The Power Of A Caring Adult

I was in a short, spontaneous meeting yesterday with a guy from our church who is getting married on Saturday and then, immediately following his honeymoon, heading off to a church in Iowa to become its Youth Pastor. Our initial discussion was on the usual topics: When to implement change, how to develop a team, how to build excitement, when to split junior and senior high etc. All of which are important things to think about when going to a new church. However, we found ourselves camped out on one topic in particular; the power of caring adults. At the end of our time, my friend summed it up perfectly. His statement is one that will stick with me for a long time and one I wanted to pass along:
"I guess you can never out-program a caring adult".
Videos, drama, good music, fun games, funny messages, lights, camera and action are all okay. But none of that stuff means as much to a student as the simplicity of a caring adult. I told him I would steal his quote. He said that was okay. You can too.