Youth Ministry Sherpas

"What's it like having your own children in your youth ministry?"It's a question we've been asked frequently. The answer is: Challenging and Awesome!Most youth workers get into youth ministry either before they have kids, or when their kids are small. Stay in it long enough, though, and you get to experience the challenges and joys of having your own kids in your youth ministry. Mathew has four kids -- two in college and two in high school. His time is running out. Steve has three kids, all of whom came through the ranks of his youth ministry and are now young adults. We'll both tell you, there's nothing better than having your own kids in your youth ministry. Not that it's always easy. There were times when our kids felt the weight of expectations from others in the church, expectations which were unfair and unrealistic. And our kids were far from perfect. Mathew had to wrestle his oldest onto the middle school camp bus in front of a busload of living people (and a cemetery full of dead ones). Steve had to s