So, I'm never sure how I feel about the fact that leaders are expected to “take a break” from Sunday school/youth group/whatever during the summer. It's a nice idea, but...
...then I end up being the only shepherd that the 5th graders know, and, the moment I slide down to the floor to talk to one kid, kids from every other small group materialize on the floor around us, because they desperately want to be safe and heard and loved by someone-not-a-stranger. (Not because they are needy but, because, like every other human, they want to be KNOWN.)
...then one of my 6th graders is so terrified of moving up to middle school that he can't remember his own birthday or his parents' names to write on the welcome card and can't decide where the balance is between being “cool” and staying so close that he is all but part of my side.
...then I get to high school youth group and watch all of the same things fly though their eyes, with not enough leaders to connect with all of them. I watch a freshman girl visibly relax when I pull her into a row with other people. I watch a junior girl do everything in her power to make sure that I see her, and I watch the boy next to her force the youth pastor to look at him and remember that he is there.
These are kids who, for every reason that you can imagine, need someone who doesn't live in their house to be “Jesus with skin on” to them. These are kids who feel things so strongly that their emotions are palpable.
They want someone to do life with them, to care about who they are and what they are going through. And...that isn't exactly the sort of thing you take a break from.
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