Ministry and Life Lessons Learned from Snowmageddon

As everyone knows, this past week Washington, DC got hammered with Snowmageddon.  Snowmageddon dumped over 32.5 inches of snow in my Suburb – 30 minutes outside of DC.  It was a crazy week in which the Federal Government closed for 4 consecutive days (that has never happened before) and schools were cancelled all week.

As I was stuck inside or close to home all week, and my schedule thrown out of whack, I had lots of different life and ministry experiences that I learned from. Here are some of the lessons learned over this past week:

1. God is bigger than 1 event. Because of Snowmageddon, we had to cancel our Super Bowl Bash.  It was the 1st year in the past 10 that I had to cancel the Party.  Whether you do a Super Bowl Party or not, we value this opportunity very much and make this into our BIGGEST outreach event we do all year so I was extremely disappointed that we had to cancel.  Despite my feelings, I realized over this time that God is bigger than just 1 event.  I always believed this in theory, but when I had to actually experience it, it really hits home.  Right after we cancelled, I began to reflect on whether I put too many eggs in this basket.  Was this the only way I allow God to reach non-believing students?  Was I limiting God?

God is much bigger than the Super Bowl and can do many more things in our ministry to reach students for Him.  I have to go before him and seek his guidance on what he wants me to do and how we can provide different opportunities for our students now.  In the same way, continue to go before God and seek his guidance and direction.  He will use our heart and passion for His glory.  I just cannot get so caught up in how I believe things should happen that I miss what God wants to do.

2. Make the best of every situation. With the cabin fever that ensued from being trapped inside a house for days, I realized that I probably wasn’t alone in going stir crazy.  Therefore, as Friday appeared to be a better day with a 2nd day of melting and plowing, Katie and I organized a Pizza lunch at the Church for the youth.  We had about 10 students show up and had a great time chatting and eating together.  I learned that sometimes life throws you a curveball and almost 3 feet of snow dumps on you in a 4 day period.  As frustrating as the snow was to my regular plans for the week, God provided us with an opportunity to do something different and draw students together.  In the same way, when you are faced with an unexpected situation, ask God how He can use it for His glory and see what opportunity he provides.

3. Don’t procrastinate. As we got hit with some much snow, shoveling was an important action. My wife and I (yes, my wife likes to shovel) took different shifts outside during the snowfall to keep our walkway and driveway cleared.  If we had just let it finish snowing and then shovel, we would have been out there much longer than if we just kept working towards the goal the whole time.  Sure it took time and consistency to continue to go outside and shovel, but in the long run, we were able to stay on top of it rather than trying to catch up.

One of the biggest procrastinations I see with youth ministers is to hold off working on their messages to just a day or so before.  I know each person has their different preferences, but when we procrastinate we run the chances of not finishing in time and not giving our best to the students.  Set up regular time throughout the week to go before the Lord for his direction so you can regularly process, jot down ideas and work on your message.  That way, when Friday and Saturday come along, you are just adding finishing touches to it rather than having to worry about writers block.

4. You will be sore and bruised. When you shovel as much as we have had to shovel and even go sledding, you will encounter soreness and bruises.  The day after the first 2 feet of snow happened, I was in so much pain and stiff from shoveling.  Then, as my family and I went sledding for a few days, we could come back regularly with some bruises and scrapes.

There were no major injuries, but it made me think that as a follower of Christ and minister, life is not easy and you will be constantly bruised and battered.  But do not give up hope.  Do not stop pursuing the Lord as you walk through life and help others process life as well.  It will get messy, but God has a plan and we need to rest and rely on that plan.

Again, these are just some lessons I learned this past week being stuck in my house with my perfect schedule thrown out of whack.

TAKE A MINUTE and…

• Process some recent lessons you have learned recently.  What is God trying to teach you and guide you with?