An Odd Set of Meetings...

Hello, friends!

Sorry for not posting last week. I was a bit under the weather, which actually is part of this week's story! Let's dive in, shall we?

I think I've said this before, that one of Megan and my new responsibilities as Regional Coordinators is that we're part of the Regional Leadership Team, or RLT. The RLT includes our Regional Director, the 4 Area Directors, our Operations and Spiritual Formation Gurus (my term), and us. Our job is to determine the direction of the Region in terms of strategy and planning, as well as put together any Region-wide conferences, like Prospective Staff Weekend or our Regional Staff Conference. Most of our communication happens virtually since we live in different states but every few months we try to get together in person to meet, rotating states. This time, the RLT meetings were in Omaha, meaning we were going to play host. 

The plan was simple. RLT meetings went from Tuesday through Thursday, so the out of town staff would come in on Tuesday afternoon, we'd meet at our place, Megan (and to a lesser extent, I) would cook dinner, then the female out of town staff would stay at our place and the male out of town staff would stay with another staff. Wednesday would be meetings all day at our house (the kids would be in daycare) as would Thursday, before everyone leaves after lunch. It's a pretty straightforward plan. Too bad it didn't end up that way. 

On Monday, ice and snow storms started to hit Iowa and Nebraska. This meant that it wasn't safe for our Iowa RLT members (including our Regional Director) to drive in until Wednesday. Thankfully, because of the wonders of technology, we were able to do our afternoon meetings via video call; most of the team was in our living room while the Iowa staff called in from their houses. 

Nebraska really got hit with the storm on Tuesday afternoon, meaning our daycare got closed early and I had to run to pick up the kids. Thankfully, some other local staff were free so they could watch the kids while we met. We compensated them with the dinner that (mostly Megan) and I cooked, since we were missing the Iowa staff anyway. Tuesday was accomplished well enough. 

Wednesday was another story. I was up most of Tuesday night with a stomach bug of some sort so instead of going to the meetings, I was holed up in bed trying to rest up. Oops. Then, on Thursday, with me still possibly contagious, I video called into the meetings while they were happening (at another staff's house). So much for hosting...

All in all, I'd say it was actually a pretty successful RLT meeting. I met with our Regional Director for our regular supervisory meeting yesterday and I said that, given how much went wrong logistically the fact that we got ANYTHING done speaks to the power and grit of the team. Sure, we didn't get EVERYTHING done, but something is definitely better than nothing, given the circumstances. 

Ultimately, meetings like this are one of the reasons I love the work that I do so much. Getting to work with these folk through snow storms and stomach bugs is a joy and an honor. It's so much fun seeing all of us in action, rolling with the punches, and ultimately, working together to bring the kingdom to the campus. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam

The Year of More...

Hello, friends!

First of all, thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes! I'm not one who really enjoys celebrating too much but it was still great to feel the love from folk, via phone call, text, and Facebook message. My birthday was on a Monday, which is our normal Sabbath day, so things weren't too different. I played some video games in the morning. I did get a free burger for lunch and a free drink from Starbucks. Then I spent the afternoon with the kids and Megan cooked a DELICIOUS spicy beef noodle soup along with baking an ice cream cake (a Case family tradition) for dessert. It was a great day.

Every year, since my birthday is so close to the new year, instead of doing New Year's Resolutions, I try to make my year the year of "something." I was looking back on last year's birthday blog and I realized that while I had a few ideas for what 2018 was going to be the year of, I never actually decided on anything. Well, friends, that will not be the case this year.

2019 will be the year of more and not less.

Allow me to explain. I'm not a negative person but I am one who believes that more improvement is always possible. I suppose I have a bit of a critical eye, especially when it comes to myself. I spend a lot of time thinking about how I can do things better. That isn't a bad thing but I noticed that in 2018, a lot of my quests for self-improvement centered around "negative" or "less" statements. I want to yell at the kids less. I want to lose weight. I want to stop doing this or doing that. This year, I want to pursue life in a more "positive" light, focusing on the things I can do more of, as opposed to less of.

So, instead of yelling at the kids less, it'll be being more calm and loving with the kids. Instead of spending less time at work, it'll be spending more time with my family and friends. Instead of losing weight, it'll be pursuing a more healthy lifestyle. These may seem like semantics but already I've seen a change in how I see things. I'm doing a lot less avoidance of the bad and a lot more pursuance of the good. That seems like a much more fun way to live life.

My hope is that my year of more will actually lead to more. More health. More time with the kids. More funding for our staff team. More peace and connection to Jesus. May your 2019 be filled with "more" too.

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

Thoughts from a proud WashU Alum...

Hello, friends!

One of the things that I've gotten more involved in since I moved to Omaha is WashU's Alumni and Parents Admission Program (APAP). As someone who has grown in his school spirit over the years (Go Bears!!!) it only seems fitting that I give back to the University that has given me so much already.

