Reflections on leaving youth ministry

I've thought a long time about how to write on this subject, and as many of you who have transitioned through ministries before you know that it is a difficult thing to explain to those around you.
So in this post I will be explaining why I'm moving out of youth ministry, what God has laid on our hearts and ways youth ministry can succeed in the future.
I've currently served as Youth minister and associate pastor at Waco Baptist Church and have LOVED my time there. I've loved the church, I've loved the leadership and most of all, I've loved the students! My time there has been incredible, and God has stretched me in so many ways!
Over a year ago, God started to work in my heart and focus my attention on missions and church planting. Since then, I've been in prayer about whether God was changing my heart from youth ministry. After my wife and I settled into our later months of engagement and early months of marriage, we both knew with out doubt that God was moving our hearts. The time to transition was now.
Currently we are packing up our small Bremen apartment to move north to Raleigh, NC. I will be working for the North Carolina Credit Union as an Escrow adviser and Stephanie will work for Bath and Body works (she's obviously excited about the discounts). We will be working and saving our money over the next year to begin seminary at Southeastern Baptist Theological SeminaryWe are pumped about this new change that God is taking us in, but it's important to note that as God transitions you into a new chapter of life, he moves your heart from your current chapter of life. As you grow and change as a minister, your passions will grow and change as God shapes you into who He designed you to be.
We believe that God is calling us to serve in ministry that is out of the box, unconventional and non-traditional. We believe that God is, by His grace, calling us to do something exciting and unique like church planting, missions, or church revitalization, and although we may not know the where, when or why, we know Who is calling us, and we are stepping out on faith during this new time in our life.
I've thoroughly enjoyed our time in youth ministry and at Waco, but we are stoked about what God has for us in the future. Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we move to NC and continue to check the blog as I will continue to post on what God is doing in our lives and how He is growing us spiritually.

Final word to fellow youth pastors: It's not about you! Don't build you're youth ministry around you. Don't grow your students or your leaders around you. Grow them around the Word of God, because one day God will move you into another ministry and you will want the ministry that you are leaving to be built around something more stable than your time there. The Word of God is lasting! For more tips on how to effectively transition out of your youth ministry when God leads, check out Rethinking Youth Ministry: How do you leave youth ministry