Hello, friends!
It seems like forever since the last time I was in CoMo. In reality, it was under 3 weeks, but in campus ministry time, that is an eternity! I am happy to be back, even if only for a week before the school year ends.
What a ride it has been! In the past 3 weeks I (in no particular order) went to Seattle, got engaged, went on a 2 day spiritual formation retreat, went to Omaha to see my fiance's family, got the stomach flu, went to San Diego, and took a grand tour of the Saint Louis metro area looking for reception sites. I also sent approximately 200 text messages, dozens of emails, and had one Skype conversation with a student. Now, it is time to finish strong.
There is always a temptation to coast this last week. I wrote an email to our volunteer staff, who does the weekly emails for ACF and the only thing that I had for her to write was our last Large Group of the year. It will be a short ACF email. Students are preparing for finals and not in a super mood to hang out with staff workers. Registration is closed on Catalyst, our end of the year conference, so there is nothing to recruit to. It would be easy to just work on finishing up the year with everything in tact and beginning to look forward to next year.
But, 7 days is a long time. Students can make decisions to follow Jesus in 7 days. BCM students can solidify their committments to the mission in 7 days. Next year's leaders can begin the development process in 7 days. A lot can happen in 7 days.
So, please pray with me and for me. Pray that God will use these next 7 days to further His mission on campus. Pray that I will be inspired to work hard and finish strong, and fight the temptation to coast. Pray that these last 7 days will be the best 7 days of the year.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Here's a Fun Story!
Hello, friends!
Right now I am sitting in an airport in San Diego, California, on the final leg of my travels for the month. I am pretty tired and definitely ready to get back to Saint Louis to see my fiance before heading to CoMo to finish up the semester at Mizzou.
WHAT?!?! Did he say fiance?!?! Why, yes, yes I did! On April 8, Easter Sunday, for all of you keeping score at home, I asked the beautiful, wonderful, amazing Meg to marry me, and in a rare lapse in judgment, she said yes. =0). Seriously though, she did say yes and we are now betrothed!
Since then, two questions have come up time and time again. When are you getting married? And, how did you propose? While we are not sure of the first answer yet, I can certainly tell you the story of the second one.
The original plan was to propose on April 13, which was her birthday. I told her to make sure the day was clear so we could hang out. But, I messed it up. I told her that over Spring Break I went to visit her parents. Meg, being the intelligent gal that she is, put 2 and 2 together and figured that the proposal was coming. One of her hopes was that she would be surprised when I proposed, but I sort of blew that, so I decided to call an audible and change things up a bit. Here is how Easter went, by the numbers:
8:30am: Leave CoMo for Saint Louis
10:15am: Arrive at Meg's house, then drive away immediately when I realize that she is still in the house and hasn't left for church yet.
10:18am: Call Meg to wish her a happy easter, then pick up clues as to when she has left the house.
10:20am: Once I know she's left, I drive back to her house and use the key her roommate left for me.
10:21am: Start to fill up purple balloons to put in her living room, using the helium tank I rented in CoMo on Friday
10:45am: Head to church.
11:15am: Surprise Meg and church and enjoy a great Easter Service
2pm: Head to an Easter lunch at a mutual friend's house
3:30pm: Head to an Easter cocktail party with a friend from her church
4:30pm: Head to Trader Joe's before it closes so she can go grocery shopping
5:30pm: Get back to her place, where she opens the door and sees a living room full of purple balloons and her dad's 12 string guitar (which he gave me when I went up to visit him)
5:32pm: Sing Meg the song I wrote her
5:35pm: Drop to a knee, pop the question, and she says yes!
I think the best part of the story for me is that it actually turned into a double surprise. When she saw me at church she was surprised, and thought that the proposal was coming at some point during the day. However, when we spent the day together and nothing was happening, she figured that the proposal WASN'T going to happen. That means she was surprised again when we got back to her place. Success!!! =0).
