For My Wife...

Hello, friends!

Guess what today is!  It is Meg and my anniversary!  One year ago today, I was a nervous wreck, praying that I wouldn't throw up or forget the chords to the song that I was going to play at our wedding.  One year ago today, Meg and I started on a crazy adventure that I don't think either of us truly anticipated.  One year ago today, I made one of the best decisions of my life, second only to my decision to follow Jesus.  One year ago today was kind of a big deal, eh?  =0).

As I look back at this past year, I am so thankful for Meg.  Words cannot describe how much I love and appreciate her.  I may not show it all the time but I am so thankful that we get to spend the rest of our lives together.  She has inspired me to be a better husband, a better staff, a better man, and a better follower of Jesus.  She has dealt with my selfishness, my pride, my corny jokes, and my various quirks.  She is an incredible cook, an incredible co-laborer, an incredible wife and an incredible woman.

Last night, I asked Meg what her favorite memory from the past year was.  We both had a hard time thinking of one that was not related to our honeymoon, which seemed a little like cheating.  =0).  Thinking about it now, I don't know if I have a single favorite but I do have an event that I love whenever it happens.  We'll be sitting on the couch watching a movie or something and it will hit me that the gorgeous and wonderful woman sitting next to me is my wife.  That moment is my favorite.

I won't lie to you amends diary that it has been all rainbows and butterflies the entire time.  Over thing I have learned is that marriage is hard work.  It takes a lot of communication and humility, two attributes that do not come naturally to me.  There have been some rough spots but the good has definitely outweighed the bad.

I could keep typing but it would probably start to get a little uncomfortable so i think I will stop here.  My prayer, and hopefully UI ours too, is that I will be able to show Meg how much I love her every day, and not just a blog post once a year.

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam

The Silly Season...

Hello, friends! 

As most, if not all, of you know, I am a HUGE baseball fan.  Seriously, a HUGE baseball fan.  But, it isn't just about baseball, although that is my favorite.  I'll watch and participate in anything where folk are competing.  I have favorites in MLB (Cardinals), NFL (Dolphins), NBA (Spurs), NHL (Blues), NASCAR (Matt Kenseth), EPL (Tottenham Hotspur), and the USA in all international competitions.  Besides being athletic in nature (yes, NASCAR takes athleticism), all these sports have one thing in common: They all have really long seasons. 

In baseball, it's called the Dog Days of summer.  In the NFL it's the mid-season lull, and in the NBA it's the pre-All-Star Break part of the season.  It's the time of the year when you've been at it long enough that the season doesn't feel new anymore but you're too far away from the end for there to be any sense of urgency.  My favorite name for it is when NASCAR calls it the Silly Season.  This is when the play gets a little bit sloppier, the tempers are a little bit feistier, and you can tell that everyone would like a few days off to recharge their batteries. 

Speaking from a Campus Ministry standpoint, we haven't entered the silly season quite yet but I can tell that we are getting into that range.  New Student Outreach isn't quite over but getting students (or staff for that matte) up for tabling or meeting new folk doesn't have the same appeal, especially when there are already new students to be investing in right now.  School is just about 4 weeks old so no one has quite found their rhythm yet but folk are starting to feel the pressure of the first round of tests.  Yet, we are still early enough in the semester that no one is starting to freak out about their finals or graduation.  (Ok, there may be some who are freaking out but those folk probably started the semester that way, right?)  =0). 

The dangerous thing about the Silly Season is that it leads to complacency.  When things get a little boring the temptation is to take your foot off the gas and coast for a bit.  The problem with that is that there is no guarantee that you'll be able to kick things back into gear later.  The best teams are the ones who find a way to fight through the temptation to let things ride and are always looking for ways to get better. 

Honestly, there is still a lot of work to be done.  There are still students to be reached.  There are still leaders to be developed.  There are still opportunities to be seized for the kingdom.  There are still new places to scout and interns to train.  There are still ministry partnerships to be developed.  There are still conferences to plan and to recruit for as well.  Now is not the time to be slacking.  It is the time to be preparing things for the home stretch, even if it is still 2 months away. 

Friends, please continue to pray for us during this season, or as we enter this season.  Pray for Megan and me, that we will lead well and continue to go to Jesus for our strength.  Pray for the students, that they will continue to be inspired by the Gospel.  Pray for our interns and volunteers, that they will see our example and continue to move forward with the good work set in front of them.  Above all, please pray that God will continue to move in Mid-Missouri and that we will get to partner with him in that good work. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam

Highs and Lows...

Hello, friends! 

What a difference 7 days can make, yeah?  Last week was one of those weeks where it seemed like everything was going right and things were really starting to hum here in Columbia.  This week was one of those weeks where you are reminded that in college ministry, or life in general, things can go south just as quickly as they start going good. 

I haven't decided if I am one for hyperbole or not (I probably am), so I don't want to say that this was one of those weeks where EVERYTHING went wrong, but it sure did feel like there were more downs than ups.  If I had to categorize this past week, I would call it the "Buffet of Bad Deals."  Nothing was overwhelmingly bad but there was a nice sampling to go. 

You may be asking yourself what goes into a bad week in campus ministry.  Usually it means:
- Conversations that go poorly (or at least not as expected)
- Low turnout for events
- Lack of time that leads to lack of preparation that leads to less than stellar teaching
- Getting stood up/having to cancel meetings with students
- Having your bike stolen (oh wait, that may just be me). 

Here's the thing about campus ministry: you can't ride the highs or the lows and you have to remember that no matter what, God is good.  If I got down every time a student left me hanging or our event didn't have as many people as expected, I would never leave the house.  No matter what, God is good. 

So, please be praying for me, that I will remember God's goodness.  Already this next week has started to move in the right direction, so here's hoping I post (sooner rather than later) with a great update of the ways that God is moving on campus.

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam 

The Week That Was...

Hello, friends! 

Guess who has run into a really interesting "Catch-22" of sorts?  Ok, you guessed it, it's me.  =0).  Sorry it's been so long since I've posted.  I've found that when there is a whole bunch of stuff happening I have less time to post but I have more of a need to post because of all the stuff that is happening!  It seems like doing just a quick blurb of everything doesn't do it justice but the other options are to have a super long post (in which case you probably aren't going to want to read the whole thing) or a series of posts (but we both know that I'm not going to post enough and the posts are going to get backlogged).  So, a quick-ish summary is going to have to do.  Here's a recap of the week that was:

Wednesday: Our first Large Group of the semester!  Friends, to say that it was a spectacular night would be quite an understatement.  We had 75 students show up (an all time high), Tim gave an amazing testimony of his missions trip to Thailand that he took this summer.  We had enough food for everyone, and we even had 16 students sign up for Fall Conference!  But, the best part of the night was before things even started.  We had to meet on campus which meant that parking was a bit of a beast (as always) so I had to drop off all our Large Group supplies then find a place to park.  When I got to our room, I saw all of our leaders, already there and going through the run-through of the night, right before they were going to pray.  I love our leaders. 

Thursday: Thursday, Meg and I met a guy who is interning with a local church who is interested in possibly volunteering with us at Columbia College.  We're not sure where things will go from here but it was cool to do some Team Leading stuff, which includes looking at potential hiring.  As I've said before, it's fun being an adult. 

Friday: On Friday, we had our first Columbia College event, which was a grill-out at our place.  I have been so proud of Charis and her desire to really see the campus reached with the Gospel.  After dinner, Charis went back on campus so she could take part in her first ever "Zombie Dance."  I'm not sure if she got any photos posted but she texted us later that she had a lot of fun, which was fine by us.  =0). 

Saturday:  Saturday was the reintroduction of one of my favorite ACF traditions: the ACF Tailgate!  Pretty much, it goes like this.  We grill up a whole bunch of food before the Mizzou game (Mizzou beat Toledo 38-23), play some games, and build relationships by baking with folk in the hot sun.  It was great to see the 25-30 folk who came out.  It was interesting to see how this event was very much an Asian American event.  We had some international students joining us but the truth is that when you put college football, grilling, heat, and lawn games together, it's probably something that is a little more "American" in tradition than anything else. 

