It has been two really fast months that just zoomed by. I finished my third semester, and am now halfway done with seminary, celebrated Christmas with my family, celebrated New Years with a bunch of childhood friends from church, took a youth ministry class, and spent lots of time with my friends and family back at home. Towards the beginning of December, was basically crunch time for me to get all my work done and to prep for the few finals that I had had. Thankfully, I was able to get all my work done on time and finished off pretty strong. Nothing really notable had happened besides a few fun study nights and a short visit from Visalia. We spent a few days going around Boston and going to church to meet my church friends at Cross Bridge. It was a nice time of rest and fun after a long hard year. We went back to New York where I spent the next two weeks just enjoying being home and spending time with my family. My dad had gone to Panama for a mission trip which meant it was my job to drive my mother to and from the train station. Because of that, I had more time to spend at home with my family and more time to just eat with them and spend quality time with them. This was something I haven't really done since ... who knows when, so it was really nice to just spend some time with my family. We had a nice Christmas dinner with soooo much food. Honestly, I let myself go during the short two weeks that I was back and definitely gained a bunch of weight. It was totally worth it though, to spend the time with family and to get fat.
During New Years, my childhood friends from church and I went over to our friends house for two nights. This was really special because such a gathering hadn't happened in a long while because, as we all graduated from college, we started going off into different states to do work, so it was just really nice to be able to spend a few days with them. The best part of this sleepover wasn't just the
fun that we had from sharing and catching up, but our intentionality to pray for each other and really take the time to be in each other's lives. I really enjoyed just talking with, listening to and praying for people I've known for so long. Before heading back up to Gordon Conwell for my winter class, we were struck with the Bomb-Cyclone. New York wasn't hit too bad, but it was bad enough that many flights had to be canceled. One of my classmates had intended to fly out of JFK the morning of the storm, but instead ended up being stuck in the airport after a sudden canceling of her flight an hour after it was supposed to depart. Long story short, me and my dad embarked on a rescue mission to bring her back and in the process found one of my friends that had also unknowingly ended up stranded at JFK as well. It was a surprise and definitely a blessing because I was just walking around the airport and my friend just so happened to turn around and catch a glimpse of me walking by. I guess, everything happens for a reason, and who knew, me and my dad ended up with an extra passenger to bring with us.
Soon after the storm, when the roads seemed clearer, I had to head back up to Gordon Conwell for my winter class. Initially I wasn't really looking forward to the class I was taking. I had wanted to get into pastoral ministry, but because I was late and could not register in time, I could not get into that class. Then I saw that there was a family sociology class and wanted to take that, and after asking for permission to take that class (it was a MACO(counseling) class), I was permitted to. However, shortly after, as I tried to follow up with the professor to sign up for the class, I received no response, and so I checked to try and register for my class, only to realize that the class had been unknowingly canceled. I was surprised and realized that now I needed a new class. The class I registered for had caught my attention at first, but when checking the syllabus, I had seen the extensive amount of
pre/post-class reading and work that I had to do, so I was hesitant... but now I didn't really have a choice. As I started to do the pre-class reading, I was captivated by how relevant and intriguing the information was. The first book I read was "iGen" by Jean M. Twinge. This book basically went through a statistical analysis of the youths/teens of today. The book emphasized the point that the teens nowadays are nothing like the teens we were or that we grew up with because of the whole iphone/internet era that was upon us now. Twinge labeled the generation from 1995-Present as being the iGeneration which had easy access to iphones and the internet. This book gave a great overview on the statistic of youths nowadays and how they fared against youths before their generation, and the gap was quite substantial. Whether it be the percentage of youths being engaged in sexual activity or youths and their religious affiliations, the percentage was going down. I enjoyed this book because it gave a very impartial and neutral view into the life of the youths nowadays, instead of blaming them for destroying everything that was set up by the prior generation. Twenge took the opportunity to dive into different reasons that the percentages could be so different in comparison to the past, and usually concluded with the possibility that with the uprising of the iphones and internet, that the changes were a result of it. She didn't say whether it was necessarily good or bad, but left that open to discussion. Many times, this generation gets bashed for how bad or untamed it might be, but surprisingly, things like sexual activity has actually gone done since the past; but of course, there is a lot more behind the scenes which she also talks about. Just from this book alone, I was hooked and excited/looking forward to diving into the class. There were several more books that I had to read before and during the class, each of which were amazing and brought a lot of insight and guidance to youth ministry, but the "iGen" book definitely stuck out the most.
