Today, I'm linking up with Kate Motaung's Five Minute Friday. The rules: Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking. 

This week's prompt: World.   

I love to travel and I used to do so...

One of the leadership axioms I adhere to is that leaders cannot take people further than they are themselves. In order for teens to consistently grow in their faith, student leaders must do so too.

To challenge student leaders to grow, ask them to...

As I've been breastfeeding, I've been binge watching Grey's Anatomy. I recently watched an episode in Season 5 in which Addison's brother, Archer, has worms in his brain – something that's clearly a very serious condition. In an attempt to save...

What the book's about: Jesus Centered Youth Ministry is about creating youth ministries that are, in every way, rooted in Jesus. This book is a revised edition of the book first published by the same name 8 years ago. 

Why I read this book:...

Ever since the Vanity Fair article, Call Me Caitlyn, broke earlier this week, my Facebook feed has been filled with people's reactions to it. My progressive friends are overjoyed; My conservative friends are horrified. Opinions seem to abound...

Reading:

Fiction:

I read three fiction books during April: Nora Roberts' The Liar, which was certainly not my favorite of her mysteries; David Baldacci's The Memory Man, which was fantastic; and Lisa Scottoline's Every Fifteen Minutes, ...

Today, I'm linking up with Kate Motaung's Five Minute Friday. The rules: Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.

This week's prompt: Blue. 

The first time I gazed into your blue eyes I was still on the...

Earlier in this Student Leadership Team Basics series, we talked about how the role of your student leadership team is to create a culture of welcome in your youth ministry. One specific way you can do this is by having your team recognize and...

On Sunday, my 7th and 8th grade teachers trickled into the Youth Room after Sunday School. On this particular week – the last of our program year – they'd also been joined by one my high school youth ministry's alumni who remarked there was a...

Letting teens influence my youth ministry's teaching calendar means that sometimes, we talk about topics I have no interest in or even real knowledge of; Topics that if, it were solely up to me, would never in a million years make our teaching...

I'm someone who needs a lot of encouragement and affirmation.

What I've learned after 13 years in youth ministry is that most teens do, too.

As a result, I try to be intentional not only about giving teens encouragement and affirmation, but also...

Some of my good friends are long-term medical missionaries in Nepal. Every once in a while, I'll get an e-mail from them saying, “We popsicle stick prayed for you this morning!”

Every day our friends – along with their three young children – pray...

Today, I'm linking up with Kate Motaung's Five Minute Friday. The rules: Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking. This week's prompt: Meet.

Dear Baby Girl -

Yesterday, I was at work, discipling a teenager who I...

For the last several years, I've participated in the One Word 365 project, selecting a word to anchor my year. My word for this year has been hope – chosen during a scary pregnancy related stint in the hospital in January.

In addition to...

I recently received a message from a friend expressing excitement over the birth of my firstborn. To be honest, the word, firstborn, jarred me.

I am, indeed, expecting a Baby Girl in just a couple of weeks who – assuming all goes well - will be...

Since student leadership is really about discipleship, it's important to meet with your student leadership team regularly.

In my context, I meet with my student leadership team 4-6 times over the summer (plus an overnight leadership team retreat)....

Reading: 

Fiction:

I read three fiction books during April: Joy Fielding's Someone is Watching - a good mystery; Katherine Center's Get Lucky - a purely fun piece of chick lit, perfect for someone like me who's currently pregnant; And my...

As a youth pastor, I'm privileged to walk with teens as they transition from high school into college. Typically, teens leave high school with huge dreams and aspirations, feeling as though they can conquer the world. All too often, four years...

My husband and I both grew up doing theater. In college, we even directed a show together. As part of that show, my husband introduced me to the concept of writing the actors' bios (the ones that appear in the program) for them – something that...

In addition to requiring student leaders to read and blog, another way I train and equip students for leadership and in particular, for creating a culture of welcome is by conducting frequent evaluations of each week's youth ministry programs.

...