Being an Emo kid for a week or at least learning how to be...

As you are well a where of by now, you know what it means to be Emo.  If not it means that you are emotional.  I must say that being sort of a stoic I am not really good with the whole emotional thing.  However, there are times in ones life when things just become real!  For instance;  in the fall of 2000 my best friends dad past away.  It was the closest death that I had experienced in my young life.  Also, in the fall of 2000 my homeroom (high school) teacher died of a massive heart attack.  In the spring of 2002 a very close friend's father died of a heart attack. There have been other sudden deaths that have brought me to the realization of how short our time here on earth really is.  

This past week the man who taught me just about everything I know about Youth Ministry died.  His name was Alan George.  The first time I saw/met Alan it was the year 2001.  It was at the YMCA in Thomasville, Georgia. He was wearing high top white wrestling shoes, compression shorts, cut-off sweat pants, with a black tank top.  I thought to myself... um this is the year 2001 not 1982.  It wasn't till a year later I had accepted a job as an youth intern at St. Thomas Episcopal that I had officially met Alan George.  Once I realized where I knew him from, I thought to myself I am going to be working with the guy who is stuck in the 80's. 

After a few sit downs and long interviews it was decided that my first day on staff would be the yearly trip to Lake Sinclair.  This trip is taken every Memorial Day.  I had never met any of the youth but Alen thought this would be the best way.  To just dive into youth ministry by me taking kids on jet skis and throwing them off.  He said,  "If you can't have fun with youth then you might as well be an old fuddy duddy."  It was at this moment that I knew that to be a youth minister you need to be able to relate with youth.   

Over the next two year I picked up on other things from his philosophy of ministry like environments, audio visual aids, and fun games like "duct tape someone to a pole and the last one to fall wins."  I must say that this was the strangest thing coming from an Episcopal Church.  Alan was the man who no matter how old he became he was always up to date with the relevant train with youth (even though he never could get a new work out wardrobe).  He taught me that you have to be authentic with youth to impact and earn the right to speak to them about Jesus.

So this past week I received  a call from Megan (one of my youth) telling me that Alan had been in a motorcycle accident.  A week later Alan had died.  I know that I am to be grieving and that this is a healthy process.  However,  I find myself not really knowing how to.  I think it's because I hadn't seen him in 2 years that I just think he's in another town or I just haven't seen him yet.  So I hope this will help with the grieving process.

Alan we will miss you, know and trust that you are in a much better place!