on our ride home from our vacation yesterday erin & decided to take two aisle seats instead of sitting in chairs next to each other. since the rows were a little offset i had a delightful conversation with some guy.. one part of the conversation i was surprised by.
us: where you heading? raleigh / nashville
me: what do you do in raleigh?
him: i teach kids tennis. it’s great, i get a lot of time to influence and shape kids as a teacher would, but i get paid better.
me: cool, do you teach at a club?
him: no i have use of a large public facility.
me: nice. (ensuing small talk of my tennis employment year)
him: what do you do in nashville?
me: i am a youth pastor.
him: oh, so you totally get what i do. it’s a lot the same.
me: (kinda surprised) yeah, i suppose so
the general response in telling someone that you are a youth pastor is the empty "that’s great" with some formulated opinion that person has on the falling of today’s youth, sometimes it is the confused "oh" (with a face sizing up & saying, what am i supposed do with you now?), or the ever wonderful "what are you going to do when you grow up" or "so are you going to be a real pastor one day?" this was the first time i have encountered someone who felt that they understood & i understood completely what it means to work with kids in a manner that hopes to shape and form their future selves.
