Bi-vocational Youth Pastor

Yes, I am a bi-vocational youth worker. It almost sounds like a disease or something. I have not listed my secular job for a variety of reason, but I'll leave that to another time. My focus here is on youth ministry stuff.
A few years back my wife and I had the opportunity to attend the Simply Youth Ministry Conference conference.youthministry.com in Chicago. During a dinner there I had the privilege to talk with a youth pastor who'd been in full time ministry for twenty plus years. I congratulated him and was honestly impressed with his sticking in for that long because most youth workers end up "graduating" on to senior pastor positions. For an hour or so I pryed and picked at his vast experience and wisdom and he was more than happy to obliged me. But the one thing I took away from that conversation was how it ended. I remember telling him how truly impressed I was and I honestly saw him as sort of a YM hero. When he realized I wasn't in full time ministry he looked me in the eye and put his hand on my shoulder and said, "No Nathan, your my hero. You do what I do and than some." Needless to say I walked away from that dinner encouraged. I know all to well the ups and downs of splitting your heart and time between youth ministry, family and work. It's rough. You never feel there is enough time for either. I will admit that in the past it put a strain on my marriage and almost cost me a nervous break down. I remember going to bed wondering if I had spent more time with the students then maybe their spiritual lives would be better. To magnify matters my job requires me to change my schedule every 6 moths to a year. Working nights and planning sermons and family time on only a few hours of sleep can kill a person. I have wanted to quit many times; both my job and the ministry. I knew the importance of prioritizing equal time to both, but the thought in the back of my head was always saying "if you only had more time." It took a lot of praying and searching God for me to finally come to a place where I am okay with the position I am in. Having a great supporting wife who is always praying doesn't hurt either. If you are a bi-vocational youth worker or minister I have one thing to tell you. You are my heroes!!! I know its hard sometime and your heart wishes it could give more. Hang in there and just keep giving what you can give. God knows and he completely understands.
I'd like to leave you with a passage from Exodus chapter 4. Moses had been called by God to lead the exodus of the Hebrews and he's now giving God all kinds of excuses. God asks him a simply question in verse 2. "Then the Lord said to him, "What is in your hand?"
So let me ask this same question to you. What is in your hand? What kind of time or you dealing with? God knows what we have to offer. Whatever you are working with, if you are a bi-vocational minister, just give your best. God knows what He's doing and He's never been wrong before. To all my hero's out there keep on doing what you do because there is a generation of young people who need someone with the heart you have to lead them to a relationship with Christ.