Writer's Block...

Hello, friends!
With the end of the year approaching, it is time for one of my favorite annual traditions, Regional Staff Conference.

For those who are unfamiliar with the inner workings of InterVarsity, every chapter (ACF, BCM, etc.) is on a campus (in our case, Mizzou).  Every campus is part of an Area (ours is Missouri).  The Missouri Area (or the A-Team) is part of the Central Region, made up of all areas, and by extension, all campuses, and chapters, in Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, and Missouri.  We share a regional vision and work together to accomplish goals that our Regional Leadership Team (RLT) sets out for us.  Once a year, at the end of the first semester, we come together to refocus on our vision, share stories from our chapters, and play a lot of Settlers of Catan.  

I love being a part of the Central Region.  I have known many of these folk and worked with them for a number of years.  We have ministered to one another, worked to serve students together, and had tons of fun on a number of different occassions.  Regional Staff Conference is always a joy because it lets me reconnect in person not only with co-workers, but with friends.  There is something reassuring about talking with people who can relate exactly to your situation because they are in the same line of work and experience similar things. 

Every year each of us have different roles for Regionals.  Some lead worship.  Others do some teaching.  Still others are in charge of games.  Different folk fill different roles every year.  However, there is one role that has been assigned to me that probably will retire with me.  My job is to write the Welcome to Regionals Song Parody. 

Apparently, one of my gifts is writing song parodies.  I don't have many original thoughts, but if you give me a melody, I can promote a conference or wish someone goodbye with the best of them.  I have done everything from Green Day to Jason Mraz to Bruno Mars.  If it has a good beat and enough lyrics, we can make it work. 

Over the years things have gotten fancier.  It used to be just me and my guitar.  Thankfully, now I don't even need to play because my good friend (and staff at Saint Louis University) Kale, who is a much better musician than I am, lays down some pretty amazing riffs.  I come up with the words, Kale comes up with the guitar licks, and we rock the house. 

Here's the problem though.  Regionals is in under a week and I still haven't written the welcome song.  I have a few ideas, but nothing is jumping out at me like it usually does.  I don't know why inspiration has been so hard to come by, but I need some, and quick. 

This may not be the deepest post you read all year, but the prayer request is real.  I pride myself on my ability to entertain the good people of the Central Region.  Prayers for inspiration would be much appreciated.  =0). 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam

Here come the finish line!

Hello, friends!

I hope that you are all having a stellar start to December.  2011 certainly has flown by, hasn't it?!  With finals starting this week, this marks the end of the semester for both ACF and BCM.  There is always a temptation to coast during this time and focus on next semester.  However, a lot can happen in one week.  For example, here is my "to do" list for these last 5 days:

- Plan our final ACF Large Group
- Plan our final BCM Bible Study
- Meet with each potential ACF leader
- Make invitations to MOmentum, InterVarsity's evangelism training for the Missouri Area
- Plan a goodbye party for one of my BCM students who is going to be transferring
- Try to reconcile with another black Christian group over some misunderstandings
- Mail out ACF Christmas cards

So, you can see, the week is packed!  A few prayer requests:
- Please pray for our leadership selection process.  Pray for good wisdom and discernment here. 
- Pray for the reconciliation between BCM and the other group.  The last thing we need is disunity in the community. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam