In case you didn't get a chance to read our end of the year update, here it is! Merry Christmas!
Friday, December 25, 2015
Happy End of the Year!
Hello, friends!
In case you didn't get a chance to read our end of the year update, here it is! Merry Christmas!
In case you didn't get a chance to read our end of the year update, here it is! Merry Christmas!
Friday, December 18, 2015
Christmas Miracle Time!!!
Hello, friends!
I've posted about Urbana already on this blog once before. Well, we are just a few days away from Urbana and I'm pretty excited about it. There are a to of reasons to be excited but here's one of my favorites: we're about to see a Christmas miracle happen. The best part? You get to be a part of it!
Since Urbana is so near and dear to me, I made a simple promise to everyone from in Columbia who signed up to go: you pay the deposit ($100) and we'll cover the rest of your costs, including housing. The way that we were going to do that was to invite our friends, family, coworkers, churches, and neighbors to come alongside us and donate to the scholarship fun. And, we were going to pray like crazy. We set a goal of $6000 to cover the entire cost for each student from Missouri attending.
Friends, we are THIS CLOSE to reaching our goal. As I'm typing (and you're reading) we are just under $600 away from reaching our goal. It's been really fun to see God show up in miraculous ways, anonymous donors, random people coming up to me and asking if there were any conferences where they could give scholarships, churches pitching in, and it's been really fun to see students take steps of faith. Now we're almost there and I am asking you to consider being the partner to put us over the top.
Depending on the topic of the blog post, this blog gets anywhere from 30-200 hits per post. (In case you're wondering, posts about social justice and my wife are the most popular). I would say the typical post gets around 50-60 hits.
Here's what that means: It means that if you, dear reader, click here give $10 to the Urbana scholarship fund, we'll have reached our goal in the time it takes you to finish reading this sentence.
Of course, if you feel so inclined, you can give more. Any overages will be used to help students attend other conferences in the Spring semester or next year. And, of course, if you aren't in a position to give then we totally understand that too. No worries. You can also share this post and get some of your friends to join in on the fun too!
Regardless of whether or not we reach our goal, I'm still so thankful for all of the partnership we've already received and am confident that Urbana is going to blow some minds. =0).
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
I've posted about Urbana already on this blog once before. Well, we are just a few days away from Urbana and I'm pretty excited about it. There are a to of reasons to be excited but here's one of my favorites: we're about to see a Christmas miracle happen. The best part? You get to be a part of it!
Since Urbana is so near and dear to me, I made a simple promise to everyone from in Columbia who signed up to go: you pay the deposit ($100) and we'll cover the rest of your costs, including housing. The way that we were going to do that was to invite our friends, family, coworkers, churches, and neighbors to come alongside us and donate to the scholarship fun. And, we were going to pray like crazy. We set a goal of $6000 to cover the entire cost for each student from Missouri attending.
Friends, we are THIS CLOSE to reaching our goal. As I'm typing (and you're reading) we are just under $600 away from reaching our goal. It's been really fun to see God show up in miraculous ways, anonymous donors, random people coming up to me and asking if there were any conferences where they could give scholarships, churches pitching in, and it's been really fun to see students take steps of faith. Now we're almost there and I am asking you to consider being the partner to put us over the top.
Depending on the topic of the blog post, this blog gets anywhere from 30-200 hits per post. (In case you're wondering, posts about social justice and my wife are the most popular). I would say the typical post gets around 50-60 hits.
Here's what that means: It means that if you, dear reader, click here give $10 to the Urbana scholarship fund, we'll have reached our goal in the time it takes you to finish reading this sentence.
Of course, if you feel so inclined, you can give more. Any overages will be used to help students attend other conferences in the Spring semester or next year. And, of course, if you aren't in a position to give then we totally understand that too. No worries. You can also share this post and get some of your friends to join in on the fun too!
Regardless of whether or not we reach our goal, I'm still so thankful for all of the partnership we've already received and am confident that Urbana is going to blow some minds. =0).
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
Friday, December 11, 2015
My Christmas Campaign...
Hello, friends!
It's December, which means we are fully into the Christmas season. There are a lot of things that I love about Christmas. I love celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior. I love spending time with family. I love eating delicious Christmas desserts that Meg makes. There are a lot of things to love.
However, there is one thing (ok, more than one thing) that bothers me to no end every year about Christmas and this year I've finally decided that it's time for me to say something about it. Ready? Here it is...
"Baby It's Cold Outside" is the worst Christmas song ever and should be taken off the radio.
Whew! I feel so much better now! =0).
Allow me to expound upon my point. I should make it clear that I have nothing against Christmas music in general. I can listen to the Mariah Carey and Christina Aguilera belt out Christmas tunes with not problem. As far as I'm concerned this song right here is pure magic. I'll walk in a winter wonderland, jingle a bell, and deck the halls with the best of them. But I can't STAND Baby It's Cold Outside.
