2010/2011 Preteen Min Recap – Part 2

This is part 2 of a post that I did last week. If you want to read part 1, click here.

So, what have I learned this past year in X-Zone (the preteen ministry I lead)?

Here’s what comes to mind:

1. Expect the unexpected.
This past year so many unexpected things happened, both bad and good.  The only consistent factor was to be ready for anything.  The lessons that I thought were going to be a home run were a dud.  The ones I thought were mediocre were a hit. The spiritual growth I thought would occur within certain preteens didn’t happen.  It was other preteens who grew in their relationship with God. You get the idea. Whatever outcome or prediction I had in mind going into a Wednesday night simply didn’t happen. Something entirely different was around the corner. I guess God has a sense of humor!

2. A step behind.
Most of the year I felt one step behind what God was doing.  For example. We went to winter camp and built a tremendous amount of momentum. All of our core preteens attended.  The very next Wednesday night, I planed to build on that momentum.  Only 20% of those who attended winter camp showed up and we had an usual amount of first time visitors.  So, the lesson I planned didn’t go over well. It seemed like I would gauge what God is doing and make adjustments, only to be thrown curveballs over and over again.  I felt a step behind what God was doing.  But at least I was listening and looking for what he was doing 🙂

3. Reaching Newcomers.
I’ve always been a big proponent of reaching newcomers, especially those in the community who don’t have a relationship with God.  Honestly, this year I didn’t do much in our programming to reach them.  Maybe because I got stuck in a rut, too focused on challenging our core group or just got a little lazy. But the funny thing is that we had swarms of newcomers come through our doors. Way more than last year, when I was super focused on reaching them. Funny how God is about his business no matter what we have on our agenda!

4. Transitioning into Middle School.
Last year, we didn’t do so good of a job of transitioning 6th graders into middle school because I was new on staff.  But this year we did a fantastic job! Just about all the newcomers and core 6th graders made an easy transition. I feel good about that. Those core 6th graders were the first group I connected with when starting on staff here two years ago.  So, it’s good to see them get connected in middle school. Super important.

Well, that’s all I have for you.  Later this week we go to Palm Springs for a two day intern retreat.  We gather all six interns for a training and team building experience. Going to be fun! Then, next week we kick it in high gear and launch summer programming.

Headed to the beach later today with my family.  It’s my kids last day of school.  Been a long school year and baseball season for my boys.  Looking forward to no more school and those long summer days!