Pretty Cool for a 53 Year Old....

It happened out of the blue.  Several family members gathered to honor my mom's 75th birthday.  We had been laughing and eating there in the local Mexican restaurant in my hometown.  Conversations were happening on both ends of our table of 13.  My mother starts talking about the success of a local church since their new pastor has come on board.  She mentions that they were looking for a youth minister. We had been talking about my job possibilities as I had been looking for work for a couple of months, so I immediately said that my days of youth ministry were over since I was 53 years old.  Then it happened.  My 13 year old daughter Madison Joy blurts out, "I don't know Dad, you are pretty cool for a 53 year old!"  Wow!  Did I hear that correctly?  My teenage daughter, who is active in the local Young Life group, a leader in her school and our church's youth group, put me in the category of "cool!"  I wasn't wearing skinny jeans nor did I have a messy hairstyle.  I didn't have a guitar close by nor did I have a crazy game ready to play.  In spite of not having access to the things that I think make a youth minister cool, my daughter thought I was cool enough to be a youth minister. I was humbled and honored. My mind flashed back to the 17 years I spent in youth ministry and I pictured those students I had the privilege to serve.  In just a few moments, I had fond memories of students and how their lives were changed because they encountered the love of Christ.   Some of them have been in contact recently through social media.  It has been interesting over the years to see pictures of their families, hear about their jobs, and see their involvement in their respective churches.  Some of them are youth ministers now.  Some are pastors.  Some are leaders in their churches.  I am amazed at their stories and how their faith in Christ has grown.  A flood of memories came pouring in because my amazing 13 year old daughter voiced out loud that she thought I was pretty cool for a 53 year old.  A day later, I was driving her to youth group, just the two of us.  I thanked her again for saying what she said and told her what it meant to me.  She smiled and said, "Dad, it is true.  You are pretty cool for a 53 year old!"  I don't know if I am cool or not, but I must be doing something right.  I dropped her off at church and smiled as I saw the crazy middle-schoolers gathering for their weekly meeting.  I prayed and thanked God for cool youth ministers and cool youth leaders, and for a daughter that thinks her dad is pretty cool for a 53 year old.