Bridges for Youth

I had a collie for years. His name was Boswell.  Boswell was an outside dog. The collie I have now is named Isabel.   Wow, is she goofy.  We decided she was going to be a house dog some 2 years ago, when we got her. Man does she shed.   Isabel is a lot of work, and she can be really frustrating.  Anything worthwhile is going to require some work, and thats what Issy is, worthwhile.   One of the funniest things is to see her interract withPierre, our toy poodle.  Sometimes Izzy gets the best of Pierre, and then sometimes that little pint sized toy poodle wins, hands down.  Kind of a David and Goliath thing.   One of my favorite things about Izzy, is when I’m just standing in a room and she comes from behind me and walks halfway in between my legs and just looks up at me. Its kinda like a dog hug. She really  needs attention all the time. I also like playing hide and go seek with Izzy in the house.   If you can get a good head start, you can get behind a door or around a corner, she will look for what seems like forever to find you.   Then, the funnest part of the game is to jump out at her and startle her. Sometimes I surprise her, sometimes not. When I do make Izzy jump, there is inevitably Collie talk to follow.  We both love that game. 

I guess its been about 6 years ago, when the Heart of Springfield Optimist Club came to help us open up the Bridges for Youth on Nichols Street.  What an awesome group!  They helped with service projects, something like 6 Saturdays in a row.  Still, to this date, they were the most servant hearted bunch of folks I have ever met.

This blog is about the three blue plastic barrels that they brought for the grand opening cook out.   Understandably, they brought them to be used as trash cans.  After the grand opening was completed the barrels were placed in the back and were virtually forgotten about.

One day when there were 30 or so kids running all around our front, back and side yards, the barrels suddenly became an item of interest. The kids began messing with the barrels and turned them over, hiding another kid inside.  Then, of course, unknown to us they would say, “Where is such and such?”, and we would begin looking around frantically for the lost kid. That was really funny, but only worked the one time.  Then we started pushing the kids around the yard in the barrels.  It was great fun and something the kids really enjoyed.  Then we transitioned to the gently sloping hill in our side yard.  The kids we go to the top  and anxiously await their turn to roll down the hill inside the barrel.  You would think they would grow tired of rolling down the hill after awhile. Guess what?   Every day for two or three years they would beg for me to get the barrels out, so they could have barrels of fun. 

 Its been a couple of years since we had the barrels out, and most of the kids who attend now don’t even know what they are missing out on.   Those barrels really remind me of being a kid, and using what ever was around you to entertain yourselves. I encourage parents, youth directors, and people in the community to revisit your childhood and roll out the simple barrels of fun.    Pastor Steve

I would say some of our most successful mentors are staff who still have those innocent childlike qualities, but also have the elements of maturity and responsiblility that adults have.  When was the last time as an adult that you stomped in a mud puddle. Man that is really fun.   Admittedly I only do it occasionally, and then when I have my dirty painting clothes on.   Say, when is the last time you grabbed a dandelion and blew all the seeds all over the yard. How long has it been since you gave a name to a stuffed animal or dreamed about going on an adventure?   This is the stuff that kids are made of.   This is a quality I look for in mentors.

 A second equally important quality is knowing heartache, the pain of loss, and the pain of being without.  Some of our staff have known the pains that many of the kids they minister to are dealing with.  It is really important to be able to identify with some of the things kids are going through, even if you haven’t gone through it. 

 Steve’s perfect shepherd for kids is a person who has a servants heart, believes that Jesus is their Savior and hope, expresses a childlike quality-understanding that its important for kids to be kids, and listens, responds and admonishes kids like Jesus would.    

 Pastor Steve, A kid at heart