Bouncing Back in Slow Motion

#2 Bouncing Back in Slow Motion

One of the great things about youth ministry is that working with students helps you stay young. There is a problem with this though, for even though there are many things about youth ministry that help you to stay young, there are many things that remind you that your body isn't what it used to be. This is an especially sad realization when you haven't turned 30 yet...like a certain youth pastor that we all know.

This was all made very apparent when I took my college students on a Tuesday night to an indoor trampoline center. If you have never been to such a facility, it is a large warehouse with trampolines on the floor and walls. There is a dedicated trampoline area to play dodge ball, and then my personal favorite, the foam pit in which you jump off of trampolines and land in a pit filled with foam cubes. After an hour of bouncing, flips, and tricks that exceeded my physical capability, I went home with a smile on my face. Shortly after arriving at home, my body began to ache. The pain was especially strong in my back. I ended up sleeping with a pillow between my legs because my back was so jacked up. And for the next week I endured the incessant banter that all said the same thing, "You know, you are getting old." A few days later, the pain began to subside and I was able to move around with greater freedom. Just in time too, because it was Sunday, and I was taking my jr./sr. high students to the trampoline facility....where I promptly destroyed myself again.

Never again will I ever do something so foolish...