So, please pray for us as we plan a wedding and figure out the logistics of life together. It is going to be so much fun!
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
Right now I am sitting in an airport in San Diego, California, on the final leg of my travels for the month. I am pretty tired and definitely ready to get back to Saint Louis to see my fiance before heading to CoMo to finish up the semester at Mizzou.
WHAT?!?! Did he say fiance?!?! Why, yes, yes I did! On April 8, Easter Sunday, for all of you keeping score at home, I asked the beautiful, wonderful, amazing Meg to marry me, and in a rare lapse in judgment, she said yes. =0). Seriously though, she did say yes and we are now betrothed!
Since then, two questions have come up time and time again. When are you getting married? And, how did you propose? While we are not sure of the first answer yet, I can certainly tell you the story of the second one.
The original plan was to propose on April 13, which was her birthday. I told her to make sure the day was clear so we could hang out. But, I messed it up. I told her that over Spring Break I went to visit her parents. Meg, being the intelligent gal that she is, put 2 and 2 together and figured that the proposal was coming. One of her hopes was that she would be surprised when I proposed, but I sort of blew that, so I decided to call an audible and change things up a bit. Here is how Easter went, by the numbers:
8:30am: Leave CoMo for Saint Louis
10:15am: Arrive at Meg's house, then drive away immediately when I realize that she is still in the house and hasn't left for church yet.
10:18am: Call Meg to wish her a happy easter, then pick up clues as to when she has left the house.
10:20am: Once I know she's left, I drive back to her house and use the key her roommate left for me.
10:21am: Start to fill up purple balloons to put in her living room, using the helium tank I rented in CoMo on Friday
10:45am: Head to church.
11:15am: Surprise Meg and church and enjoy a great Easter Service
2pm: Head to an Easter lunch at a mutual friend's house
3:30pm: Head to an Easter cocktail party with a friend from her church
4:30pm: Head to Trader Joe's before it closes so she can go grocery shopping
5:30pm: Get back to her place, where she opens the door and sees a living room full of purple balloons and her dad's 12 string guitar (which he gave me when I went up to visit him)
5:32pm: Sing Meg the song I wrote her
5:35pm: Drop to a knee, pop the question, and she says yes!
I think the best part of the story for me is that it actually turned into a double surprise. When she saw me at church she was surprised, and thought that the proposal was coming at some point during the day. However, when we spent the day together and nothing was happening, she figured that the proposal WASN'T going to happen. That means she was surprised again when we got back to her place. Success!!! =0).
So, please pray for us as we plan a wedding and figure out the logistics of life together. It is going to be so much fun!
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Two Thousand Mile Trust...
Hello, friends!
Greetings from the great northwest! I am here is beautiful ok, a little bit gloomy, Seattle, Washington on a coaching visit to the University of Washington.
One of my roles this year has been a planting coach for InterVarsity's National Planting Cohort. Each year, InterVarsity selects 20 staff from all over the country who will be planing chapters. They are given special training, extra resources, and a coach for their first year. This year I had the privilege of being asked to coach a wonderful planter named Marshae, who is planting a BCM chapter at UW.
There are tons of reasons to be excited about this trip. The BCM plant at UW has been moving and Marshae has been doing a great job. I get to see my old college buddy T-mo, which is always a pleasure. I also plan on eating at least 3 times at Dick's Drive-In, which for some reason, has a strange hold on me. But, I am also here understanding that I need a lot of trust and faith right now.
See, this trip to Seattle begins my 3 weeks away form Columbia. I will be in Seattle, Saint Louis, Omaha, and San Diego over the next 17 days or so, away from ACF, away from BCM, and away from Mizzou. There are few things more trying for a staff than to be away from campus for extended periods of time.
