It Ain't No Ozzie and Harriet...

Being a youth pastor, I'm often asked questions regarding what it is that I do all day. Upon reflection, yesterday was about as prime an example of exactly what I do all day could be. So, here's a typical day for me:

4:55AM Wake up. Shower. Shave.

5:20AM Take Lloyd out to get the newspaper. Coffee machine, prepared the night before and having a timer built right in, has coffee ready at...

5:30AM Flip through the Dallas Morning News and enjoy a cup of joe. For some reason, that routine gets my creativity going. Yesterday, it got me all stirred up due to silly, albeit normal, local government activity.

6:00AM Devotional time in the Word. Yesterday I kicked around in Psalms in The Message. It's peculiar reading and thinking about the 23rd Psalm written that way when you've got it memorized in another version.

6:20AM Blog writing and blog checking. Many times, the blogs are actually written the night before and merely posted at this time. I've found that reading my students blogs actually helps me prepare to minister to them and it's become valuable time for me.

6:45AM My children are stirring. Shelby has been very sick with a sinus infection and feeling miserable. In fact, she has to miss the state-mandated standardized testing for math this week, and I KNOW she's sick because she's voluntarily missing dance. Kelsey gets up and grabs the sports page and agonizes over the local Rangers losing their opening day game. We chat about it.

7:00AM Tracy's up now and the day is cranking up. We have a mini-business meeting about what photography shoots she has and when and where I'll be needed for child transport and other business of the day. Spend time just snuggling with Shelby and watching Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius. She's not laughing. Normally, this time is spent hanging out with the girls in some form or fashion.

8:00AM After dropping off Kelsey at school, I'm at the office. I chat with the office staff and say "good morning" to everyone. For some reason, my morning office routine involves firing up the computer, grabbing cup of coffee #2 (or maybe #3 depending on how much I had at home) and "checking in" with everybody. I pretty much like everybody I work with.

8:30AM Begin studying for Sunday School lesson. I usually work a "week out" on all my lessons I teach, so I'm a bit behind in getting this one ready (San Francisco weekend, but well worth it). I re-read the lesson for my high school guys that I'll teach that night, and dive into the study.

9:20AM Get a phone call from a mom regarding a situation involving "cutting"--that habit of literally cutting yourself, generally to relieve stress, that nobody talks about but it's out there--and how she should handle the situation. As usual, the mom has great instincts and was handling the situation well. Just needed some encouragement.

9:40AM Continue working on the study. I caught a break because there were no other interruptions. Usually I get two or three phone calls like the previous one.

10:30AM Since I'm exiting the "creativity" phase of the day (my most creative times are 6--10AM and 9--10PM...that's time for lesson prep and all that) I go into "paperwork" mode for about an hour and a half. Write check requests. Get bulletins and youth announcement sheets done. Return some e-mails. Stuff like that.

Noon Lunch with my direct supervisor, called a Lead Pastor. This is the time when he checks up on me spiritually and personally as well as professionally. He's under the pile this week since he has to preach four sermons this weekend so we kept things tight and didn't tarry...sometimes, this time can go longer depending on the nature of what's going on spiritually or personally or professionally.

1:00PM Situation involving an overzealous volunteer arises and needs immediate attention. Talk with another pastor how to lovingly keep this joyful servant on-track with our staffers. Come to a conclusion about the best way to keep everybody using their gifts and talents while understanding lines of authority. This is one of the difficulties in dealing with a primarily volunteer staff.

1:30PM Prepare Power Point presentation for Sunday. Gets halfway done, anyway. A couple of phone calls here and there get distracting, plus I'd forgotten to pick up some stuff for the after-Bible-study hang out we have, so I ran to Target, which is about half a mile from our church.

2:15PM Prepare for the pre-marital counseling session I have this morning. Also prepare for another pre-marital counseling session on Friday, which is at a different station in life. I try to make these meetings very personal for each couple so there isn't a one-size-fits-all way to do this. I also read the training material for an intern session on Friday.

4:00PM Got 20 minutes to kill. Check in with Tracy regarding any changes in her photo schedule. The springtime weather here is goofy right now, and with a sick child at home, I needed to see if there was anything she needed.

4:20PM A family in our church scheduled an appointment, and it was good because the issues were all minor and really very simple solutions. I enjoyed my time with them as the kid is terribly easy to like and they were all on the same page. I wish all my sessions were like that one.

5:15PM One last check with Tracy, and I head for home.

5:30PM After my harrowing 15 minute commute home (HA! It's a pleasant drive through the 'burbs with no traffic at all to speak of) Shelby's fever has spiked up, causing a change in plans. Kelsey has a softball game and needs a ride and now we try to get a sitter for Shelby. The easiest solution is for Kelsey, who just finished her homework to eat and get dressed for the game while I give her a ride on my way to Bible study. Tracy will show up at game time after taking care of Shelby.

7:00PM Off to Bible study with my junior/senior guys. At this point in the year they're all pretty tight-knit as a group and when I arrive they're watching all the Will Farrell "Jeopardy" skits from Saturday Night Live that one of the guys downloaded. There were about six of them, and this really set a fun tone for the study. We went through our study of Romans 12...which touched off an enjoyable and lively discussion on "how" we keep from being conformed to this world.

8:45PM Give a couple of guys a ride to the church. We used to have all the teens hang out at our house after Bible study, but after a while 50 teens at your place kinda gets crowded so we started doing it at the church. It's very enjoyable time for me as I get to see the younger teens (like Bailey and Keila and Bethany) as well as seeing the teens in the "natural habitats"--they are more "themselves" than they are at church or Bible study. Mostly, it's hanging out...which I don't think they have enough of.

10:00PM Steve-O and I shut down the Dungeon (youth room) and he takes a couple of guys home who don't drive yet and I get home around 10:15.

Watch the news with the Tracy while getting caught up on Shelby (still feeling very bad, and it's been 3 days) & Kelsey's game (she got the game-winning RBI and, as the catcher, threw out a girl stealing 2nd base, which almost never happens at that age!) and Tracy's job happenings.

Get hung up in the Rangers baseball game with a home run in the 8th...fell asleep before it was over around 11:30PM. Turns out they won, but I'd never have known it.

So, that's it...that's a pretty average day in my life. Like most jobs, sometimes it gets more difficult or sometimes it can have some different twists and turns, but by and large, it was pretty average.

And now it begins again...