Friday
So, I hurt my back. Badly. Again.
And I'm not whining, but boy, it's really sore, almost to the point where I'm seriously considering medical attention. I don't know if it was done by helping someone out, or what, but nothing seems to be helping it right now.
That said, it's not snowing. That's a blessing. The snow has also been a blessing, but when it melts, hoo boy, what a mess there will be underneath it. Happens every winter, so I'm used to it.
I'm thinking about millennials today, in the context of how to reach them. Half of the ones I know and have personal friendships with are dealing with the after-effects of meth use, which means I have about six millennials I consider friends.
So, I'm wondering in Utah if we have traditional millennials. I have one friend who is very artsy. I say that as a compliment, because she classes up my facebook feed by sharing some interesting painting pictures and photographs. Two others, three if you count one's wife, share my love of the outdoors and enthusiasm with fishing. One is struggling with the stigma of being hugely tall and going through the awkward stage of being the third wheel when you don't have a relationship and have married friends. That's tough. I've been there.
By and large, my millennials are at the lower end of the income scale. One has a good job but is already divorced. Another works in the food industry and has a great disdain for the apparent lack of motivation and work ethic of his peers. I listen to stories he tells me about a sense of entitlement and lack of responsibility of his generation.
I saw that once. I was talking to one of my Guardsmen about opportunities that COULD present themselves and he asked me to put what I said in writing, as if I was promising them to him. I had to tell him..."I'm not promising you anything. I'm just telling you the opportunities may present themselves."
But with our traditions in our state, and being a bunch of outdoorsy, basically socially conservative people by and large, I wonder how much the "stereotypes" for lack of a better word apply to millennials. I see them struggle. I know one who was working two jobs, the last I heard anything about her, because she's got kids. But I remember too, the stories my youngest tells me about the young people that work with him because I've seen it myself.
In my last days at the Air Guard, I noticed a shift in the mentality of the troops. It always seemed to me that they expected the same things as those who had, for lack of a better term, paid their dues. They wanted to be equal to the guy that had been there for 20 years, wanted the same responsibilities, the same everything that others had earned through hard work and dedication. I found that odd, and I think something I read today kind of validated that's where millennials are. That's hard for an old military guy to let go of, but I'm cognizant that if we're to reach out to millennials, we need to be willing to meet them where they are instead of standing where they are and expecting them to cross the bridges we had to, to get there.
I think the best example we have of that is Christ, who gave up EVERYTHING and walked across that metaphorical bridge to come down here and dwell with sinners like us. He didn't wait for us to be perfect, he did, and still does, meet us where we are. So that's what we're gonna do soon. Invite some folks in for a chat, for a discussion about where we the millennials are and how they feel about faith, worship, and serving the Lord. It may blow up every tradition we have in our minds, but I think good things will come of it.
Anyway, off to get a book about millennials.
And I'm not whining, but boy, it's really sore, almost to the point where I'm seriously considering medical attention. I don't know if it was done by helping someone out, or what, but nothing seems to be helping it right now.
That said, it's not snowing. That's a blessing. The snow has also been a blessing, but when it melts, hoo boy, what a mess there will be underneath it. Happens every winter, so I'm used to it.
I'm thinking about millennials today, in the context of how to reach them. Half of the ones I know and have personal friendships with are dealing with the after-effects of meth use, which means I have about six millennials I consider friends.
So, I'm wondering in Utah if we have traditional millennials. I have one friend who is very artsy. I say that as a compliment, because she classes up my facebook feed by sharing some interesting painting pictures and photographs. Two others, three if you count one's wife, share my love of the outdoors and enthusiasm with fishing. One is struggling with the stigma of being hugely tall and going through the awkward stage of being the third wheel when you don't have a relationship and have married friends. That's tough. I've been there.
By and large, my millennials are at the lower end of the income scale. One has a good job but is already divorced. Another works in the food industry and has a great disdain for the apparent lack of motivation and work ethic of his peers. I listen to stories he tells me about a sense of entitlement and lack of responsibility of his generation.
I saw that once. I was talking to one of my Guardsmen about opportunities that COULD present themselves and he asked me to put what I said in writing, as if I was promising them to him. I had to tell him..."I'm not promising you anything. I'm just telling you the opportunities may present themselves."
But with our traditions in our state, and being a bunch of outdoorsy, basically socially conservative people by and large, I wonder how much the "stereotypes" for lack of a better word apply to millennials. I see them struggle. I know one who was working two jobs, the last I heard anything about her, because she's got kids. But I remember too, the stories my youngest tells me about the young people that work with him because I've seen it myself.
In my last days at the Air Guard, I noticed a shift in the mentality of the troops. It always seemed to me that they expected the same things as those who had, for lack of a better term, paid their dues. They wanted to be equal to the guy that had been there for 20 years, wanted the same responsibilities, the same everything that others had earned through hard work and dedication. I found that odd, and I think something I read today kind of validated that's where millennials are. That's hard for an old military guy to let go of, but I'm cognizant that if we're to reach out to millennials, we need to be willing to meet them where they are instead of standing where they are and expecting them to cross the bridges we had to, to get there.
I think the best example we have of that is Christ, who gave up EVERYTHING and walked across that metaphorical bridge to come down here and dwell with sinners like us. He didn't wait for us to be perfect, he did, and still does, meet us where we are. So that's what we're gonna do soon. Invite some folks in for a chat, for a discussion about where we the millennials are and how they feel about faith, worship, and serving the Lord. It may blow up every tradition we have in our minds, but I think good things will come of it.
Anyway, off to get a book about millennials.
Comments
Post a Comment