Last month, I had the pleasure of interviewing the featured speaker for the Church of God International Youth Convention (IYC 2022). Chip Taylor is a fabulous youth leader with a heart of gold. Here is a link to the article
Chip serves at a church where my wife was the children’s pastor for a time. Although they haven’t worked together at the same time, my wife is a leader with Intern Academy and they’ve worked together in that organization.
One of his quotes shows his approach to youth ministry.
“You have to be relational with today’s youth. You have to go to their turf. Positions don’t work anymore. You have to identify each kid as they are and acknowledge them. Relationships take precedence over roles.”
Chip Taylor
Chip will be a great speaker for IYC 2022. If you have a teen that is considering going, I would highly recommend it.
My grandfather and pastor baptized me when I was seven years old. One of my many memories that day is that the water was cold. I’m pretty sure it was in the warm months. But when you have several gallons of water sitting around for a while, it’s going to be freezing. It makes you long for a baptistry heater!
My wife is a children’s minister. One of her duties is to guide children who want to be baptized about the journey. Frequently, one of the kids will ask if the water is cold. Sometimes, we’ll get a parent who has read up on the latest baptistry heater technology.
I shudder whenever I hear these comments. I want to announce, “In my day, we were baptized in a frozen lake, and we were grateful for it!” So of course, this led me to a cartoon idea!
Baptisms have been an interest of mine since my wife was looking for a suitable guide for her kids several years ago. When she couldn’t find one, I wrote and illustrated one for her called, What’s a Bathtub Doing in My Church.
One of the best experiences we can have at church is when someone has made a decision to follow Jesus Christ and to be baptized. It is a time full of celebration and joy. Perhaps some would think it is not the appropriate time for humor. But I find wherever there is joy, there is also a little humor.
What’s more, children tend to have innocent questions that to adults, are humorous. Who would have thought to ask if they should bring their snorkel that morning but a kid?
And anyone who has taken the plunge has to be wondering if the water is cold. Oh for the love of a baptistry heater!
When we make our plans, we like to think that the path we have laid out is the only correct one. But when we have trouble plotting that path, it can spin us into an infinite loop of analysis paralysis. We tend to forget that there are many ways to move forward.
There are times when it is better to stand still. When we are lost, it is better to stay put while someone attempts to find us. That is good advice when we are lost in a wilderness and we know someone is looking for us.
If we have no clue of what “forward” is, then perhaps it is best to wait until we have a sense of what our true north is. However, if we are called to do something, and we know the general path, It is best to get moving.
Our plans of how we get there may change. But if we have a destination, detours and unforeseen roadblocks are okay. After all, a GPS or map app usually has two or three ways to get to a destination, does it not? If we know where we are going, an alternate route will get us there too!
It’s the difference between strategy and tactics. Our strategy may be solid while our tactics need to change with new circumstances. Even if we have gone a similar path before, new data and challenges may force us to readjust our path.
There are many ways to move forward. But standing still when we should go isn’t very helpful.
It’s so easy when things aren’t going the way we would like to make excuses, isn’t it? Our past experiences start to color our view. We don’t want to believe we are the problem. But if we realize we are at fault, we like to conclude the problem is out of our control.
A lot of creativity goes into excuse-making. Unfortunately, when all our energy goes into rationalizations, there isn’t much left for a solution. Benjamin Franklin alludes to this in the following quote.
“He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.”
Alibis take the responsibility off of us. If we reason our problem is because of our upbringing, society, or company culture, then we don’t have to make things better.
Instead, we can say it is someone else’s problem. Our rationalizations are our attempts to place responsibility on others. But what if they are doing the same thing? The cycle never ends. We end up pointing fingers at each other and asking, “Why can’t they get their act together?”
Stop making excuses! It doesn’t help us. Rather, our alibis just weaken us. They put the power onto someone else who may not realize what our expectations are. Even if they did, we may discover they may have limited control over the situation as well. What if the solution came from both parties taking responsibility?
Instead, let’s do our part. Ask what we can do to make things right, or at least better. Let’s put our creativity into finding a solution instead of an excuse.
This morning, I was reading in the Book of Numbers, Chapter 14. Twelve spies reported on the Promised Land. Ten of the two gave a discouraging report. The other two knew it’s always too early to quit.
Have you received some discouraging news? Are you having trouble seeing the opportunity in your challenges? Take heart and remember this quote from Norman Vicent Peale:
You may say, “But you don’t understand what is going on in my life!” And you may be right. I have had some mishaps and disappointments in my life. And I certainly haven’t experienced everything you have.
But of course, you don’t know everything about my life either. However, we can agree that life can be as messy as a stinky diaper. There are some things that we can control, and other situations we just have to ride out.
Life can be as messy as a stinky diaper
There have been times I have had to sigh and remind myself that God is in control, and I am not. But that doesn’t give me a reason to just give up. I remind myself it is best if I give to God what I can’t control while taking care of what I can.
I’ll admit it is a very delicate dance. If we are controlling others, that doesn’t help. But if we take care of matters we can control and have peace about the people and situations we can’t, we will eventually see a much better outcome.
Therefore, it is always too early for me to quit. And it is for you as well. Just because babies keep producing messy diapers, doesn’t mean we should just give up changing them. Young parents can take solace that one day, junior will be potty-trained and the mess will be a memory.
In the same way, just because we are facing messy situations today, doesn’t mean we should just give up. Change what we can, have peace about what we can’t, and pray for the wisdom to know the difference.
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