One Morning

The perfect blending of electric guitars and drums providing the backdrop of the morning youth worship, you sit among hundreds of high school and junior high students praising the God you and your husband have been serving together for five years now. It has been an awesome five years. You look around and notice the shining faces of the teenagers around you who have come to know Christ through the ministry that you and your husband have built with God’s help. There’s Susie, who is from a broken home and who was on the verge of suicide when her friend invited her to church. She is now one of your leader kids who is singing with the praise team up on the stage, her life now completely devoted to following Christ. There’s Trent, the star of the football team who is also leading a Bible Study before school each Tuesday a.m. There are so many, they are getting harder to remember by name, but it is so uplifting to know how many have been affected by the ministry of your church. You bask in the wonder and revel in the warm feelings this moment is bringing your way. Last night was one of the best high school kick-off parties you have ever had. Your four year old and two year old were so excited to have the high school crowd over to your place for the big bonfire and party. Your hard work, and the hard work of so many of the other youth coaches and sponsors, really paid off. Your husband’s devotion was so funny and so inspired and the kids got such a lift out of it. It is amazing how creative you and your team can be. You have so many ideas, you can’t have enough programs to use them all! And just think, it gets better. Tomorrow you and your husband are going away on an all expenses paid trip for two for the week in order to recuperate from all your hard work over the last five years. The church has been so good. They’ve even bought your family a brand new mini-van. You are brought back to the present by the youth up front calling your husband forward to give him a gift of appreciation. They are so good about that. Weekly, they thank you and your family for all the time and effort you put into the ministry. As the band revs up for the next song, you notice the nice little part the keyboardist is playing, tink, tink, tink, tink, tink, tink, tink, tink . . . What is that? What?????
Oh, no! It’s the alarm clock! Like a car suddenly shifting from 5th gear to 1st, you are jerked awake. You’ve overslept. It is 7:59 and you and your family must be at the church at 8:30 a.m. ready for the pre-church prayer group that meets to pray for the youth of the church. Oh no! You said you’d be in charge of bringing treats for your 4 year old’s Sunday School class! Aaaagh! There’s not time to get to the bakery and to the church. Nobody’s dressed, where are his shoes? The phone rings, your husband is already at church and got a call, can you please fill in for the junior boys teacher, her kids are throwing up?
Good morning, youth minister’s wife! Take a deep breath, and repeat after me: “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24). Did you know this verse comes in the last of a set of Psalms that Jesus would have recited during the last Passover meal with his disciples? He knew what had to happen the next day, and still he could say, let us rejoice…Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. (Ps 118:24, 29) You cannot get through this day alone, at least not with your sanity intact, but your good God can walk you through it, “not somehow, but victoriously!”