My Lively Little Stones: About Me

Here is a quick intro:

This handsome devil is me, Steven Morris; Christian, husband, father, youth minister. I have the world's greatest job... well greatest-ish. I have many reasons for frustration, stress and general dissatisfaction, just like you, but my job has meaning. I'm not saying that your's does not. I get the joy of working with the vibrent youth of the Lord's Church. Everyday I see a new reason to praise my God through working with these children, and the relationships we build together make all the little frustrations seem well worth it. They are the precious gems I blog about.

This knock-out is my wife, Kimberly. Kimberly is the most important person in my life (besides my Lord), and the woman of my dreams. Give her a hand! This woman is the driving force beyond everything I accomplish. She is always at my side (no matter how tired she might be or how grumpy I might be), for every youth event, planning dinner, cleaning session, and any other time and energy consuming thing that I, the youth, their parents, the rest of the congregation, or the elders can immagine we need to do. Few will ever know the effort that a woman such as my wife spends for her Lord and her man.

I am proud to say that our marriage is a happy one, and one that functions quite well. The Lord has truely blessed me with a wonderful wife and three wonderful children.

These are my crown jewels. Middle, Little, and Big D, if you follow my wife's blog; for the rest of you, meet Dominick, Diamond, & Devan. These guys make my life worthwhile.

Precious Gems

Let me explain this blog for you. It is based on the passage above, and the way I perceive my youth group.

Few people appreciate young people the way that they should. They are like many people who seeing an unfinished diamond or other precious stone think it nothing more than your average, everyday pebble and cast it aside. They don't recognize the great treasure that is within their grasp and they let it slip away. I'm no better, only different. I have trouble, at times, seeing past the problems, habits, and less than attractive attributes of those who count themselves as set in their ways. When I look at a child I can only see the potential.

When I was 5 or so years old, my grandfathers were my favorite people. My mother's father was a rock collector, or at least a rock lover. I would bring him all the amazing finds of the day and ask to put them in his rock polisher. He would often inform me that what I had found was glass, fools gold, gravel, flint, slate, or some other worthless thing. He meant no harm by this, he simply knew his rocks, and he taught me how to better recognize the worth of a stone. I am still that same kid, I see the beauty in the glass, pyrite, and gravel of the human variety... but you know what? With children, telling them that their worth something often raises their market value. I think I have gotten pretty good at spotting the gems (not that I really ever toss any rocks out). I believe I am learning to see each child as the Lord sees them, precious.

It helps that I have been blessed with an exceptionally good and godly youth group. These guys make up my joy and prove my labor in the Lord is not for nothing. They give me so much more than I could ever give in return, and I want them to have the recognition they deserve. So youth, if you are reading this, think of this blog as a display case to help more people to be able to see you shine. I love you dearly... and even with you guys not here I'm still tearing up the way I would if I tried to tell you this in person. God help me.