Hello, friends!
What a weekend it was and what a week it will be! Let's recap, shall we?
Friday and Saturday we had our Leaders Retreat for the semester. There is a nice little cabin just about 15 minutes from campus that we reserved for the two days. Will, my staff partner, planned all the programming and training. I was in charge of the food.
Our goals were simple. We wanted students to catch a vision for what could be this semester and start making plans toward seeing that happen. We also wanted them to feel like a team and to build a sense of community with one another. I'd like to think that we accomplished those goals. There were great ideas from the leaders about how to make ACF better and you could feel the excitement in the room. Two students were up until past 2:30 on Friday night, talking about ACF and their vision for the fellowship. It is such a joy to see leaders who not only understand the vision, but own it and are willing to sacrifice their time and energy toward making it happen.
Speaking of students, vision, and sacrifice, Sunday was our first MOmentum of the year. MOmentum is our area-wide student evangelism training. We gather students from all our chapters in Missouri once a month to come together and learn how to fish for people together. I have the pleasure of being one of the three folk who are on the MOmentum planning team.
I can already tell that this year's MOmentum is going to be better than last years. For one, we as a staff team have a much better idea of what we are doing. Last year was our first year and we were just sort of feeling things out. This year, we have last year's experiences to build a better MOmentum. Added to that, I think we did a better job of recruiting students this year. Our numbers are actually down from last year's first MOmentum, but this year the students have a much better idea of what they are going to be doing and the commitment it will require. A number of students dropped out of MOmentum last year. I do not forsee that being the case this year.
This weekend definitely was full of good things and I saw God moving in some really cool ways. However, there was a cost to a spectacular weekend. Normally I take Sabbath on Saturdays. I believe it is important to take regular rest, not only because it is commanded by God but because it is a great way to avoid burning out. Well, Saturday was the leaders retreat and Sunday was MOmentum. I had a decision before me.
Monday I had soft plans to do some work with BCM. Nothing was set in stone but I felt like I had been neglecting BCM while preparing for the ACF Leaders Retreat. I knew that if I didn't take a Sabbath on Monday, the costs would be higher every other day of the week. Tuesday is my big BCM day, we have our first Large Group in ACF on Wednesday, Thursday is an Area Team meeting, and by Friday it is practically already time for my normal Saturday Sabbath. Still, to take a Sabbath on Monday meant that I would have to cancel a BCM event and risk losing momentum there.
After praying about it some on Sunday and talking with Meg about it, one thing that jumped out to me was the word "trust." The question that God was putting before me was, "do you trust me enough to believe that I am still doing stuff in BCM and that you don't have to be on campus for me to work?" It's a tough question because it touches on a number of different issues. Pride. Perfectionism. Workaholism. Trust. Faith. All these and more are brought to the fore when that question is asked. Saying "yes" to that question in practice is by no means a given.
Yesterday I took a day of rest. It was both a physical rest as well as a mental and spiritual rest. I believe that God took care of the BCM students without me.
A few points for prayer:
- Our first ACF Large Group of the semester is tomorrow! Please pray that God will move in the student body and they will be inspired to enter into community. Also pray for Barbara, as she will be speaking tomorrow!
- Gospel Choir starts tonight. If you've heard me sing before, you know prayer is appreciated. =0). Seriously, though, please pray that I will be able to build some solid relatioships this semester.
- Personally, I have some pretty big decisions ahead of me in the next week or so. Please pray for great clarity from Jesus as I seek His Kingdom in the midst of these decisions.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
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