Exploding Pants, instincts, and plans B and C. Part 3

So, I'm sitting there waiting for Sarah.  She was going to bring me some sweat pants...So stylish and so free, right?  The place I'm waiting is in a parking lot off of one of the busiest roads in our down.  I see Sarah pull up and she just starts laughing.  I get out of the car, and the laughing gets louder.

What does this guy do?  I walk to the other side of the truck and change right there in the parking lot.  I am super thankful for my wife.  I get back in the truck and jet to the school.

When I get back to the school, my stylish-sweatpants self was successful.  The mens game had already started, but it was only two minutes in.  I ran (freely) up to the top of the stands to replace my batteries, move the flashes, and resume picture taking.  I finished the game well, and got some great pictures.

I thought 2 things during this whole ordeal, 1) I HAVE to blog that, and 2) There's some great youth ministry application here.

So, blogged that - Check

Application: borrowed from MTDB

Sometimes in ministry, things can either go the way we plan them, or they can take an unexpected turn, for better or for worse. Although we can never plan for every minute to go exactly the way we want, God can. He will always know exactly what your youth group needs. There are a lot of things that can contribute to something not going according to your plan, but we just have to remember that God is in control.

There have been weeks in small group where the group veered off on another subject and we didn’t want it to go that way. When that happens, if it’s productive and the majority of the group is involved in the different discussion, we just let it go there. In the past we would bring the discussion back to what WE wanted to talk about. Later it dawned on us, the guys in our groups had a different need that night, and we should have just let them take over but we didn’t and we quickly lost their attention on our original subject that we wanted to talk about. What a huge mistake!

With that being said, it’s also okay to change plans when you don’t feel like they’re being effective. It’s alright to call an audible in the middle of the play. If your students can’t pay attention, turn it into a fellowship night. Sure, your original plan didn’t go through, but at least your students will be getting something useful out of their time. As a youth group leader, you need to be fast, fluid, and flexible. Teens live in a world that changes faster every single day. Information is hurled at them in a record pace. We need to be able to change and adjust on the fly in order to be successful.

Hopefully, it doesn't take you pants exploding to get you there.