Good Curling!!!

Hello, friends! 

Y'all, I am tired... 

Not just because there's a new episode of Story Central that just dropped.

Or because I was featured on the Car Free Midwest podcast, talking about sustainable transportation.

PART of it is because I preached on Sunday at Church, but that's not everything. 

All those played a factor in my fatigue but the REAL reason is this...

I've been up late watching curling.

This year, Omaha hosted the US Olympic trials, which means I got to watch some amazing curling on TV but also got to see some amazing curling on TV. Since our club was host club for the trials, I also got to help out with some of the learn to curl and volunteer activities. It was a LOT of curling and I couldn't be happier. 

When we moved here to Omaha, I knew that one of the first things I wanted to do was to get involved in the local curling club. There wasn't a club in CoMO so I didn't get to go as much as I wanted. Over the past 3+ years, I've not only gotten better but I've learned more about the strategy of the game and I've fallen more and more in love with the sport. 

So, here's to Team Shuster! Congrats on winning the trials (4th time in a row!) and I'll be looking forward to cheering you on from my couch when you compete in Beijing in 2022. Given the time difference, I'll probably be exhausted then too... =0). 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam 

Meet Our New Car!!!

Hello, friends! 

A few months ago, when our Prius finally bit the dust, we knew it would just be a matter of time before we were going to need a new car. During the Summer, an electric bike will get you most places but once the weather turns around here, biking isn't really a safe option. 

So, for the past few weeks, we've been doing a lot of research, trying to find a car that will suit our needs. We wanted something that didn't have too much wear and tear on it and was within our price range. The van is still going to be our primary car, so we didn't need anything too big or too fancy. For a bit, we were looking at getting an electric car but the range isn't quite what we needed for used electric cars at this point. 

Finally, we settled on this one! Meet the newest member of the family, our 2015 Honda Fit. I've been a fan of the Fit for quite some time now. We almost bought one instead of the Prius back in the day. Our new (to us) Fit is definitely more zippy than the Prius and is more fun to drive. It doesn't have quite the same cargo space as the Prius but we're pretty sure we can still make it work. 

All in all, I'm happy with what we have. The process was relatively painless (so much paperwork!) and now we have the peace of mind that if we need to divide and conquer with the kids, we can make it happen. I still plan on biking and taking the bus as much as possible but it's nice to know that we have options. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam

Happy Halloween!

Hey, friends!

I know I'm a few days late but Happy Halloween to everyone! I'm not one who is really big into celebrating holidays but I can at least appreciate that Halloween is one of the more fun holidays to celebrate.

We had a really full and fun Halloween. Megan took the kids to Sioux Falls for the weekend but they were back in time for us to go trick or treating together. Since Halloween fell on a Sunday this year, our church did a Trunk or Treat (promoted as "Junk in the Trunk"), which was also fun. I helped with parking (so cold!) and was also part of a group costume with the Church staff (that's me as "Asian Jim" from The Office.).

The kids got home around 4 and a coworker of ours came over to do some Halloween crafts before we headed out to trick or treat. The neighborhood we hit was packed and there's good reason why. This neighborhood does Halloween up big, including some houses that give out full sized candy bars and one house that even gave Ezra a 1000 piece puzzle! 

After getting the kids home and to bed (only one piece of candy before bed, kids!), Megan and I watched a Halloween movie. This time it was my choice, The Nightmare before Christmas. 

From a really packed day, full of fun, I learned one valuable lesson: If the adults passing out candy don't know your son is allergic to dairy and tree nuts, they'll give the cutie in the panda costume the good stuff, which of course, translates into more candy for Daddy! =0). 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam

Resting Well...

Hello, friends! 

First of all, there's a brand new episode of Story Central for your ears to enjoy! I interviewed Dr. Jane Zhao, who is a professor at the University of Kansas. It was so great to hear her story and I'm so happy to be able to share it with you. 

Over the last few weeks, staff, students & volunteers attended fall conferences and retreats for the first time in over 2 years!  We celebrate Missouri Fall Conference reported 15 students wanted to "Come and Believe" that the cross was not the end but the beginning of resurrection and the restoration of our relationship with Christ.  We also celebrated Nebraska's first ever fall conference with over 50 students attending!  A quick story from one of our staff below:

"Last weekend Missouri had Fall Conference and we spent time in communal listening prayer. One of my student leaders, "K", felt the Lord calling him into repentance and worship, and then immediately felt the presence of the Holy Spirit. Last night at Bible study, "K", took more risks with the difficulty of the scripture he chose, the people he invited, and the vulnerable stories he was willing to share, including that of his fall conference experience - and it struck the other students hard. One girl who was attending IV Bible study for the first time, as a senior, decided to commit her life to Christ. And another student announced he felt God was convicting him to begin sharing his faith with his non-Christian best friend. The Bible study lasted 2.5 hours and the group prayed for the last 20 minutes!"