When I'm talking to potential ministry partners, one line I like to say is that "who you graduate as, for the most part, is who you're going to be for the rest of your life." I know that was true in my life. It was at WashU that:
- I made an adult decision to follow Jesus
- I heard very clearly that I should NOT be going to law school
- I joined InterVarsity
- I found my current career working for InterVarsity
- I cemented my love for the great city of St. Louis
- I made friends that have lasted these 15+ years

My dear alma mater isn't perfect. There are certainly blind spots and looking now, I can see that those blind spots have real consequences. Still, I am a proud WashU bear and one of my college regrets (besides not studying more) was that I didn't develop this deep love for WashU until later in life. Alas, better late than never!

The biggest thing that I get to do with is do informal interviews with students who have applied to WashU. I've done 2 of them already and have another one coming in a few days. I don't have any official capacity to accept or deny someone admission but I do write a report that the admissions department will take into account in their decision making process. I've been instructed to not look at folk with too critical of an eye but instead highlight the strengths I see in applicants.

You know how when you see the course load of college students today (or high school seniors for that matter), you think to yourself, "man, these kids are smart! I don't think I could get into college today if I was competing with these kids!" Well, as I've been doing these interviews, that thought has crossed my mind as well as another one...

I really hope I wasn't as awkward as these kids were when I was 18 (although I know I probably was). =0).

Look, I'm sure these kids are perfectly lovely kids. They seem like good students and are involved at school. Maybe I'm just intimidating as an interviewer and these kids clam up a bit. I just have trouble believing that 18-year-olds are this bad at conversation. Y'all, this is an interview. You would be well served to be able to talk about yourself a little more. It's got to better...

All in all, it's been a really fun experience. I feel reconnected to WashU, I've gone further west in Omaha than I've ever been before (did you know the street numbers go past 200?!?!), and I'm getting to relive some of my favorite college memories.

#GoBears forever...

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

Do you even Urbana, bro?!

Hello, friends!

Every 3 years, InterVarsity/USA, alongside InterVarsity Canada host a global missions conference called Urbana. Now held in St. Louis (it used to be held in Urbana, Illinois, thus the name "Urbana"), InterVarsity welcomed over 10,000 students to Urbana to take part in multi-lingual worship, hear amazing speakers, attend seminars about a myriad of topics, and visit an exposition hall where hundreds of missions organizations, seminars, and Christian organizations set up shop. Urbana is an amazing experience for those who attend and I was excited to be at my 5th Urbana. (If you want to see the talks from Urbana and such, you can click here!)

Well, I was sort of there...

See, it depends on what you define as being "at Urbana." I was in St. Louis, working for InterVarsity with an Urbana specific job, so in that sense, I absolutely was at Urbana. But, did I get the full "Urbana experience"? That's another question entirely.

My job at Urbana was to be one of the staff running the Asian American/Canadian student lounge. This lounge was for students to come hang out during the afternoon, before, after, and during the seminar blocks. We had food, art stations, special gatherings, special guests, karaoke, Nintendo switch, and lots of fun. It was my second time being a part of the lounge and I can definitely say that it's my favorite Urbana job.

One of the great things about the lounge is that it runs from 12:30-6, meaning my breakfasts, lunches, and dinners were all open. Now that we live in Omaha, I have less of an opportunity to see folk in St. Louis, especially ministry partners and potential ministry partners. With all this free time available, I decided to make the most of it and pack my morning and evenings full of meetings while working Urbana in the afternoons. Here was my schedule:

26th: Arrive and staff orientation
27th: Lounge orientation and setup in the morning, helping with Urbana registration in the afternoon/evening
28th: Breakfast with a ministry partner (one!), going to the morning session (my only one!), running errands for the lounge during lunch, working the lounge in the afternoon, and dinner with another ministry partner (two!)
29th: Breakfast with a ministry partner (three!), lunch with another one (four!), working the lounge in the afternoon, and dinner with another ministry partner (five!)
30th: Breakfast with a ministry partner (six!), lunch with another one (seven!), working the lounge in the afternoon, and dinner with another two ministry partners (eight and nine!)
31st: Breakfast with a ministry partner (ten!), lunch with another one (eleven!), working the lounge in the afternoon, and dinner with another two ministry partners (twelve and thirteen!)

If you're counting at home, that's 13 meetings with ministry partners and only one main session of Urbana.

You know what? I don't regret a thing. Some of my meetings were first time asks. Others were for increases. Some were partner care. All of them were life giving and great for my soul.

The most popular question I get nowadays is whether or not I like my new role. I absolutely love it. I'm never going to stop loving student ministry. In the lounge I had some great conversations with students and was able to minister in ways that I haven't been able to do as much these past few months. But, MPD is my jam! I love every part of it. This week was confirmation that I'm doing exactly what I should be doing.

Did I Urbana? You bet I did. =0).

Have an excellent day!

~Adam