I am the woobie!

This year, (more and more each Spring actually) I am loving gardening! I never really got why people were so into gardening, what with the dirt and the bugs and all that. But I do love it. My little garden out front is bursting with pansies, and out back I've planted young morning glory plants which will grow and vine up the giant shrub that divides our property from our neighbor's. It's a neat little secret flower bed that's mostly for my pleasure, since it sits just outside the kitchen window and I can watch the flowers bloom while I stand at the sink to do dishes.
Last year I realized that gardening and youth ministry have much in common. As I was tying pieces of string to give the glories something to climb until they got tall enough to reach the shrub, I thought about how this is our job as YM's= to be the bridge for kids' faith until they can latch on in a real way, as adults with adult faith. In the Godbearing Life, they talk about adolescents needing adults as "transitional objects". A T. Object is something like a blanket (blankie! Woobie!) that helps toddlers feel comfortable in different situations, because their T.O. is there. For adolescents, WE get to be the woobies that help kids feel grounded through all their changes. What a blessing!
We may not be the vine, but we can be the strings that lead to the vine...