Completely Frustrated

As our ministry year winds down I continue to process and respond to the emotions I feel each year. We've looked at the feeling JOY that comes at the end of each ministry year, the need to stop and REST as the year end and the SORROW that comes as students move on. Here's the final emotion I feel as the year winds down; and if I'm honest, it's the one that I most struggle with ...

FRUSTRATION
Inevitably, as we wind down the year I am faced with some large frustrations
There is always the frustration of things I wish I would have done; or of those things that I wish I would have done better
Yet, that's not the frustration I'm talking about
I'm talking about that frustration you feel when you pour yourself into a student ...
... and they walk away
... they choose to live in sin
... they abandon what God has for them for a momentary & passing pleasure
... who knows better and yet does it anyway
... who just disappears from the ministry

I think of them
Of who they were created to be
Of who they can be right now
Of who they are choosing to be
And I get frustrated
I get mad
I wonder if it's worth it

Am I the only one?

So, what do I do with that? How do I process it?

1. I acknowledge my frustration and anger before God.
2. I spend time praying; I need constant reminder that I don't see the big picture and that I am not in control.
3. I ask God to give me the heart of His Son from Mark 3:1-12. With those who should get it and yet don't He was frustrated with them and even angry with them. Yet, married with that, His heart was absolutely broken for them
4. I go back to the first emotion in this process; the one of joy. Too often in my frustration at who is not there and who doesn't get it, I miss those students who are there and who are growing

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What else is there?
What are some emotions you have as your year ends?