{"id":42587,"date":"2017-01-31T10:01:08","date_gmt":"2017-01-31T15:01:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siteground.stuffyoucanuse.org\/?p=42587"},"modified":"2017-01-31T10:01:08","modified_gmt":"2017-01-31T15:01:08","slug":"weve-got-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stuffyoucanuse.org\/weve-got-news\/","title":{"rendered":"So We’ve Got Some News…"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Don’t feel like reading?<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Then listen<\/em><\/strong> to this post instead!<\/p>\n

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Or\u00a0subscribe to my podcast<\/a> for more audio versions of my blog\u00a0posts!<\/p>\n

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DISCLAIMER: Kenny & Elle Campbell, Grow Curriculum, and Stuff You Can Use are in no way affiliated with Orange or XP3.<\/strong><\/p>\n

When it comes to ministry, I wish I could say yes <\/em>to everything. All of it. Every person. Every opportunity. All the things.<\/p>\n

In the last few years, Kenny and I have said yes to a lot<\/em>. Some days it felt like we were balancing one billion projects and people and yeses. And you know what? We don\u2019t regret a single of one them. Each and every yes has been so fun and rewarding.<\/p>\n

But dang<\/em>, all of those yeses are starting to pile up. <\/strong><\/p>\n

YES, we\u2019ll volunteer in middle school ministry!
\nYES, I\u2019ll write some books!
\nYES, we\u2019ll move across the country!
\nYES, I\u2019ll launch a new curriculum!
\nYES, we\u2019ll start a podcast!
\nYES, I\u2019ll lead a team!
\nYES, we\u2019ll travel and speak and teach and coach!
\nYes yes yes!<\/p>\n

Now don\u2019t get me wrong. We wouldn\u2019t change the last few years for anything. <\/em>We knew what we were getting into with all of those yeses. This season has been crazy, and it\u2019s exactly<\/em> the kind of crazy we wanted. But . . <\/em>.<\/p>\n

The things we\u2019ve said yes to are growing, which means they’re demanding more and more of our time.<\/strong> Between Stuff You Can Use<\/a>, Orange<\/a>, our church<\/a>, our little side projects<\/a>, and \u2013 oh yeah \u2013 our personal lives, we\u2019re getting a little maxed out. So no matter how much we\u2019d like to continue saying yes to everything possible, <\/em>we really can\u2019t. Not if we ever want to sleep again, that is.<\/p>\n

So as we move forward into 2017, Kenny and I are making some hard decisions. <\/strong>We\u2019re reprioritizing. We\u2019re reevaluating. And we\u2019re saying a really<\/em> difficult NO\u00a0so we can say a better\u00a0YES\u00a0to the things that matter most to us.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve been following along with our journey these last six years with youth ministry, and Stuff You Can Use, and Orange, you might be wondering what all of this means.<\/p>\n

Yeah, me too. We don\u2019t have all the details figured out yet, but we do have a few.<\/p>\n

If there\u2019s one thing Kenny and I know, it\u2019s that we\u2019re absolutely 100% saying yes <\/em>to loving and serving the youth ministry community.<\/strong> That is, and always will be, a very easy YES for us. As of today, here\u2019s how that\u2019s going to look moving forward\u2026<\/p>\n

STUFF YOU CAN USE<\/h2>\n

Kenny and I launched Stuff You Can Use in 2011 with just a handful of resources and blog posts. Since then, it has grown and evolved quite a bit, but we\u2019re still committed to the same thing \u2013 offering practical tools and ideas to help youth workers be more awesome.<\/strong> In the last six years, Stuff You Can Use has grown, and\u00a0so has our little community of youth pastors and youth workers \u2013 and we are really<\/em>\u00a0committed to that community.<\/p>\n

So continuing to serve and invest in the Stuff You Can Use family is definitely a YES – our biggest YES, actually.<\/strong> (And we\u2019re working on some pretty fun plans for this year that we can\u2019t wait <\/em>to tell you about.)<\/p>\n

ORANGE<\/h2>\n

Now here\u2019s where the changes start to kick in.<\/p>\n

For the last three years, Kenny and I have been invested full-time at Orange. I got to help write the book Creating a Lead Small Culture. <\/em><\/a>We helped launch a big project called Weekly.<\/a> We\u2019ve been involved with The Orange Conference,<\/a> The Orange Tour, <\/a>and the Phase Project.<\/a> And most significantly for me personally, I got to launch a brand new middle school curriculum,<\/a>\u00a0build a middle school team, and lead the middle school strategy for the organization. It is absolutely some of the most exciting work I\u2019ve ever been a part of, and there is no group of humans on this planet that I could possibly love or believe in more than I love and believe in the Orange team.<\/p>\n

(And this is where this whole saying no <\/em>thing gets so difficult.)<\/p>\n

Yesterday was our last day with Orange.<\/strong> Because, no matter how hard we try, we simply can\u2019t say yes <\/em>to everything. So the last few weeks have been packed with lots of hugs, and conversations, and last meals, and really sappy goodbye cards. (I\u2019m telling you, friends \u2013 these are the best people.) And\u00a0although we\u2019re stepping away as team members, we\u2019re already plotting the ways we can continue partnering and championing each other.<\/p>\n

So here’s the deal.<\/p>\n

WHAT\u2019S CHANGING:<\/strong><\/h3>\n