Re-entry...

Hello, friends!

This past week, Megan and I had pre-fall staff meetings. For some Regions, this is a normal thing but for our Region, this is the first time since I've been on staff that we all gathered together BEFORE the school year started. What's more, this was also the first time since COVID that we would physically be together... sort of. 

Our meetings were done in a hybrid style. For the times when the whole Region was together, we were on Zoom. We had some training, Megan and I led a workshop on making good invitations during New Student Outreach, and all our Area teams competed against one another in an Olympics style competition (we took 4th out of 4... not my best effort...)

However, there were also times when Area teams did things together and for those times, Area teams got together in person. We had a cooking competition (we won that one) and did a prayer walk on a local campus. Megan and I joined the Nebraska staff team for those functions. 

Looking back on the past few days, there were a few things that really jumped out to me.

1) It is really good being with other people, especially coworkers. There's an old saying that you don't know what you've got until it's gone. I think that was true of human interaction during COVID. Most of my job is done via Zoom anyway, even before the pandemic, so the actual job for me didn't change much last year. However, I don't think I realized how much I missed being around other people during those Regional gatherings. It was a blessing and joy to be in person with other co-laborers. 

2) There are some things from the pandemic that are worth keeping. After 15+ months of practice, I'd say that our Zoom skills have actually gotten pretty good. Every time we have another Zoom meeting, it seems like things go smoother and smoother. I'm convinced that while there's no substitute for in person gatherings, we don't need to throw away everything that we've learned about how to make virtual meetings vibrant. There are ways to make it work. 

We're now almost to August, which means that soon students will be coming back to school. With the Delta Variant on the rampage, it's still unknown how long schools will be fully open. Staff are planning like campus will be fully open but fully aware that things can change. It's a time of excitement and also of anxiety. I'm glad that we as a staff team were able to re-enter together. I believe that God is going to do some really cool things this year. Whether it happens in person or virtually, I have no idea. What I do know, is that time waits for no one and it's time to hop back in. 

Have an excellent day!

~Adam