Not this again... Life in Routine

The weather has begun to turn here in the U.K. The rain is just a little bit cooler than it was last week, and the sun is cresting the terrace houses at the end of the street a few minutes later every morning.  All around me everyone is drifting back to the routine of school and work.  I visualize 1^st year students excited to learn their A,B,C,’s while feeling apprehensive of being alone in school for the first time without a parent.  I can see teenagers looking at an algebra text they put down in July

with only a vague recollection of the concepts. Now they’re praying for secret decoder rings that will remove the fog of summer neglect from their minds.  This is topped only by the worry of “Will anyone like me?”, and “Will they fit in this year’s social calendar?”.  Finally I can see parent’s breathe a sigh of relief as the routine of life gets back into gear. They are free of trying to pry their kids from a screen or pushing them to go out and get some air with ‘trusted’ friends, while they balance work with kids at home.   This has become our systematic cultural autopilot to start the new school year. It sees that our kids are out of the house before dawn and returning at the end of the day, often to an empty house.   It is our routine, but is it what we were made for?

I fear that as routine kicks back in complacency can creep in and take root, too.   Without intentional energy and focus we can miss our kids growing up, miss our family and miss our community.  Even relationships can be placed on the back burner of our mind, behind work, dishes and video games.  We can have everything around us and yet be alone in our routine.  Even more troubling to me is that we can leave God out of the equation entirely as we fill our spaces with creature comforts of predictability.

For over 20 years now September and October has always been about exciting adults to reach into the world of teens and encourage them to know Christ.  In our post modern world, this is no longer simple.  It is hard work; people are sceptical of any sort of relationship that is not academic.   To fill life with love or laughter... Why? There has to be a catch, there has to be a reason you want to help someone. It is the way of the world you know, the dog-eat-dog world that it is.  You can’t love me for no good reason, you must want something. 

Wanting to hang out with teens now is so ‘out of the ordinary’, you have to have a security check to do it!   (Which all our leaders have- by the way).  But yes, it is worth it.  No matter how many teens I have met in my life, their goals aspirations and dreams are greatly influenced by peers, role models and friends.  Their values, morals, and faith are fabricated as they journey life together in the halls and through the streets to and from school.  And we need to be there... in their world as a Christian presence that counter balances the pressures of the world against them.  And it is in the discussions along the way, which may seem the most routine that are the life changing times of process that shape young people into adults.  In the world of youth ministry we are preparing to ‘be there’ again.

This fall, it is my prayer that we have more and more adults that break out of the ‘routine’ of their own lives to reach into the lives of others.  Would you join me to pray that we have an abundance of leaders here in the UK??? Would you consider supporting the work where you live?  To maybe get you out of the house a bit more and into the lives of the next generation.  Or would you help to support the work so others can free up time to get out and hang with young people?   A life is a collection of memories.  In the routine let’s find some together....

 

         What was going on this summer?  

This summer has been immense and anything but routine, filled with construction, restructure and lots of relational time with youth.  We continued digging in the new camp, dreaming with youth and adults alike, what could be next in the camp’s development.   

We had over 600 youth enjoy the new blob tower and club room, from as far afield as Northern Ireland.  And due to demand, we have organized a second Africa trip for this year in late October to put the second floor on the school we built in 2012. 

The TENT board and all that it entails in the UK is now in place and we have had some enjoyable times as a YLI staff team dreaming of how to reach kids for Christ as the scope of ministries we have together grows.  I am especially excited that the staff are now starting to ‘cross pollinate’, inviting area clubs and even regional clubs to be a focus this year.  Youth are headed to the states to see if YL can be a career choice and intern opportunities are growing in the mission to reach out to teens where they are at.

 

         On a personal note   

September saw me out of action as I pinched a nerve in my back, and November will see Brigitte having major surgery for a prolapsed in her bowel.  Push an Africa trip into the middle of the mix and we do have some challenges for October and early November, so we will covet your prayers.  By the time Brigitte is on the mend we are planning to both come to Canada in February.  So if you have some time, please start making room in your diaries for us to spend some time together.

 

         Looking forward to and pray for :  

·        October YMP trip to Africa

·        Infrastructure development of the camp to find favour with planners

·        Details for the 2014 YMP Africa trip in the spring break

·        The container house ‘business’ we are trying to set up

·        A secret project we are doing for missionaries in a closed country we cannot give details about.....