As They Prepare to Leave

There are so many different ways that one can choose to go in life. The paths of our lives are constantly intersecting and every now and then we plow into somebody. It is that chance encounter at the grocery store, the bump while walking down the street, the slamming of the brakes at a stop sign….the list is endless. If you think of all that has to happen for any one of us to literally bump into each other, it will make your brain hurt. If you really wanted to get hypothetical you could trace it back to your birth. If you had been born a minute or two later….think of all the people you never would have met….think of how different your life would be. Who would you never have known? What experiences would never have happened? Who would you be?

I believe that each individual has the power to change the course of another. Whether that change be for good or evil is completely up to the person being acted on. I don’t know who is out there today that I will either help or hinder in the future. I don’t know whose future I will change due to an action or statement. What I do know is that I have a responsibility to live a life in which “opportunity” should be a verb. I need to look for those moments in which I can help, promote, or change someone’s life. In turn I want others to look at my life and do the same for me. I want my “collisions” with other humans to mean something. I want my chance encounters to be earth shattering and my polite conversations to start something. I want to understand what it is I am supposed to do while I am here.

This is the time of year when I have to get ready to say good-bye to my Seniors. They are already to starting to get that look in their eye and I know that soon they will depart for various parts of the country. It is a strange moment for a youth minister for the opportunity to teach is slowly slipping away and there is a pressure to make sure that they understand. I can only imagine what it must feel like for the parents! I have watched them grow in maturity and stature, but there is always the worry that I have not done enough. So I am going to give a quick synopsis of what I think they should know.

I want them to be leaders of their lives.

I want them to have a strong faith foundation. I understand that they will go through varying degrees of faith, but I hope that the foundation is good enough to weather those moments of uncertainty.

They need to be able to look at opportunity and seize it. This world is filled with those who would much rather sit back and allow others to dictate how things are supposed to work. If you can step forward and say, “follow me!” than everything gets a little easier.

I want them to believe in compassion. This world will try and tell you that you can be better than everybody else. What the world doesn’t tell you is that the only way to the top is on the arms of others. Treat others with respect and they will lift you……treat others poorly and they will drop you. So simple….yet so hard to grasp.

Above all I want them to know how much God truly does love them. There will be happy times and there will be sad times, but the one constant is God’s unwavering Love. It is always there.


There are moments when I wonder if I have done enough for these fine young people. I will have a conversation or overhear a comment and a sadness envelopes me as I pray that they have understood what the last two years have been about. I know that they have listened and that friendships have been strengthened……but life can get rough out there. I want them to be prepared.

They must never give up. Ever. In the face of adversity they must prevail, in the face of uncertainty they must listen to their hearts, in the face of sadness they must open their mouths to God.

Our lives are constantly intersecting and I was lucky enough to bump into these teenagers during my travels. They have shaped my life through their actions, kind words, and knowing glances and I can only hope that God has touched them in the same way.

I believe that each individual has the power to alter the life of another. You never know who is going to cross your path, but when they do make sure to take a moment and say hello.

The foundation has been laid and now it is time to build.