My three-year-old daughter, Hope, LOVES Legos. A friend got her a Lego kit for Christmas and she and my husband did it in one fell swoop. I’m honestly not sure who had more fun: her or my husband. Because of Hope’s interest in Legos, I was excited...

With Halloween on a Wednesday, many youth workers have wrestled with whether or not to hold youth group. Of course, this isn’t the only time we face this dilemma. We also wrestle with this in instances of bad weather, over winter break, and during...

I am a bookworm. For as long as I can remember, books have been my love language. My dad used to joke he’d have to buy the house next door to ours in order to house all my books. Sometimes, I think my husband feels the same way. Because of my love...

I have a three-year old.

As Christmas approaches and I choose gifts for her, I’m constantly looking at the age recommendations of toys. I do so because I want to know if a toy is developmentally appropriate for her. If I give my daughter a toy...

The man from Food for the Hungry walked onto the stage.

“Do you believe in hope?” he yelled.

The crowd of Christian concert goers replied with raucous cheers.

That’s when he said it - The line that made me sink down in my seat and cringe.

“...

How and what we say affects what we believe. I saw this in my research for The Jesus Gap, which found that 73% of the language used by high school students to answer the question, “Who is Jesus?” was creedal in origin. I was further convinced of...

When I finally decided to leave my old job – a job I loved and was very comfortable in – my new boss and I wrestled with my new title, eventually landing on Minister of Youth and Family. This role – one that was far more expansive than I’d had in...

In the church world, people talk about being “called” a lot. But what exactly does it mean to be called? Mark Labberton attempts to answer this very question in his book, Called: The Crisis and Promise of Following Jesus Today.

According to...

Adult leaders are the backbone of a healthy youth ministry. In order to effectively minister to teens, your ministry needs caring adult leaders. But what, precisely, should those caring adult leaders do?

Many youth ministries use adult leaders as...

My new book, A Mission That Matters: How To Do Short-Term Missions Without Long-Term Harm, is out! As a youth worker, I wholeheartedly believe that mission trips have the ability to impact teens in an incredibly transformative way. However,...

In the days following my miscarriage, several friends sent me links to people they’d found online who were writing about miscarriage. Adriel Booker was one of those people. Her words were like a lifeline to me. Not surprisingly, her book, Grace...

My new youth ministry met for the first time last week.

By all assessments, we had a great first night. The room was full and teens were engaged in our conversation about vocation.

Afterwards, I was chatting with one of my adult leaders. When I...

My new book, A Mission That Matters: How To Do Short-Term Missions Without Long-Term Harm, is out! As a youth worker, I wholeheartedly believe that mission trips have the ability to impact teens in an incredibly transformative way. However,...

Earlier this week, I hosted a leader’s training for our junior high and high school adult leaders. Our focus was equipping leaders to facilitate small groups.

During this crash course in leading small groups, we addressed basic tips and tricks for...

My high school youth ministry meets for this first time this school year this Wednesday and this fall, we’re talking about vocation. In preparation for this series, I’ve been doing a ton of reading on vocation, including Gordon T. Smith’s fabulous...

My new book, A Mission That Matters: How To Do Short-Term Missions Without Long-Term Harm, is out! As a youth worker, I wholeheartedly believe that mission trips have the ability to impact teens in an incredibly transformative way. However,...

Over a decade ago, I spoke on a panel at North Park University on ministering in multi-ethnic environments alongside Kathy Khang. I’ve been a fan of hers ever since. For that reason, I was excited to read her new book, Raise Your Voice: Why We...

My new book, A Mission That Matters: How To Do Short-Term Missions Without Long-Term Harm, is out! As a youth worker, I wholeheartedly believe that mission trips have the ability to impact teens in an incredibly transformative way. However,...

For the last year and a half, I’ve had the privilege of participating in Fuller Youth Institute's Youth Ministry Innovation Cohort. Part of this has meant creating a project to do in my youth ministry involving an ancient practice: Vocation. This...

Because mission trips are, by their very nature, short-term, it can be tempting to use them as an opportunity to try out new leaders.

Please don’t.

While mission trips are indeed short-term, their short-term nature makes them incredibly...