I was hanging out with Jesus yesterday and a phrase kept popping into my head. "Do you believe that I got this?" I think it was Jesus asking me to trust Him. I think Jesus is asking me to put my faith in Him, and not my abilities on campus. I have to trust that He will do good work in the students, even if I am not around. He will lead them and motivate them, even if I am somewhere else. From 2000 miles away, I have to be ok with letting Jesus be in control.
Prayer Points:
- Please pray for ACF and BCM during this time. Pray that God will move and that students will move closer to mission during this time.
- Also, please pray for me, that God will increase my faith and my trust during this time.
- One last note, today is the last day for folk to sign up as an early bird for Catalyst, our end of the year retreat. Right now we have a lot of "maybe" students. Please pray that God will work in their hearts and get them there.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
Greetings from the great northwest! I am here is beautiful ok, a little bit gloomy, Seattle, Washington on a coaching visit to the University of Washington.
One of my roles this year has been a planting coach for InterVarsity's National Planting Cohort. Each year, InterVarsity selects 20 staff from all over the country who will be planing chapters. They are given special training, extra resources, and a coach for their first year. This year I had the privilege of being asked to coach a wonderful planter named Marshae, who is planting a BCM chapter at UW.
There are tons of reasons to be excited about this trip. The BCM plant at UW has been moving and Marshae has been doing a great job. I get to see my old college buddy T-mo, which is always a pleasure. I also plan on eating at least 3 times at Dick's Drive-In, which for some reason, has a strange hold on me. But, I am also here understanding that I need a lot of trust and faith right now.
See, this trip to Seattle begins my 3 weeks away form Columbia. I will be in Seattle, Saint Louis, Omaha, and San Diego over the next 17 days or so, away from ACF, away from BCM, and away from Mizzou. There are few things more trying for a staff than to be away from campus for extended periods of time.
I was hanging out with Jesus yesterday and a phrase kept popping into my head. "Do you believe that I got this?" I think it was Jesus asking me to trust Him. I think Jesus is asking me to put my faith in Him, and not my abilities on campus. I have to trust that He will do good work in the students, even if I am not around. He will lead them and motivate them, even if I am somewhere else. From 2000 miles away, I have to be ok with letting Jesus be in control.
Prayer Points:
- Please pray for ACF and BCM during this time. Pray that God will move and that students will move closer to mission during this time.
- Also, please pray for me, that God will increase my faith and my trust during this time.
- One last note, today is the last day for folk to sign up as an early bird for Catalyst, our end of the year retreat. Right now we have a lot of "maybe" students. Please pray that God will work in their hearts and get them there.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
Thursday, April 5, 2012
I Learned Who I Really Am...
Hello, friends!
Ok, so I am using the quote gag twice in a row, but I promise, it is totally worth it.
The quote above was the answer that one student gave when Will asked what folk learned over Spring Break. I'll bet you can guess where that student went for Spring Break. =0).
Last night at ACF Large Group we had a time of testimony for those who went on City Lights. Tim, one of our student leaders, shared about the vision of City Lights. He has been to 4 Spring Break projects and a City Lights summer, so he was the perfect person to share an overview of the project. He was followed by April, a freshman who found God breaking down a lot of her preconceived notions and prejudices over the week. Charis, our volunteer staff, made an awesome slideshow, that you can watch here. Then K, an international student, shared about his first experience with God at City Lights. W, another of our international students, finished off the night by giving us an opportunity to bring back what we learned at City Lights to our fair city of Columbia. All in all, it was a great night and I could tell that City Lights changed some folk.
It was also evident in our meeting after Large Group. Will and I decided that we wanted to get a feel for how many folk were interested in serving next year. A fellowship can only grow as quickly as its service core, so we thought it would be a good idea to see how many of our students were on board. I was expecting maybe 10-12 students tops, based on our best guesses of who has been showing up regularly to Large Group. But, City Lights must have done something powerful, because we had over 20 students up and ready to serve! This is the sort of thing that can propel a fellowship forward to huge growth and impact on campus.
So, that was Spring Break. It was a life changer for some and hopefully a game changer for the fellowship as a whole.
