Life continues at a fast pace. But with that pace I have seen a lot of really cool things this week.

Wednesday was exciting because Phil spoke about true humility. I had heard his message on it before and was super excited for the kids to be able to hear it. The message seemed to be received well, I have never seen the kids so attentive. Phil spoke directly to the heart of the issue in the same way I had heard him speak before. The message was powerful too because he had known about some of the talents that the kids possessed and challenged them directly to use those passions to bring glory to God. By having it be so personal I think it drove home the importance of the message and made it relate directly to each of the kids.

The one activity stood out as being really cool too. There were note cards passed around to each person and then you wrote your name on the card then the card was passed around the room for each person to write something on it that they appreciated about you. It was a great way to encourage the kids to be leaders and to learn the art of encouraging those around them. This seems to be one more tool for the development of leaders which to me is one of the main goals of youth ministry. Encouragement is such a huge tool in the development of anything, especially leadership.

Friday night we went to the Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, concert. Personally the concert was amazing, it was a powerful worship service. But not only was it personally powerful it was also amazing to see some of the kids come out of their own normal worship actions. Kids who normally didn't seem to care were at some points in the service passionately worshiping God. It was very cool to see.

My question lies from this service though, how do you as a leader take that excitement and the mountain high that you are on from worshiping God with so many people, and channel it to be used successfully? How do you take mountain top experiences and use them to continue to develop the leader in the youth?

Too many times in my own experience I have seen the mountain highs only being mountain highs were you are jazzed up on emotional energy. It is never channeled into something great like it could be. Its left just as it is. Thats a shame in my mind. And I cannot help but wonder how it can be handled better and how you actually channel that energy.

We have talked about starting small groups which I am excited about. I am going to lead the junior high girls, the topic is not certain yet. I am super excited about this possibility. I love the girls and the opportunity I had with them earlier in the winter with small groups.

I am continuing to love this stuff. I love the planning, the worshipping, the hanging out, the reflecting, and the praying that has to happen in this ministry.