Discouragement

For one reason or another, it is easy to get discouraged when trying to make an eternal impact of the lives of students. Sometimes I don’t get the proper preparation time going into a teaching time that I feel as if I need to have a good presentation. Sometimes I fail to carve out time to spend in prayer over the service. Sometimes the presentation is fine but I just don’t feel like the message sticks with the students. These are all factors that I have some degree of control over; however the main reasons for discouragement in my job I have no control over. Distractions is the youth ministers biggest enemy. Cell phones, laughing, talking, and empty water bottles are among the lead causes of my discouragement. Kids are kids and don’t think that making noise is a big deal, I get it. Nevertheless, I feel all to often students distract their friends from hearing the message and could have a negative eternal impact in some cases. Finally, the inconsistent numbers are frustrating. This is not about an egotistical mindset, but rather the undeniable fact that each number represents a soul that is either lost or saved. The saved need encouragement and the lost need saving; simple as that. Altogether it is a very rewarding job, but like anything else it has its stresses.