Necessary Items

I am taking a break from the swirl of activity to let some Tylenol kick in. As happens far too often in youth ministry, there has been a tragedy and the past week has been spent working, praying, and ministering to youths that are grieving.

This has led me to the fact that there are some necessary items for one of the most important things when you find yourself in the role of youth minister in a crisis - making sure you are taken care of (thereby able to minister and survive the tragedy without burnout).

• Pain reliever of choice. Headaches will happen. I try to always keep Tylenol & Advil in my drawer. This is also helpful for when those ice breaker games get a bit out of control.
• Some sort of way to treat yourself. I'm a girl. This means I have my favorite scented hand cream. The scent is calming and it gives me a moment that I can literally breath deeply, say a short prayer and carry on. And let's not forget the caffeine sources of diet soda, Irish Breakfast tea, and coffee.
  
• Tangible reminders that there are good times to the ministry. I have a page-a-day calendar of photos of Australia that remind me of WYD 2008. Then there is the little espresso cup I use for paperclips that two girls bought me along with chocolate covered espresso beans at NCYC 2007 so that I would be able to stay awake. They sit right under my monitor and give me something to think positively about.
• Prayer. Prayer for the kids, the families, the parish, the school, and for yourself. I have a few favorite things I go to. A book that I will do a shameless plug for is Walking Humbly by Thomas Flowers. The author is related to a college roommate. That aside, I find the poetry and scripture to be a great 10-20 minute chance for me to refocus. It has really been great to help me realize that there are so many ways to look at a situation.

Alright, the headache is coming under control and there are things to do.