Upon starting the class, I was once again thoroughly shocked by the content and practicality of things I was learning. From a class that was on the bottom of my list to sign up for, it immediately jumped up to one of the best classes I had taken in Gordon Conwell. I was not only intrigued and pumped to be learning so much, I was also filled with a fire to put some of this information into action. There was also just so much that I was brought to think and reflect on about the youth culture that we were faced with nowadays, and how to tackle/come along side it. Some of the most memorable things that we talked about was: the increased desire of adolescents nowadays to have security and control, the importance of the role of parents in a youths spiritual development, the distinction between adult and adolescent, some practical tools for doing youth ministry. In particular, the transition from child -> youth/adolescent -> Adult, stood out the most to me. This was something that I had found myself talking with several other people about prior to this class, so suddenly having this topic brought up made me feel like the Holy Spirit was working some funny business up in here. Anywho, we first
dependent, whether on parents or guardians. In youth/adolescent period the person is
independent, able to make their own choices and live by themselves. Upon adulthood the person is
interdependent, learning how to depend on others and at the same time have people depend on them. Basically being able to be responsible and care for others as well as understand their own need to rely on others in things. This was such an affirming answer because I had been struggling myself with understanding this concept for a while. The fact that adulthood did not mean I could just go off and live my own life, but that there was so much more than just myself to worry about. I feel that our culture has created a generation of youths and young adults that believe that if they move away from their parents and/or make their own decisions, they are adults, but in reality, they are still stuck in this extended adolescent period. There was so much more that the class had taught that I am still reflecting over and learning about, feel free to hit me up and pick my brain about it :).
discussed the fact how nowadays the youth/adolescent period has been extended well beyond what it used to be. The age at which a child reaches puberty to step into this time period, and the point where he exits it when the society around them starts to view them as an adult, has been stretched much wider than it once was. Before the 1900's the average age of puberty was around 14.5, and adulthood viewed to be around age 16. This was a mere 1.5 years on average that youths remained youths, but now, in 2018, the average age of puberty is around 11.7, and the age that society views them as adults, at least in America, is closer to the mid 20's. Just taking into consideration the age they need to be to vote, drink, drive by themselves, rent a car by themselves... our society has pushed adulthood later and later. That's when we really dove into the question when my professor asked: at what point does a youth go from adolescence to adulthood? Not taking into account the age, because nowadays, there are many people older than their early 20's that still act like adolescents. As we split off into groups to discuss this, we reached a conclusion. Most people in our society nowadays views adulthood as being independent. When one can "take care of themselves," they consider themselves an adult. When they can: pay their own bills, live by themselves, make their own decisions for themselves, that is when they think they are an adult. In class we settled at a different answer separating the answer into three stages. During childhood the
person is
During the class, I had been eating healthy all week because of how "free" I was being about eating the weeks before. I ate salads everyday with an orange for dinner, and for lunch I'd have a salad and a yogurt. Life was tough XD, but I definitely felt the difference from eating that and eating fatty food the two weeks prior. After the class, I head back home for another week and a half to really rest up before starting my spring semester, being back, I had more time to spend with my family and friends, and even had the chance to talk with some of my old friends about a retreat they had gone on. I also got to watch my first Broadway show Aladdin, which was pretty awesome. I will say I liked Sight and Sound shows more, but this was definitely an amazing must see show as well :). Overall these last two weeks had been pretty good and well needed as a rest before stepping into another busy semester. Now, the things that have been on my heart most recently are the reality of pastoral ministry coming closer and closer and a
plea for clarity and guidance towards future ministry. Now that seminary is halfway through, I cannot deny the fact that I need to start thinking more and more about where/who I might feel God calling me to serve and the reality of being a pastor. The weight of being a pastor seems to gradually be getting heavier and heavier, and though I can't really say I am fearful of what is to come, but I am anxious. I am excited to start my ministry, excited to go back into serving instead of just taking classes about it, but I am also nervous about performance and expectations. I know that everything will ultimately be in God's hands, and He has shown me time and time again that He provides abundantly and guides me, but I can't help but feel the need to be better, to do well. Something to definitely keep me in prayer about is the future that is yet to come, and that I learn to surrender in obedience and remain faithful with where He has placed me.
