Saturday, July 24, 2010

Those Wacky Youth Counselors

One of the true joys of working at the First United Methodist Church of Kissimmee was spending time with the adults who served as our Youth Counselors. This group changed over the years as people got married, finished college, had babies and moved away, but we always had some sensational people serving our ministry. Today's UMYF Enquirer flashback takes us all the way back to the November, 1995 issue. I reprint for you here an article about our esteemed Youth Ministry Team called Barfing Is Such Sweet Sorrow! If anyone remembers why Becky is singled out for her barfing skills, I would love to know...

Our monthly Youth Counselor meeting will be held November 6th at 7:30 PM. All of our counselors- Mike Mangan, Michael McCleery, Pete Lynes, Karen Hall, Jill Painter, Darin Miller, Becky McCleery, Marilyn Jones and Cathy Thacker- are always ready to serve you. If you have questions about the meaning of life or the air-speed of a swallow, then these are the people to ask. If you need to borrow lots of cash, this is the wrong group. If you need a ride to UMYF or any other youth event, feel free to call on them. If you need insights on installing a new engine in a 1967 Mustang, then I would look elsewhere! And if you need any info on the proper way to barf, see Becky McCleery. She is living proof that you don't have to be experienced to be talented!

One of the great things about our team was that they understood that part of working with teenagers is being loud, silly and a little crazy. I will now reveal one of my all time favorite Youth Counselor moments that many of you will not have heard before. We were coming back from a Mid-High Adventure in Tennessee, and we stopped late one night just north of the Florida state line. It was so late that I just let the kids pick their rooms and go to bed. That left Pete Lynes, Mike Mangan (far right in the picture at top) and myself to share a room. After some debate, I (being the largest and also the boss!) got a bed to myself. As we settled in we talked for a minute, then it got very quiet. Suddenly, from the bed Mike and Pete were sharing, Mike yells out "THOSE AREN'T PILLOWS!!!" We laughed so hard we almost never got to sleep. If for some reason you don't understand why that is so funny, check out the video below.  Then go rent Planes, Trains and Automobiles.


Our Youth Counselors, wacky as they were, made a huge difference in my life and in the lives of hundreds of students at FUMC-K back in the day.  They gave so much so that so many could know Jesus.  I thank God they were my co-workers and my friends.

Because of Jesus,

5 comments:

  1. Anonymous7/24/2010

    Hilarious story!!! That is a very under-rated movie.

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  2. HA! I don't think I had ever heard that story lol. Our youth counselors were by far, the best ever! There wasn't a single one I couldn't run to and cry about my teenage drama to lol. We knew we were loved very much!

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  3. Teenage drama? Come on, you never had any teenage drama! Life was all lollipops and rainbows, right? You are right- you all were loved very much!

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  4. Carl, I am sure it has to do with the fact that I can count on one hand how many times I have thrown up. That particular incident is when I had to pull over into a bank parking lot:) Yuck!!!! I have only gotten sick like that twice since then--once was because I was in labor:) Thanks for the memories!

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  5. Thanks for clearing that up Becky! And you are right- YUCK! :)

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Thanks for reading,and thanks for your comment!