So being the great chef I am, (or would like to think I am) I sent Tiffany out to get one of those awesome Papa Murphy's Jack-o-Lantern pizzas and cheese sticks!
So as that was baking to a crispy golden brown at 425 degrees I put one of Tiffany's hot pink oven gloves on my right hand and pulled out the oven rack to see if the pizza was ready. Like an idiot I grabbed the same 425 degree oven rack with my left hand. Yeah. Not smart. Needless to say within seconds my lil self had a nice throbbing blister on my hand.
Did you know it's difficult to type like my awesome Keyboard teacher taught me to in High School when you have limited access to your left hand?!
Thank God I'm Right Handed!
Anyways, I didn't have to go in for like a skin graft or anything...it just smarted quite a bit.
*Smarted = Hurt like heck.
So I was sitting here admiring the battle scar which the Jack-O-Lantern pizza inspired this morning and I thought about how this really reminded me of the process it sometimes takes to get onto a school campus.
You see we live in a Microwave world. We LOVE for things to happen right away...and OUR way! (Thanks Burger King!)
We sometimes try and apply the Microwave principle to getting on to school campuses. I want to punch pastors and leaders in the throat when I hear "My school is closed because I can't eat school lunch". (I'll be punching with my right hand since my left is slightly feeble...consider yourself warned)
But in all seriousness we attempt to force our way on through methods that don't work. You can't microwave something that is meant to cook in the oven! And vice-versa! In order to get a good presence on school campuses we need to follow some instructions.
Pre Heat the oven!
Aka. Create an environment for your students and yourself where YOU would be welcomed. Make yourself an asset. Don't try and show up simply to be noticed. In all honesty thats what I think of when I think of people who just want to eat lunch at schools. Ask your school administration/athletic offices for opportunities to serve. Simply ask...you may be suprised the doors that open! The more they see you serving...the more the environment is ready for things to get cookin!
Don't rush the cookin!
Sometimes things are a process. That pizza looked so yummy to me I rushed to pull it out before I should have and in a hurry I burnt myself in the process. I jumped the gun. Be careful not to burn bridges or yourself or relationship with the school/community because you think from the outside it looks primed, done, cooked, but really inside it's still cookin. Pace yourself.
Enjoy...and have others enjoy it WITH you!
I think one of the best things that you can do is when you have a relationship with your schools, help others (YES other Youth Pastors or leaders) develop relationships in that school or system. After all you don't really think that you're called to eat all that pizza by yourself do you? :)
Enjoy!
Josh
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