many times seen as nothing more than babysitting?

But I am so glad I am among their numbers. I am so glad to be one of the few chosen to lay it on the line to connect the God I love and am passionate about with the students I love and am passionate about! Of all the talent and all the power and all the ability in the world, God chose this crazy group to be his arm of love to a generation of teenagers who so often have no clue what love is. And I can honestly say that I was honored to be in the midst of these ragamuffins for the past three days...I was among family...And it felt like home...