You Might Grow-Up to Be a Minister

To celebrate graduation from seminary last week, a group of seven of my div school friends went to the beach. We laughed a lot, ate a lot, watched girly tv, braved the cold wind on beach and had some really interesting conversations. Even though we all just met one another in seminary, in many ways it feels like we had known each other for years as we lived parallel lives in different parts of the country. While our growing up stories all have their unique twists and turns, we learned in new examples of how all of us were secretly “religious dorks” as teens. We composed the following list together over the course of the week entitled: Top Ten Signs That You’re Gonna Grow-Up to Be a Minister.

10. You enjoy sitting with the chaperons on youth trips more than your peers.

9. You preach your first sermon during Youth Sunday in 7th Grade.

8. You sit your youth minister down in high school, telling him to grow up and act more like a pastor.

7. You hang a “Reserved For Clergy” sign above your bed in college.

6. You take home the inactive membership files in 9th grade so to write cards to those who haven’t attended church in a while.

5. You share a spontaneous testimony at Annual Conference before your youth choir sings that “You don’t know what you’ll be doing in 10 years, but God surely does.”

4. You wake up at 6 am because you feel having just one “Quiet Time” a day is not enough.

3. You hang an “Unreached People Group” poster above your bed and pray regularly for missionaries on their birthdays.

2. You make signs in your room of Bible verses you’ve memorized and spiritual disciplines you are trying to exhibit.

1. You give your middle school boyfriend your prayer journal so that he can understand your spiritual side.

Maybe we should make t-shirts… what do you think?