Sunday: Now we've come to today.  Today was one of those days that had a little bit of everything.  We took a student to visit a church, bought some groceries for another student who wasn't feeling well, did a TON of admin, and then went to dinner with about a dozen students or so.  It was one of those days where there wasn't necessarily a plan but there was all sorts of stuff with students that happened anyway and you weren't going to hear us complain about it. 

So, there's the past few days!  Looking back, I didn't realize that we had something pretty big happening every day.  Both Meg and I are taking Sabbath tomorrow which is way needed.  Please be praying for us as we get ready to rest to get ready for the new week. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam

Hey Day!!!

Hello, friends! 

In just a few minutes, I will be on my way to Columbia College (Go Cougars!!!) to table with InterVarsity for Hey Day, which is sort of like an activities fair for the Columbia College students.  Our intern Charis has been doing a lot of great work there trying to get an InterVarsity chapter planted there.  The administration has been super open to the idea of us being there on campus and Hey Day is a great start toward that end.  We are super excited about what God could be doing at Columbia College. 

There isn't much time before I need to leave so please be praying, specifically for:

- Great interactions with students.  We don't know who we'll be meeting but please pray that God will give us divine interventions. 
- Continued favor with the administration.  When the school is on board with what you are doing, campus access is much easier than when there is an antagonistic relationship.  Please pray that this relationship will continue to blossom. 
- Energy for Meg and me.  Tuesdays are pretty long days for both of us.  Tabling will go until 2pm then we both have meetings in the afternoon before the Leaders Meeting tonight @ 7pm. 

I'll try and update later today with how things went but no guarantees on account of all the meetings and such.  Thanks for the prayers! 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam

On Being an Adult...

Hello, friends! 

I'm sitting here right now blogging in Beautiful Columbia, Missouri with a simple question to answer.  Do I play some video games or do I paint a table?  Yesterday, the choice was whether or not I should watch college football or clean the basement.  I ended up cleaning the basement and soon I will be painting the table.  I just spent the past 30 minutes doing a home energy audit to see if how to best cut back on costs.  This includes looking into getting some information on possibly going solar.  Added to that, I've been going back and forth the past few months on whether or not we should switch to pre-paid cell phones instead of the post-paid arrangement we have now. 

What have I learned from all this?  Being a grown-up is hard work! 

Let's be real y'all... I'm not the young man I used to be in a lot of ways.  I'm closer to 30 than I am to 20 (or 25 for that matter).  I'm now a (happily) married man instead of a single guy.  This is year 7 with InterVarsity and I am on the "veteran staff" side of the team now instead of the "new staff" side.  My number once concern used to be whether or not the Cardinals won last night.  It's still top-5, but not an obvious #1 anymore.  =0). 

Here's the thing.  I love being an adult.  I really do!  I love being married and having grand conversations about having kids and things like that (No kids anytime soon, btw).  I love owning a home and thinking about ways to make it run more efficiently.  I love taking on more responsibility in my job and seeing a new crop of student leaders and staff answer the call.  I don't love not being able to run a sub-6 minute mile anymore but even that's necessarily set in stone!  Being an adult is awesome! 

The one thing that has remained a constant throughout my maturation has been that I have loved seeing how God has given me new opportunities to love and serve the kingdom.  When I was younger, it was through my studies (oops), my attempts at relationships (double oops), and student leadership (meh!).  Now it is through my job, serving my wife, and staff leadership.  Financial stewardship is a big deal.  Making sure that I'm serving and loving Meg is a HUGE deal.  Setting a good example for students and empowering them so they can share Christ's love with the Asian and Asian Americans on Mizzou's campus is a crucial deal. 

Pretty much, it comes down to this.  Being older or being younger doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things.  Freshmen have just as many opportunities to do good work for the kingdom as Seniors (and staff!).  The opportunities may look different but they are most certainly there.  As I've seen it happen in my own life I have hope that I'll be able to see it happen in the lives of students. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam