Preparation, Action, Reflection, Celebration

As we plan for our trip to New Orleans for the ELCA youth gathering, there are a number of things we need to think about. First off, we are going to New Orleans to SERVE! What do you mean serve? Do you mean work? Yes, I mean work. From what I take from the information available to me, we are going to be doing service work for at least three days straight, starting at 8am each morning until at least noon or maybe even 2pm. We could be doing anything from building, painting, cleaning, making health and hygene kits, or simply listening to other people.

Obviously, we need to make PREPARATIONS.
- First we need to make sure we have the appropriate clothing for this type of work. Closed toe shoes, work pants and shirt, gloves, and a hat, all of which can get dirty, wet, and torn. Don't come to the service project expecting to win a fashion show. Save that stuff for the convention center parties...
- Secondly, we need to prepare ourselves to serve. We must be willing participants in this servant project. Serving others without a willingness to do so benefits no one. You must go into this with a full willingness to work and to serve and a willingness to get sweaty, dirty and tired. We have to prepare mentally as well as physically.
-Third, as you prepare, ask yourself; "What am I expecting to happen at this service project?" What are you looking forward to? And what do you think you will learn and what personally will you get out of this.

We will should take the example of serving as Christ served and follow that model.

ACTION
- Action is the actual work involved. This is easy. You show up for the service work, prepared and ready to work and help, and then, well, you do it. We don't know what the work will be. It might be something very easy and in a comfortable setting or it might be hard and outside in the heat and humidity. Regardless, we should work willingly, happily, and without complaint and be willig to be flexible. Not everything will go as planned and you need to be able to work with what is given to you. The work we are doing is helping those who really, really need the help. Give of yourself unconditionally. Go and serve with laughter and joy.

REFLECTION
- Reflection upon what you are doing or have done is a very important part of the service work we will be doing. While on the "job", think about what you are doing. What is happening? What and who will benefit from your service? Your actions will change as you reflect on your service, along with your attitude and perspectives. However, if you go into the service project with a bad attitude, you will only come out with one. Nothing is more self-defeating than a bad attitude. As we reflect on our service, we will probably do so in conventional ways, such as group discussions and things like that, but we want to introduce more imaginative ways to reflect on our time serving. We are hoping to add to this blog on a daily basis with each of our students adding a few (or more!) lines of thought on what their day has been like. We also hope to add photos and video of the experience too.
Understand that you, as an individual can make a difference, be it ever so small, but put together with all of us working towards one goal, the result will be huge.

CELEBRATION
- This is what makes the service projects fun! We get to celebrate among ourselves and with others all the experiences we had during our trip and share with others our stories and how our actions changed or helped not only other people, but ourselves. There will be a time and place for us to share our experience and it most likely will be a time for further reflection on our experience. We will try to have a slide show at the church during a service, and we might have a LYO meeting with the new high school students coming in and show them what they can look forward to next year!

And finally, this thought. We can go and serve, but what are we going to take away from this experience, so that we can bring it back to our church, our homes, our community, and share it with them? How will it change us? We want this experience to be a part of your life that defines you and makes you a better person so that as you continue to grow and live in your church, family and community, you will understand that service, just like Christ served all of us, is something noble and something that should be continued throughout your entire life.

Deane

Welcome!

Welcome to the official blog for the First Lutheran Church of Paxton LYO!

We have a big trip coming up in just over a month to the National Lutheran Youth Conference in New Orleans. I hope we can use this blog as a way to let everyone know what we are doing to get ready for the trip and to stay in touch while we're down there.

Please feel free to post questions and comments, we want to hear from you!

- C