7 People to Thank: The Notes YL Leaders Write as the Semester Ends

As the school year ends, let’s consider the many folks we as Young Life leaders can thank.

Administration

The principal at your school didn’t have to let you come to lunch. Send them a note with a $10 Subway gift card saying “Thanks for letting us eat lunch with your kids this year. Enjoy a lunch on us this summer. Sincerely, the Smith Middle Young Life Team.“

Athletic Director

Remember those free athletic passes your YL team got at the beginning of the year. Think how much $ they saved you. What about a picture of your YL team holding a sign saying “We heart Coach Mac” for the AD’s office?

Club/Campaigners Host Homes

That family lets you have fifty middle schoolers invade their basement. That mom cooked dinner for your Campaigners group more times than you can count. That dad is still repairing the damage from when that sumo-suit put a crater in his garage wall. How ’bout a Home Depot gift card with a note attached?

Area Director

Being a Young Life Area Director is no easy task. Area Directors spend tons of time making it possible for us to be leaders. Send them a note of encouragement thanking them for leading well and be specific about how they’ve encouraged you. If they are married and/or parents, consider babysitting for them and giving them a date night out.

Spouse

If you’re married, make the effort to thank your spouse for allowing you to pursue this calling. What if you gathered some of your high school friends to put on a mini ‘YL club’ for the purpose of celebrating your spouse? Or how about a needed date night now that club is taking a summer break?

Middle/High School Friend

Do you have some kids in your YL club that went the extra mile to help out at Young Life this year? Model gratitude for them by sending an unexpected note. Print a pic of you with your middle/high school friend and turn it into a postcard.

Jesus

Celebrate this year by thanking the One who made it all possible. In our home, we have an “Ebeneezer.” It’s simply a wall with pictures and words that remind us of God’s faithfulness.  In 1 Samuel 7, the Israelites were under attack by the Philistines. Fearing for their lives, they offered a sacrifice to God and prayed for His protection. God listened and following their victory they “took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and called its name Ebenezer, saying, ‘Thus far the Lord has helped us.’ ” (1 Samuel 7:12)

The word Ebenezer comes from a Hebrew word meaning “stone of help.” In the familiar hymn “Come Thou Fount” we sing the phrase “Here I raise my Ebenezer, here by thy great help I’ve come.” An Ebenezer is simply something to help us remember God’s faithfulness and mercy. Wonder how one might look on a wall in your bedroom or at the YL office?

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Written by Drew Hill.

Drew is a pastor in Greensboro, NC and also on staff with Young Life in the Global Innovation and Training department. Drew started the Young Life Leader Blog in 2010 and has written a best-selling book for Young Life leaders called “Alongside: Loving Teenagers with the Gospel.“