One of my most profound learnings as a youth minister was the realization -the revelation really- that my ministry was with the parents of the youth as well as the youth themselves. I needed relationships with the whole family system -or at least more of it than I had previously understood- in order to function well.
It is the small connections that anchor us not only to each other, but to our own lives and selves. I’m a fan of the four-way stop as a traffic intervention because it forces interaction between drivers. But all the small exchanges matter. Nodding to the stranger we pass on the street, or the neighbor. Taking the extra minute for the next question. It’s more than giving up a parking place.
I mention these moments from my young life to highlight how impossible any of that would be today. Were I now living as a young adult in Kentucky, I would not have automatic unemployment if fired. I would not have access to full medical care just because I was a student. I would never be able to afford the $32,000 out-of-state price tag and wouldn’t make the $12,000 in-state any more easily no matter how many jobs I had or little sleep I got.
