Blessings on You and All of Your Ilk!

Hello, friends!

You guys know I work for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA, which has chapters all across the United States.  I am part of the Missouri Area (startling, I know...) which is pretty much St. Louis and Mizzou.  One of the schools in the Missouri Area, or A-Team as we like to call ourselves, is Saint Louis University, or SLU.  Their staff is one Kale Uzzle.  (@kaleuzzle for all you Twitter folk out there). 

There are a number of things that I appreciate about Kale.  For a long time he and I were the only single men on the A-Team, which led to a certain amount of bonding.  He is a big baseball fan, which makes for fun conversations.  He is also ridiculously witty and we share a similar style of humor.  As anyone on the A-Team can tell you, we can take a ridiculous conversation WAY too far, acting as if it was the most natural thing in the world.  Well executed deadpan is a beautiful thing and Charlamagne (my nickname for Kale) is one of the best.

Another one of the things that I appreciate about Kale is that he is a really good worship leader.  Not only is he gifted musically, but he knows how to lead well and he really enjoys leading too.  I always take the opportunity to play on Kale's team whenever I can because it is tons of fun.  We play well together and with him leading, I don't have to worry about anything but the drum (or the bass) in front of me. 

I was thinking about this because last night I led worship for ACF Large Group for the first time in quite some time.  Paula, our Worship Leader has been doing an excellent job, but we felt like she needed a week off.  It's good to get some rest in, y'know?  So, I decided to strap on the old guitar and give it a whirl, just like old time. 

Many of you know that I actually used to be a worship leader, all the way through college.  In fact, even my first year or two here at Mizzou I led worship for ACF.  Back then, I loved picking sets, running rehearsals, and all the things that come with the job.  I'm not sure what happened, but somewhere along the way I lost my knack for leading worship.  My skill with the guitar has waned.  I have much more trouble picking sets than I used to.  The truth is that something that used to give me much joy now is more of a burden than anything else. 

Which is why I appreciate Kale, Paula, Andrew (volunteer staff/roommate/worship leader), and everyone of that worship leader ilk.  It's something special to see folk lead out of the Spirit and bring the rest of the fellowship to a place of worship.  It is a gift that I no longer posses, but one that I am happy to give up, knowing that there are folk like these fine individuals whom God has blessed in this way. 

A few points of prayer:
- It's almost Thanksgiving week!  Please be praying for students as they travel all over the country.
- We are starting our leadership selection process.  Please pray for good wisdom and discernment as we move forward with next semester. 
- Personally, I am going to be an uncle soon!  My sister T is going to be induced tomorrow which means I should have a niece by Saturday at the latest.  Praise Jesus! 

Have an excellent day!

~Adam