Sponsor a staff retreat package?   Staff have been working hard to put on campus events, bible studies, directing conferences while re-adjusting to ministering in person and as a way to bless our local staff teams, we are preparing these "retreat" boxes. We'd love to invite you to partner with us in encouraging our staff teams across Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa & Kansas with this package which will help facilitate resting with Jesus as means of restoration for their mind, body & soul. Each box includes a retreat guide, coupon to use for a retreat facility, snacks, candle, and Ruth Haley Barton's book Invitation to Retreat.  We are hoping to raise $100 per staff so each of our 40 staff would get one!  Would you prayerfully consider giving towards this opportunity by sponsoring part or all of a retreat day?   Thank you for partnering with us!

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

A Few Lessons from a Quick Trip to Cali...

Hello, friends! 

First up, there's a new episode of Story Central that just dropped on Wednesday. I interview Katie Gresham, who leads the non-profit, Under The Same Tree. Katie is not only an awesome person but she's also an IV alum AND she was Megan's roommate for a while in St. Louis. Check it out! 

Last weekend was a whirlwind of a weekend. We flew out to California to visit family for my sister's wedding reception. My younger sister actually got married in July of 2019 in a small, family only ceremony. The original plan was to have a larger, Chinese style banquet in March of 2020 but that was right at the start of the pandemic and everything got shut down. So, 18 months later, we were finally able to pull the trigger and do this thing. 

Here are a few things I learned from our quick trip out there: 

- Flying with 3 kids is hard work. This isn't the first time that we've flown with 3 kids but this is the last time we'll be flying with 5 people and only 4 seats. Jonah is just too wiggly. Thankfully, the flight attendants were in good spirits and the kids did do really well overall. It's just tough when you have long layovers, delayed flights, and kids who aren't used to staying awake until 1 in the morning. 

- There are many things I love about my family but one of my favorites is how much we all love a good dance party. My sister's reception included a BTS Flash Mob, the kids learning how to do the Maracena, my 90 year old uncle rocking out to the YMCA, and the most epic Family Closing Time I've ever seen. I only have a few photos (since I was busy dancing) but more will come later, I promise. =0). 

- As stressful as travel is, and for as long as I've been living in the Midwest, California will always feel like home, especially with the people there. Even if it was for a short trip, it was so good to see my family, especially the sibs. We had cousins and aunts and uncles come from all over the country to celebrate with us, which was a huge blessing. It was also great to see many aunties and uncles from church. 

This was the last wedding reception my immediate family will have to do for quite some time (seeing as how my niece is only 10), so in many ways, it's the end of an era. It was stressful getting there, but I'm glad we made the trip. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam

 

Fall Conference Prayer!

Hello, friends!

First of all, a new episode of Story Central dropped this week. I interviewed Ruth Watt, a ministry partner in St. Louis. It was so much fun talking to "Mama Ruth" and she shares an AMAZING story about Jesus moving during the first part of the pandemic. Click here to hear the episode.

Second, Happy Anniversary to my lovely wife! Megan and I have been married for 9 years as of Wednesday. We celebrated with a date out but the big date in when we'll see Hamilton in Omaha in November. Woot!

We are now in the middle of Fall Conference Season, which is one of our favorite times if the year. Missouri had their Fall Conference last weekend and all the stories I've heard from staff have been amazing. God really moved in a powerful way.

This weekend, Nebraska has its Fall Conference. 50 students from Omaha and Lincoln will be coming together to learn through Matthew 5-7. Megan and I are helping with snacks tomorrow but other than that, all the local staff are running the show.

One thing the local staff have asked us to do is to cover the conference in prayer. I can tell you first hand that Satan doesn't like Fall Conference and does what he can to mess with things. The staff team has created a Google doc so folk can sign up and pray for the conference. If you're so inclined, would you consider signing up for an hour?

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

Busted Arm!!!

Hello, friends! 

So, fun thing happened last week on the playground after school. Ezra was playing on the playset after school with his friends like he always does. His latest trick is that he can skip a ring on the monkey bars. 

Well, USUALLY he can skip a bar. Apparently, this time, he slipped, fell, and fractured his elbow. 

For the next 3 weeks, Ezra will be rocking that sweet cast. He's already had a bunch of friends sign his cast (although he's saving space for his family members). This is the first time that anyone in either of our families have broken a bone so that a cast was needed, which I guess is cool? 

Ultimately, we're thankful for a lot of things in this situation. We're thankful that Ezra wasn't seriously hurt. We're thankful that he's in good spirits. We're thankful that InterVarsity provides us with health insurance so an injury like this doesn't break the bank. We're thankful for our ministry partners who support and pray for us. 

Have an excellent day!

~Adam