Prayer points:
- Pray that the momentum that began with City Lights will continue through the rest of the semester and into next year.
- Catalyst, our spring conference is right around the corner! Please pray for us as both fellowships are currently working on recruitment.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
Ok, so I am using the quote gag twice in a row, but I promise, it is totally worth it.
The quote above was the answer that one student gave when Will asked what folk learned over Spring Break. I'll bet you can guess where that student went for Spring Break. =0).
Last night at ACF Large Group we had a time of testimony for those who went on City Lights. Tim, one of our student leaders, shared about the vision of City Lights. He has been to 4 Spring Break projects and a City Lights summer, so he was the perfect person to share an overview of the project. He was followed by April, a freshman who found God breaking down a lot of her preconceived notions and prejudices over the week. Charis, our volunteer staff, made an awesome slideshow, that you can watch here. Then K, an international student, shared about his first experience with God at City Lights. W, another of our international students, finished off the night by giving us an opportunity to bring back what we learned at City Lights to our fair city of Columbia. All in all, it was a great night and I could tell that City Lights changed some folk.
It was also evident in our meeting after Large Group. Will and I decided that we wanted to get a feel for how many folk were interested in serving next year. A fellowship can only grow as quickly as its service core, so we thought it would be a good idea to see how many of our students were on board. I was expecting maybe 10-12 students tops, based on our best guesses of who has been showing up regularly to Large Group. But, City Lights must have done something powerful, because we had over 20 students up and ready to serve! This is the sort of thing that can propel a fellowship forward to huge growth and impact on campus.
So, that was Spring Break. It was a life changer for some and hopefully a game changer for the fellowship as a whole.
Prayer points:
- Pray that the momentum that began with City Lights will continue through the rest of the semester and into next year.
- Catalyst, our spring conference is right around the corner! Please pray for us as both fellowships are currently working on recruitment.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Do You Think I Am Going To Hell?...
Hello, friends!
The title of this post seems pretty intense, but that was a question that was posed to me Monday night in a bar and grill full of rowdy college students reveling in the misery of hated arch rivals. Let me back up.
Monday night is not only BCM bible study, but it is also dollar burger night at Bengals Bar and Grill. One of the things that I love about Columbia is that there are so many great food deals around on a daily basis. I also love imparting the wisdom I have gleaned from years of research on my students. Shamari had a great idea of going to grab some dollar burgers after bible study, which I was more than up for! Even better, she invited some other folk so we could meet more people.
After spending 10 minutes trying to find a chair to bring to our table, I finally sat down next to a student I had not met before. We exchanged pleasantries and I continued to talk to Chelsea and Shamari. I don't know how it came up, but the student who I didn't know asked me about what I do and why I do what I do. From there, I was able to share with her the vision for BCM, which she whole heartedly agreed with and supported. She opened up about her past experiences with churches in Columbia and how hard it was to follow Jesus as a college student.
We only talked for 15 or 20 minutes, but I could tell that Jesus was doing something amazing in her through our conversation. There were tears, tough questions, thoughtful pauses, and absolutely the Holy Spirit moving. She signed up for our Thursday bible study and my hope is that she will join our community and follow Jesus with our group.
Friends, this is why I do what I do. This is why your prayers and support are so crucial. There are students on this campus who are lost. They want to follow Jesus but think that because they fail they are going to hell. They don't have any community to keep the accountable or encourage them to get back up after they have fallen. Part of InterVarsity's vision is to see students and faculty transformed. On Monday night, I was able to see what I hope will be the beginning of that transformation for at least one student.
Prayer points:
- Please be praying for T, the potential new student. Pray that God will draw her into community and that she will grow in following Jesus.
- Catalyst, our spring conference is almost here! Please pray for our recruitment in both ACF as well as BCM.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
The title of this post seems pretty intense, but that was a question that was posed to me Monday night in a bar and grill full of rowdy college students reveling in the misery of hated arch rivals. Let me back up.