Understand, it's not the melody itself. It's a very catchy tune (which is probably part of the problem). The problem are the lyrics.
Does anyone else think that this song is creepy?!?! The whole plot of the song is that this gal doesn't want to stay but the dude totally coerces her into staying the night, probably to have sex! He sweet talks her. He makes excuses. He even puts something in her! Surely I'm not the only one that sees a problem with this, right?!
So, friends, here is my plea to you. Turn off your radio when Baby It's Cold Outside hits the airwaves. In fact, maybe call your radio station and ask them to not play it anymore. Maybe take to Twitter or Facebook to start a campaign. Let's get this song, in all of its iterations, off the air!
End of rant. Merry Christmas. =0).
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
It's December, which means we are fully into the Christmas season. There are a lot of things that I love about Christmas. I love celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior. I love spending time with family. I love eating delicious Christmas desserts that Meg makes. There are a lot of things to love.
However, there is one thing (ok, more than one thing) that bothers me to no end every year about Christmas and this year I've finally decided that it's time for me to say something about it. Ready? Here it is...
"Baby It's Cold Outside" is the worst Christmas song ever and should be taken off the radio.
Whew! I feel so much better now! =0).
Allow me to expound upon my point. I should make it clear that I have nothing against Christmas music in general. I can listen to the Mariah Carey and Christina Aguilera belt out Christmas tunes with not problem. As far as I'm concerned this song right here is pure magic. I'll walk in a winter wonderland, jingle a bell, and deck the halls with the best of them. But I can't STAND Baby It's Cold Outside.
Understand, it's not the melody itself. It's a very catchy tune (which is probably part of the problem). The problem are the lyrics.
Does anyone else think that this song is creepy?!?! The whole plot of the song is that this gal doesn't want to stay but the dude totally coerces her into staying the night, probably to have sex! He sweet talks her. He makes excuses. He even puts something in her! Surely I'm not the only one that sees a problem with this, right?!
So, friends, here is my plea to you. Turn off your radio when Baby It's Cold Outside hits the airwaves. In fact, maybe call your radio station and ask them to not play it anymore. Maybe take to Twitter or Facebook to start a campaign. Let's get this song, in all of its iterations, off the air!
End of rant. Merry Christmas. =0).
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
Friday, December 4, 2015
The MidYear Review
Hello, friends!
First of all, happy December to you all! Here's hoping that you all finish the year falling more in love with Jesus.
As a supervisor of staff, December is when I do MidYear reviews for all the staff who I supervise. It's a way for us to look back on the semester and look forward to the next semester. I usually do it in the form of a letter to the staff I am supervising so it seems less like a report and more like a conversation.
It's also a good time to not just review the work of the staff I supervise (my supervisor also does one for me) but to also do some self reflection and look back on the semester that was. So, as I've been reflecting, I wanted to share with you a few themes that I've noticed from the past few months.
1) Fatherhood is the best: I suppose I should lead with the most obvious one. These past 5 months with Ezra have been the absolute best. There have been the sleepless nights, the inconsolable crying fits, the diapers that you didn't know could get so full, and all the other things that come from being a parent. There have also been the smiles, the times where he falls asleep in my arms, the new things he learns everyday, and pretty much being in love with the little guy. I have loved being a father in all of its facets and I'm pretty stoked that I get to be Ezra's dad for the rest of my life.
2) Hats need to be broken in: I've posted before about all the new and different hats that I've been wearing this year. There's the fatherhood had but also the different ministry roles that I've taken on this year, doing some things that I've done before but a lot of new things too. The big question going into the year was how I was going to manage wearing so many hats. Looking back on the semester, I can't say that I nailed it with every role. What I can say is that I learned how to manage and how to do the best that I could with the resources I had available to me.
3) Justice is a thing: This goes beyond the Mizzou protests. I've been learning a lot about justice and the many different forms that it takes. There's the pursuit of justice that we're seeing on college campuses across the country but there are also issues of justice in terms of how we do our fundraising, how we enter into community, and how to follow Jesus. I've been more and more convinced this semester that to follow Jesus means to "do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with my God." (Micah 6:8).
4) There's always work to be done: There is a part of me that wants to get down on myself for all the things that didn't get done. And here's the truth, a lot of things didn't get done. But here's another truth: there's always going to be more to do so I can't get down on myself for it. Just like how hats need to be broken in, I've had to learn to be ok with some hats not being worn as well as I would like. It just comes with the territory.
Friends, thank you so much for all of your love and support this semester. I'm thankful for each one of you who reads this blog and who prays for the work that we're doing here in MidMissouri. Here's to a great month and many more to follow!
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
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