ramblings of a tired YM

I snuck in a day off today, despite the crushing weight on my psyche that is my workload at this moment. Scott just did the math and we did an extra 58 hours each on top of our 40 hour work-week schedule, so after 8 hours off today I’m down to 50 extra hours to while away in the near future.
But I have so much to do!!! Somehow, everyone expects everything to happen in September in youth ministry, despite the fact that no one is available UNTIL September to do any planning or work. So I’m left to do lots of writing and readying and have a whirlwind period of spastic last minute planning and training and organizing and scavenging of supplies and whatnot to look forward to. It makes me exhausted to think about it all.
The other reason I can’t take tomorrow off, too, is that since GR there have been kids in the YM center pretty much constantly. They goof and yell and chat and run around and are painting the walls in the living room bright colors, and they play the radio loud and ask lots of questions and bring junk food in and leave messes and it’s glorious. It’s a torturous brain puzzle that having youth (actual YOUTH) in your office makes it hard to get your YM work done. Of course, it is just that, being with the kids, that is supposed to be the work, but… well there’s the torture.
I’ve given a lot of thought about the skills needed to be a good Youth Minister. It’s not just an inexhaustible knowledge of ice breakers and group games. It’s desktop publishing, web design, group facilitation, supervisory skills, crisis management, discipline, counseling, knowledge of pop culture, mass mailing, writing and research, and of course the ability to turn the radio station away from an inappropriate song while backing up a fifteen passenger van. You have to know how to answer questions like “why do Catholics hate gay people?” and “what’s the difference between Catholics and Christians?” Sigh…
Still, it is the kids who keep me hanging in with this vocation. I love to watch them interact, I love to hear what’s on their minds, I LOVE their questions. It makes my heart jump to see young people pray and it fills me with joy to hear them laugh. It’s when I lose touch with kids that this job seems too hard, too impossible, not worth the trouble. So tomorrow I trudge in for another day of fun with the kids and worry about getting it all done.