Monday night is not only BCM bible study, but it is also dollar burger night at Bengals Bar and Grill. One of the things that I love about Columbia is that there are so many great food deals around on a daily basis. I also love imparting the wisdom I have gleaned from years of research on my students. Shamari had a great idea of going to grab some dollar burgers after bible study, which I was more than up for! Even better, she invited some other folk so we could meet more people.
After spending 10 minutes trying to find a chair to bring to our table, I finally sat down next to a student I had not met before. We exchanged pleasantries and I continued to talk to Chelsea and Shamari. I don't know how it came up, but the student who I didn't know asked me about what I do and why I do what I do. From there, I was able to share with her the vision for BCM, which she whole heartedly agreed with and supported. She opened up about her past experiences with churches in Columbia and how hard it was to follow Jesus as a college student.
We only talked for 15 or 20 minutes, but I could tell that Jesus was doing something amazing in her through our conversation. There were tears, tough questions, thoughtful pauses, and absolutely the Holy Spirit moving. She signed up for our Thursday bible study and my hope is that she will join our community and follow Jesus with our group.
Friends, this is why I do what I do. This is why your prayers and support are so crucial. There are students on this campus who are lost. They want to follow Jesus but think that because they fail they are going to hell. They don't have any community to keep the accountable or encourage them to get back up after they have fallen. Part of InterVarsity's vision is to see students and faculty transformed. On Monday night, I was able to see what I hope will be the beginning of that transformation for at least one student.
Prayer points:
- Please be praying for T, the potential new student. Pray that God will draw her into community and that she will grow in following Jesus.
- Catalyst, our spring conference is almost here! Please pray for our recruitment in both ACF as well as BCM.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
Sunday, April 1, 2012
And, we're back... for now
Hello, friends!
Happy April to you all! I have been known to pull a few April Fool's Day pranks in my day, but this year I decided to be on the up and up. No pranks today. =0).
This month is going to be a fun one. Given a number of my various staff responsibilities, I am actually not going to be in town all that much. Here is my travel schedule for the month of April:
April 1-8: Hanging out in Columbia
April 9-13: In Seattle visiting a staff I am training
April 13-15: Saint Louis for Meg's birthday and student evangelism training
April 16: Possibly back in Columbia
April 17-19: Saint Louis for a spiritual formation retreat
April 23-26: San Diego for more staff training
April 27: Finally back in Columbia for the rest of the month.
So, please be praying for me. Here are a few specific prayer requests:
- Pray for all my travel this month. Sometimes I fly well, but sometimes I don't. Please pray that all this travel will agree with me.
- Also, please pray for BCM momentum during this month. This could be a month where a lot of great student ownership takes place or a month where a lot of momentum is undone. Please pray that God will work in our core students to continue to do the good work that is ahead on campus.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
Happy April to you all! I have been known to pull a few April Fool's Day pranks in my day, but this year I decided to be on the up and up. No pranks today. =0).
This month is going to be a fun one. Given a number of my various staff responsibilities, I am actually not going to be in town all that much. Here is my travel schedule for the month of April:
April 1-8: Hanging out in Columbia
April 9-13: In Seattle visiting a staff I am training
April 13-15: Saint Louis for Meg's birthday and student evangelism training
April 16: Possibly back in Columbia
April 17-19: Saint Louis for a spiritual formation retreat
April 23-26: San Diego for more staff training
April 27: Finally back in Columbia for the rest of the month.
So, please be praying for me. Here are a few specific prayer requests:
- Pray for all my travel this month. Sometimes I fly well, but sometimes I don't. Please pray that all this travel will agree with me.
- Also, please pray for BCM momentum during this month. This could be a month where a lot of great student ownership takes place or a month where a lot of momentum is undone. Please pray that God will work in our core students to continue to do the good work that is ahead on campus.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
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