Marshall's Blog

Summer is now here. By the grace of God South Texas had a true spring in every sense of the word and as things are heating up and school is ending, we enter a time for this part of the country that approximates hiatus. We take a break from certain events and busy times to hopefully plan a vacation and rest in this season. For a youth worker it is tempting to resist rest in this season, because this brief respite from typical onslaught of school activities give ample opportunities to connect and support young people in ways not available to us Youth Workers during the school year. As I learned last year during lockdown those opportunities for mission trips and camps are not guaranteed. Making the most of those special moments is quite a large part of the job. I do not remember every youth group meeting I had as a young man, nor do I remember everything that I learned. I have several good impressions from those times, but camp changed me, mission trips changed me.  I started out ...

 What happens when we lose our focus? Do we really lose anything at first? It seems to me that losing your focus is deceptive, as we start to accept losses as a matter of course and develop a tolerance for failure and often even a fondness for failure. It feels good to loosen our belts, fall off the wagon, watch that TV show instead of reading a bit more to expand our minds and souls. I have always found it easier to stay focused at the start of the diet, the commitment, the ride, but as human beings our eyes wander and our brains wonder, did I really need to do this, can't I just... you can fill in the blanks.      Scripture uses the comparison of sheep to people most often because the parallels are undeniable. We are easily led until we get lost. We cannot be alone safely, and are prone to predators. I had heard recently that sheep have extremely large peripheral vision to the tune of 270 and 320 degrees, and ours is about 155 degrees. This is great for sheep when...