Week 5 (Thursday: A.S.P, Block Party -- 3:15-8:15, Saturday: Barn Bash -- 6:00-11:30)

So it's been a while since my last post... but that is because it has been a while since I've been able to go to JC Bodyshop. First there was fall break, then Pastor Mike was out of town and then finally, after it had been three weeks since my last time at my practicum site, I got to come again.

Thursday was a very rough day, I must confess. It started out very uneventful, since most of the kids I usually play basketball with beforehand hadn't showed up yet. I was pretty hungry, since I ate a very light lunch because I had a paper due the next day. Then everyone showed up... and the trouble began. The kids misbehaved so much during the After School Program that I felt more like a policeman than a youth pastor. I don't think I've had to be that firm with anyone since my little sister was in her terrible twos. One kid had an afro pin and was trying to stab people with it... another kid was being rude and obnoxious, talking out of turn and being downright disruptive... another kid was making fun of me and tapping my shoulder over and over again when he was supposed to be paying attention. It was an awful time. There is a contest going on between groups in the after school program. The team I am helping out with, nicknamed "Team Hardball," was subtracted points on a regular basis for misbehavior, and I basically just wanted to go home.

After the younger kids went home and a lot of the ones causing problems had left, then most of my buddies showed up with high energy levels and I expressed my frustration from the after school program with them. They basically shrugged it off, and we went to go play basketball, I don't mean this to rip on anybody at all, because I realize thet were doing what they were supposed to do, but I felt like I had put up with all the hard stuff from earlier, and then when I had finally gained enough respect to maybe connect a little bit with some of the kids, the other sponsors showed up and took over. At that point, I wanted to try and build relationships with the kids and to try and tell them why the pastors and I were upset with them, but then because the next wave of sponsors came in who had no idea what had been happening, the opportunity was lost. I felt like Thursday was probably the hardest day yet, and I figured it had been a complete failure and that, if anything, I was more distant from the kids than when I began.

On Thursday, Pastor Mike pulled us aside and told us about this "Barn Bash" that they were going to have on Saturday. I was feeling exhausted and frustrated with how things had been going at Bodyshop that day, so I was hesitant to commit to going, but my need for more practucum hours won out over my personal feelings. I went to the Barn Bash expecting to get Barn Thrashed by the kids again. This time, however, things were different. First off, the kids who had been disrespectful to me on Thursday noticed I was there and showed genuine excitement that I was there. "Well that's a pleasant surprise." I thought to myself. Anthony, Angie and I then chaperoned 7 consecutive hay rides in the freezing cold that evening, and surprisingly, the respectfulness continued! Maybe it was something in the starry November skies that resonated with the adolescants souls, or perhaps the excitement of going on a hay ride and eating marshmallows around a campfire overcame their hostility, but at least for one day, the door was open, and relationships were formed.

The main two lessons I learned from these experiences were 1. Even when you feel like you are being hated, you are still having an impact on someone's life, and 2. In order to really get to know your teens, you have to spend time with them outside of the church building.

Hopefully this next week is more like the Barn Bash than what Thursday was like.