Wondering Thoughts...

There are many times that I question my calling. Whether I truly should be working with students or not. Most of the time it is because something I have planned didn't go well. I get pretty upset with myself if an event doesn't go as planned. I usually try to cover all the bases when planning my events, so if it doesn't turn out right, I begin to question myself or the loyalty of the students.

Such an event occurred this weekend. I planned to try to have a concert the first Friday of each month to help bring kids into the church in a non-threatening environment. We have had 3 such concerts so far and the number of attendees is dropping each time. We have gone from 100, to 40 to 16 on Friday night. I am not sure what the problem was. I know kids are busy but I figured that a concert by a good band would be worth the visit. One Star Story was playing and they did a great job. Vanessa, Geno and crew put on a great show and are worthy of playing at any venue. We will definitely be having them back. I was upset that we put so much into the concert for only 16 people. I have a hard time justifying the cost of a concert against the number who come. I am still trying to figure out what went wrong. I know we aren't advertising as much as we can. I am going to try this week and touch base with the other youth pastors in the area and some other organizations to try to get more people involved.

I do worry about my students, in this group and previous, when I see them not take God and Church seriously. I believe church is an essential piece of being a Christian. Not a requirement but something that every Christian should do, but more and more I see students making the decision to do other things besides church and more and more parents allow them to do other things. I remember when I was growing up, I was always made to go to church. My mother pushed me hard. She did me and my sisters. I struggled a bit in college but then (obviously) got back into it. I just hate that so many students don't believe God is worth the time, but so many other things are. Our next lesson series is on Living God Loud, and what it means to live your life for God where people can see God in your life without you even saying a word.