For the last few weeks, our Youth Ministry Coordinator and I have been taking turns filling in the vacant Youth Minister position at Mt. Bethel until we can hire someone new. I have to say that the weeks I've been there, even though I'm already tired from Sunday morning, have been fun.
I've learned that I'm still fairly nimble and I can take on most of our youth in backyard football. I still throw a pretty mean spiral that some of the boys are a little timid in catching.
I've also realized that there is still a part of me that misses doing youth ministry. The 2 1/2 years I spent as a youth minister while in seminary were fun. Who else can claim that they get paid to play and go on trips? Would anyone dare say that senior adult ministry is more fun? I think not.
This last Sunday, we took 8 youth up to Southern Belle Farms in McDonough. The farm, owned by the Clark family, has pig races, hay rides, corn cannons, funnel cakes, and of course, the corn maze. This is the fourth year of the maze and there seems to always be a crowd running around the farm.
Last year's design in the field was Larry Munson. This year it was the Atlanta Motor Speedway logo.
I logged a few thousand steps on my pedometer and tried to out maneuver several teenagers for bragging rights. Later, looking at an overhead picture of the maze, I noticed some life lessons:
Look at the pictures above. You can clearly tell what they are. You can even trace the three routes in and out of the maze (which I recommend doing before you go). Do you know what this maze looks like from the ground?
Corn. Lots of it. And it all looks the same.
Once you get into the maze, you have a lot of decisions to make. Left, right, or straight ahead? Sometimes you might get help - some of the crossroads have trivia questions and a correct answer will point you in the right direction (who knew that corn was used in making batteries?). A wrong turn will send you way off course, loop you back around to where you were, or simply dead-end.
Life often looks like this from our perspective. We stand at different crossroads throughout life, never knowing quite what might be around the next bend. Should I go to college? Should I get married? Should I have kids? Should I quit my job? Should I take that job offer? Should I retire now, or wait? Truth is, we never know whether disaster or success is waiting for us.
From above, there is a greater perspective - for the sake of the metaphor, God's perspective. It's a beautiful design that ends where it began, with God. It has twists and turns and sometimes when it feels like we're going the wrong direction, we're actually going the right way to our destination. We can get direction from the signs in our lives, or we can ignore them, which will often teach us a lesson.
Just an observation. Have fun with it and feel free to get lost in the corn.
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