Uphill idealist

Airbrushed Mural image by Pamela Shanteau Several years ago, I took a group of students to Ohio for a weekend retreat event. It was a large event in a stadium-like atmosphere with lots of bands, speakers, students and very little sleep. If you've ever been on a weekend trip with a bunch of teens, these conditions are par for the course in youth work. On trips like this, you drive a maxi van for what seems to be the entire distance of the US and back and your diet intake is in the categories of candy, pizza and caffeine. The one thing that is always unpredictable, besides the students, is the weather. By the late afternoon on Saturday, the upcoming weather reports were calling for a storm advisory of rain to sleet and eventually to snow. On this particular trip, we'd have to drive back through areas that are infamous in snow belt country. We needed to think of a plan B. Our group held a quick meeting and I let them know the concerns I had about the weather and was surprised to h...

There have been the: "Yikes, where did that deer come from!" while speed bumping at 55 miles an hour over a 8 point buck's carcass and slamming on the brakes to have the kids cell phones whistle past my head and smack into the dash moments. There have been back road winter conditions at 2 am with the students saying, "Yeah, I only live 10 more miles up this road marked 'Off season conditions'. There have been plenty of "How long till we get there?" and "Can we stop so I can go to the bathroom?" moments. But the most trying of them all will have to be one hot, hot summer day in Western PA returning home from picking up a van-load of children from summer camp. The trip to camp was about 3 hours, pick ups tool about an hour, and the trip home another 3. I was prepared with snacks, juice and even a volunteer to help me out; but this moment could not have been foreseen. About 40 miles from home, the van engine started to whine and winnie, t...

Today was a HUGE cookie bake fest with my youth group. We are trying to raise some funds for our trip to New Orleans for the National Youth Gathering for the ELCA. This Sunday we will be holding a cookie and discount card sale to help with some of the expenses of the trip. It took a lot of work, but we ended up with 27 dozen cookies by the end of the day! For the complete photo log of our cooking adventure, go to my Facebook account and look at the 27 Dozen Album . Bon Appetite! Much thanks to all that helped today: Sue, Tristan, Venya, Hannah, Scott, Will, Delia, Hebner, and Libby. You made it a great day!

Most folks in Pittsburgh spent the last weekend revving up for and celebrating with the Pittsburgh Steelers being in and winning the Superbowl. My youth group and I had the opportunity to go to Pittsburgh last weekend, not for football, but for a Jr. Youth event called Youth Quake Encounter . This weekend event takes place at a hotel and is an opportunity for students to gather, learn more about and develop their faith in God, have fun and get to make new friends. Our group consisted of myself, Pastor Billy, Katie, Katelyn, Hannah, Scott, Nigel, Skyler, and Jeremy. All together, there were 150 students gathered for the Pittsburgh leg of the tour. Here is a photo essay of what we were up to this last weekend. If you work with youth, consider attending a Youth Quake (Jr High) or a Zone (Sr. High) event, I was really impressed with the quality of the musicians, speakers and overall approach to the weekend. Also, the theme this last weekend was "Unity". I'm happy to let you k...

Today is the day I head out of town with 8 students, one other adult leader, tons of luggage, snacks and some butterflies dancing in my stomach. It's been a while since I've gone on a weekend trip with a group of students. I've checked my to do list, my what to bring list and have a 3 ring folder with every person's info, my driving directions,a list of restaurants in the area, and a tax exempt form for good measure. If you think of us this weekend, pray for our safety, fun and opportunity to learn some things about God, ourselves and each other. It will be a great opportunity. Today is Y-Day as we are headed to Youth Quake Encounter in Pittsburgh. Only 3 1/2 hours on the road and we'll be there. Adventure awaits.