Everyday Super Hero

Lauren Couch

Shepherd

English Composition 1

October 26, 2010

Everyday Super Hero

            Sitting in the crowd at a youth workers convention in Lexington, KY, I watched as Ryan Crabb participated in the chicken dance competition, dancing around clucking and pecking at the ground. He let his wall come down and humiliated himself without his face ever turning red. The crowd bent in laughter as they watched these youth pastors act like chickens in front of a hundred people. They were the stars of the show, not only as comedians but as counselors and pastors as well.

            Ryan is about five foot six and calls himself a fat kid, but he’s not fat. He is relatively short, standing at about five foot six; he has light brown hair and has brown eyes usually covered with his glasses. He used to be very athletic but damaged his ankle while he was hiking which makes it difficult to play several sports, but he enjoys bowling and soccer. He is a huge Notre Dame football fan and loves watching soccer games. He works as a full time youth pastor and assistant pastor at Alexandria United Methodist.

            To be a youth pastor you have to be fun and able to put your humility aside and relate to junior high and high school aged young adults. A necessity of the job is to also be able to show a sense of sympathy and availability to them in their times of need. It is a great responsibility but when done right you get great results. Being a student of his, he has done a great job at mixing fun and seriousness.

            Ryan grew up without brothers and sisters but he did have one dog named Rudy. “Being an only child had its advantages and disadvantages. I got plenty of attention from my parents, but sometimes I felt like I was under a microscope. I couldn’t ever get away with anything because I didn’t have anyone else to blame it on,” Ryan explained.

            Ryan’s mother and father were a US Navy family before he was even born. “My father was in the U.S Navy while I was growing up so I did a lot of moving around. I even lived in England for a little while during the time my dad was stationed there.”

            Moving around wasn’t easy most of the time. Being in one school for a year or two then getting transferred to another can be hard for kids, and at times it was for him also. In this way his childhood was hard because it was tough to make and keep friends. “In high school especially is when I went through some tough stuff. I listened to some hard music and had a tough time relating to most of the kids in my school. I was that fat kid people make fun of. I remember my mom coming and picking me up early when I had a hard day at school. She would let me sit in my room and made herself available if I needed her.”

One Sunday morning he found himself at a church. His parents were Catholic but had lost their faith after some time. Church was a place that he had rarely been because his parents didn’t see its value and discouraged him from going. But the church took him in even with that confused punk attitude that he had acquired; they became his family. The youth group at this church went on trips frequently, but his parents refused to pay and support his “church habit” so the members of the church paid his way, every time.

During this time where he was going to church, he picked up guitar and feel in love with it. This hobby became a life style and he devoted a lot of time to practicing and making himself better. His goal in life was to become a rock star and travel with his music. He graduated high school and began working in a guitar shop and loved every second of it; he was even making pretty good money. But something felt didn’t feel right but he wasn’t sure what it was.

A year or so after he began attending this church his parents had came to the knowledge of Christ. With his parents’ faith growing they began doing more things revolving around their faith. “ At the age of 20. I myself found God In August of 2001 my father took me to a Promise Keepers event, I didn’t want to go and face what was going on in my life, but I went.  We went with a young man who had special needs; I had worked with him as a peer tutor in high school.  I assisted him during the event and he decided to he wanted to go to the front during an altar call.  It was a big ordeal to move him, as we didn’t have a wheel chair so I had to walk with him down to the front.  When we finally made it down to the front, he said a few second prayer and started walking back.  I thought to myself ‘what a waste’ until we were walking back and the entire stadium was watching me helping him back to his seat.  It made me examine my life, I realized that I had been given everything and was doing nothing with it.  Here this young man was risking injury to go the front because he felt as though he would be closer to God there and I am not willing to do anything, I had to change.”

                        He began going to college with an undecided major at Kentucky Christian University. He kept in touch with some of the few friends he had made in high school; one of them was Allison Blevins. They were close friends in high school and Ryan had even asked her out a few times but she either declined or never showed up. After about six months of not talking to her he began to call her every so often and see how she was doing. They ended up taking a first date and planning a second one. Several years of dating and almost 7 years of friendship turned into marriage on May 31, 2008. Which is when they moved from Ashland, Kentucky to Alexandria, Kentucky where they reside today.

            As Ryan and Allison were dating, Marsha, Allison’s mother, suggested her opinion on why Ryan was unhappy with his job. “Even though guitar is what you love, maybe you love something more and you are running from it. Maybe you are called to ministry.” Marsha explained. When God calls you for a task like this it can seem to be very intimidating, especially if you don’t believe that you are equipped for the job. Marsha’s theory wasn’t something that Ryan wanted to hear. His first instinct was to get away from the source of this calling so he ran as far away from the Christian lifestyle. He distracted himself with guitars and his dreams of fame. As he continued on this track he found himself falling into a pit of depression. It was then when he realized that Marsha was right. He changed his major to Youth Ministry and minored in adventure-based ministry. After he graduated he quit is job at the guitar store and began pursuing a job as a youth pastor and served at several different churches in Ashland before moving to Alexandria and receiving the job at Alexandria United Methodist Church, where he has ministered for two and a half years.

            “My favorite part of my job is being able to help people. Being able to be with people in life when things are not well; to mourn with them and to celebrate with them when things are good. I love going to the hospital and visiting with people that aren’t feeling well and lifting their spirits a bit.” Ryan said.

            His job can be stressful but the outcome is rewarding. He gets to minister to and help teenagers grow their relationships with Christ all while being able to lead worship on Sunday mornings and play guitar. Because of his job he is one of those everyday super heroes’. One that isn’t afraid to go a little crazy and embarrass himself by dancing to the chicken dance or afraid to step out of his comfort zone and share his faith, in hopes of helping out a friend.