This last weekend I went through lifeguard training for my summer job as a camp counselor.
I'm sore from the immediate 300 meter swim test (with no warm up) and multiple hours in the pool. Also, I reek of chlorine and will for a few days after spending so much time in the pool.
Anyways...
We had a great instructor. I actually competed against this guy in high school in track and field, so that was neat. He was very passionate about his job and about teaching us the life saving skills we need to know, along with some great tips that make the duty of being a lifeguard easier and more enjoyable. Quite often he had a story to go along with something he was teaching us. Usually in these situations I have found that people really stretch their stories to fit what they are talking about. His, however, his fit every time with a clear point to every story he shared.
One story connected on a youth ministry level with me.
He had a mom that came with her 2 year old child to the pool. Being fairly new to lifeguarding, his skills in confronting people and explaining dangers and why rules are in place were not that great yet. This mother sat in hot tub for apparently the vast majority of the time and simply let her son run around the pool area unattended, apart from the occasional scream she let out directed toward her son. As time went on, that little boy put the lifeguards on duty in 7 different rescue situations. Each time, the mother just sat there in the hot tub.
With the skills he has today he explained that that situation should not have happened. He would have forced that mother to take charge of her child or leave. Lifeguards are there to prevent injuries, not to babysit.
Sometimes, that is the role of the youth minister. I've had a whole year of classes and I have not meet the majority of the youths' parents, nor have I even seen many of them. Sunday mass is vacant of the vast majority of my youth, which means that their parents are not there either. Every Wednesday though, there are all these kids and some days I feel like I'm simply babysitting. Like the mom who didn't care about the life of her child, too many parents today are failing to care about their childrens' eternal souls. It is the parents job to educate their children in the faith and try their best to save their souls, but too often today they are putting that job on the youth minister.
I'll try my best.
This summer I'm going to save souls and lives now that I'm a double threat.
Still, I pray that more parents will begin to understand how crucial their role is in saving their children, physically and spiritually.
Peace all
