Today was my final opportunity to meet with the other youth ministers from the south-central area of Missouri where I’ve been serving for the past few years. It was definitely a sad moment for me.

Today, we celebrated our time of ministry together by eating at a great little Thai restaurant in Mountain Home, Arkansas.

These guys have been a great network of peers during my ministry here. In fact, they’ve been great friends. I’ve enjoyed our time together.

We’ve shared resources with each other. We’ve suggested books to read. We’ve encouraged each other through times of great joy, like when one of the guys lost over 100 pounds, and when another got married last year. And we’ve been there for one another through tough times, like when my dad and step-dad passed away last June.

With these guys, I’ve always known exactly where I stand, and if I needed something, I had but to ask. And many times, they would see my need and stretch to meet it before I could even speak out.

And they are all different, in tremendous ways. I can have great discussions centered around favorite authors, like Timothy Keller or C. S. Lewis, with a couple of these men. And with a couple of others, we could stay up till the wee hours of the morning playing Phase 10 and laughing our heads off.

We’ve planned summer camps, and winter retreats. Some of us floated the Jack’s Fork River for three days, in January. And once, four of us loaded up in my car and drove to Colorado for CIY’s Wilderness, camping out downwind of a cattle slaughter house on the way.

We’ve teased one another. We’ve encouraged one another. We’ve helped one another. We’ve prayed for one another. We’ve spurred one another on to keep serving. We’ve laughed. We’ve cried. We’ve sweated together. We’ve frozen together. We’ve created a lot of great memories, and I will be thankful always for the friendships we’ve developed.

But these men taught me a few important things. Things I probably already knew, but didn’t know that I knew. If you know what I mean…

These men taught me that it’s not all about me

Being in a position of leadership has taught me how to be a “take charge” kind of guy. And after over twenty years in ministry, it’s easy to expect to do things the way I want to do them. I don’t think I’ve every been arrogant or cocky in this, unless in a joking manner. But I’ve learned that just because it’s my idea doesn’t mean that it’s the only idea, or even the best idea.

These men have reminded me of the “why” behind youth ministry. And for that, I’m eternally grateful.

These men taught me that I shouldn’t take myself so seriously

Sometimes, I can do that. I can get lost in the details. These men taught me that it’s perfectly ok to play cards at three in the morning, even though we needed to be up by six. And we had fun doing it.

Often this reminded came in the form of a sarcastic comment from one or another of these guys. But occasionally, I would be told point blank that I needed to relax.

I think I listened… most of the time.

These men taught me that serving in youth ministry is a privilege that I take for granted

I’ve been doing this youth ministry thing for a while. And it’s easy to get in a rut doing things the same way over and over. You can easily take things for granted.

This network of my peers and co-laborers has helped me to see things from a fresh perspective. To look at things in a way that’s different than the way I have been seeing them.

This is perhaps the biggest contribution from these guys, at least in my thinking right now. As I wrap things up here in Missouri and prepare to start a new ministry in a new location, outside of the Bible Belt, I know that I will need to see things in a new light. I won’t be able to do the same routine like I’ve been doing, because the culture and mindset will be different.

These men have helped prepare me for that. And I can’t express just how much that means to me.

Though I will be moving away, these men will continue to serve in the trenches of youth ministry here. My prayers will be with them as they work, striving to build the Kingdom, one teen at a time.

Thanks, guys. You’ve impacted me more than you’ll ever know.

Do you have a peer network that spurs you on? If not, who can you speak with to get something like this going? You can share your thoughts in the comments section below.