our people

Tasha and I spent last weekend with our people. By our people, I mean youth workers. To all the non-youth workers: I'm sorry, you just wouldn't understand :)

Anyway, the weekend in Indianapolis was amazing. Soul enriching. Battery recharging. Laughter inducing. Life changing.

God took me to school on a number of things -- I might share some thoughts after I unpack for a bit. But one of our highlights is the opportunity to spend time training other youth workers. (*** It's not that we're experts -- well, Tasha is an expert -- but we've learned lots of lessons in 20 years of youth minstry. ***) One of the workshops we taught was "Crisis Counseling Skills." It was the second year to teach it, and I think we made some solid strides forward in our content. We had a great time interacting with a packed room of people who pour their lives into students day-in and day-out. We learned a lot, cried a little, and walked out re-committed to God's calling on our lives to care for students. 

As encouraging as the time was, we were extra-encouraged by a new friend, Nate Smith (twitter; blog), and his thoughts on the workshop. For those who are interested, you can download our notes here.

All this made me wonder why I'm not more connected with youth workers in my area? Do I really need to wait for a once-a-year opportunity? What can I do to network better with folks in my area? How do you do it?

What do you think?