Well, we checked the oil and that didn't help. The engine seemed to be overheating. We tried to get it started. All it did was click-click-click. There are no other options left. Get out the AAA card and call a tow truck!

It was an hour later by the time we and that sick little Neon made our way to the local Firestone. After waiting and waiting some more, the Firestone people didn't know anything. They told us that we'd be stuck here at least overnight, and they'd run a full diagnostic on it. We were stuck in some crazy town in New Jersey, desperately in need of a place to stay. This trip was majorly blowing the budget, so we find the cheapest, nearest hotel possible and call a taxi. (My first tow truck ride and first taxi ride, all in one day! New life experiences ROCK!).

The hotel was an experience, to say the very least. There were bird cages all over the "office" and you had to ring a bell to get in and out... and the hotel room-Oh my! There was a phone, with no phone cord. There was a mirror on the ceiling, and a grainy old TV that only got about 3 channels. I was sincerely hoping that nobody had ever been killed in this room. We spent another hour at the payphone (pre-cell-phone-era) trying to make calls to people, like The Sis's fiance who happened to be in a different country. And our family, who was in a different state. Finally, we just called our pastor's wife and told her the deal--so nobody would think that we died or anything like that.

Just to get out of the freaky hotel room, The Sis and I decide to walk to Walmart... and FOUR hours later, we returned. Hot. Sweaty. And thoroughly Exhausted.

My phone call to my new employer went something like this:

Service Supervisor: "Hello, (Company Name), How can I help you?"

Me: "Hi, this is (My Name), I just started this week and I went out of town and our car is broken down and I'm stuck in some little town in New Jersey."

Service Supervisor: "Oh really? What town?"

Me: (conferences with The Sis to look at map and discover location), "(Town Name)"

Service Supervisor: "Yeah, I know that town! I grew up nearby."

Me: (praying, THANK YOU JESUS, They know that I'm not lying!!!!!)

• Pack for two people or three or a crowd, 'cause you're not a *real* youth leader unless at least two people end up wearing your clothes, using your shampoo or eating your food.
• No matter how many times you announce an important fact, someone will not remember it.
• You will get less sleep than anyone else, and the youth will wonder why you're tired.
• Sometimes the best answer to a question is silence.
• Fake it 'til you make it. Meaning, smile and act like you know what you're doing, even when you have no clue!
• Insist on togetherness... Youth meets lots of great people at camp, but they gotta go home with the ones in their own Body (Church). Cuz that's how God planned it.
• Expect the best; Prepare for the worst. And the registration people will love you.
• Embrace the YLIC title (pronounced Why-lick), meaning "Youth Leader In Charge," because nobody understands that you bear the youth pastor's responsibility without the title.
• Impromptu dorm room meetings are often the most vulnerable and powerful times.
• Craziness = Good Times!
• Remember: You are not the parent. If no harm to them or someone else is involved, the default answer is "yes."
• Share the love, aka. cafeteria food. "Anybody got an extra hash brown? Anybody want this dinner roll?"
• Cell phones are the devil. Ban them. (Invoke Jim Elliot's quote "Wherever you are, be all there!")
• Walkie talkies are a gift from heaven. Tired while driving? Sing at the top of your lungs for the benefit and humor of the other van!
• Smile, smile, smile! Happy smiles, euphoric smiles, tired smiles and crazy smiles.
• Be devoted to God. And make time for everyone else to be devoted, too.
• Thank the Lord daily for the privilege of ministering to His youth.