Justice Program Recap!

Hello, friends! 

A few weeks ago, I told you about the Des Moines Justice Program that our family was doing over Spring Break. Well, it happened and it was great! Here are some of the highlights: 

Pre-Program: Megan had the great idea of us going into Des Moines a day early so we could have a mini-vacation. The plan was simple: swim in the hotel pool and eat a free continental breakfast. Mission accomplished! The kids had a great time in the pool (we went before and after dinner!) and slept really hard. They also decided that hotel waffles are better than the ones that I make... =0). 

Set up: We got to the church where we were going to be having the program around 10am on Friday. Students weren't arriving until 3, so we had plenty of time to setup. If there's one thing our kids love doing, it's helping setup for things. They took it upon themselves to help with registration and get show students where their beds were. 

Program: The program itself was great. We did some bible study. We visited a homeless shelter. We went on a city walk, imagining that we were someone in the city who needed help of some sort and trying to find the resources available to people (NOTE: DON'T NEED HELP ON A WEEKEND; EVERYTHING IS CLOSED!). We heard from some dynamic speakers and worshipped together. What I especially liked was that we had 2 Bellevue students come with us and they had a great time. Also, another staff couple brought their kids too, so our kiddos made some new friends and childcare was WAY easier since our kids could go play with other kids. 

Coming home: After the obligatory Bubble Tea stop on our way out of town, we made our way home. Proof that it was a good trip? As soon as we got home, out kids started crying about how they wanted to be back in Des Moines. =0). 

Overall, it was a really great experience for the whole family. It was good to be back in the Justice Program space, even if just for a weekend. We say God do some cool things amongst students and staff and even our family too. Hooray for Justice! 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam 

Pinewood Derby!!!

Hello, friends! 

Last week, Cub Scout Pack 481 in Omaha held it's annual Pinewood Derby. We had 23 competitors build cars that we raced throughout the morning, including cars built by Thaliea and Ezra. Thaliea got the bronze medal and Ezra was just one point off the prestigious Turtle Award. It was good times had by all. 

Well, mostly all... 

I will be absolutely honest. The Pinewood Derby is not one of the most favorite things that the Scouts do. Growing up, I was never good at the Pinewood Derby so I don't have fond memories from that. In fact, the only memory I do have is cutting my finger so badly while trying to carve my car that I had to go to the ER. I still have the scar. 

Of course, I'll keep doing the Derby because the kids want to do the derby. I do love seeing their faces as they pick out a car design and get to use a band saw and power sander (with adult supervision of course). It's fun watching their visions come to life, even if it's super stressful for me as a dad because I want their cars to be perfect and for them to feel good about what they've accomplished, while full well knowing that I don't have the woodworking skill to actually put together a winning car and that ultimately, they'll probably be disappointed at the end of the day. 

This year, Ezra's car was much harder to put together than Thaliea's. He went with a really cool sleek and aerodynamic design that would have been great except that I didn't have the tools or the supplies to add any weight to the car. Coming in at just under 2.5 ounces (the limit is 5 ounces), gravity was not going to be his friend. 

Thaliea's Barbie inspired car didn't have that problem. Hers was boxier which meant I could carve out part of the body to put some weights in it. Apparently, we did something right because she did take third place. 

All in all, I have to remember that it's about the kids having fun. I've come to peace with the fact that it would take more money and time than I'm willing to spend to make their cars perfect. I'm hoping that at the end of the day, they remember the good times of the Derby and not the underlying stress of car making. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam 

 

Jonah and Adam's Big Adventure...

Hello, friends! 

I have to admit that for the past few months, I've been thinking about Jonah WAY more than normal. 

Of course, I think about Jonah everyday. Just like I think about Ezra, Thaliea, Megan, the St. Louis Cardinals, and how great of a vocalist Kelly Clarkson is. However, for the past few months, I've been immersed in the book of Jonah as part of our preaching series at church, which means I've been thinking about Jonah a TON. 

I preached a few weeks ago on Jonah 1 and will be preaching next week on Jonah 4, which is going to be a ton of fun. I've always enjoyed preparing a sermon but this process has been especially fulfilling for a few different reasons. 

- I don't preach on the OT very often. I think, especially in Evangelical church circles, there is a lot of emphasis on the NT, particularly Paul's letters. Of course, those are SUPER important and it's good for us to spend time there. I just noticed as I was going through my sermon notes that I hadn't gone deep into the OT for quite some time, including to when I was prepping Bible Studies for students at Mizzou. 

- Jonah 4 is too often overlooked. Jonah 1-3 is the classic story of Jonah and the whale. It's one that most have heard of and know relatively well. Jonah 4 is the forgotten chapter of the book because it doesn't fit neatly into Jonah's redemption arc in chapters 1-3. I'm really looking forward to being in Jonah 4. 

- Prepping in community has been fun. We've been working on a preaching team at Bridge. Since we picked Jonah about a month before we were actually going to be preaching on it, it's given our team time to look at the text together and pick a direction together. I think the sermons flow together better, especially when you have multiple preachers, when everyone is moving in the same direction. 

Here's my sermon on Jonah 1 if you're interested (The sermon starts at the 42 minute mark but in the beginning you can see an "off mic" moment that is pretty entertaining). I'll post the Jonah 4 sermon after it happens. Either way, please be praying for our team and me as we continue through this series and onward to what's next. 

Have an excellent day!

~Adam 

Dog Sitting!

Hello, friends!

So, if you know anything about me, you know that I'm a pretty competitive guy, which means that I'm looking for competition wherever I can find it. One of the ways that manifests itself is that I love to make little challenges or side bets in conversation. Usually, it doesn't come to anything but sometimes it backfires spectacularly.

A few years back, Megan and I were talking and she mentioned that she wanted a dog at some point. This is no secret as she grew up with dogs and she's always made it known that she wanted a dog. It's probably a conversation that we'd had before and would have again. But for some reason, my competitive nature kicked in and I decided that I'd offer a challenge. 

"We'll get a dog as soon as we also get a tortoise." 

The gamble was simple. There's no way that Megan would want a tortoise (even though tortoises are the best) so she'd say "no" and then we'd be good to go until the next time it came up in conversation. 

But then came the blockbuster... 

"Deal." 

I guess we're getting a dog then! =0). 

Seriously though, I have no problem getting a dog (plus I'm getting a tortoise now!). Megan and the kids are convinced that I don't like dogs but that's not actually true. The only reason they think I don't like dogs is because I don't like dogs as much as THEY like dogs. But dogs are cool with me. 

We got a little bit of a taste of what it'll be like to have a dog in the house this past week. My in-laws are on a cruise right now and left their chocolate lab with us. Gracie has been to our house lots of times before but never for this long and never without Jean and Dave also there, so we knew this was going to be a new experience for all of us. 

Honestly, it was perfectly fine. I was a little worried that the novelty of caring for a dog would wear off on the kids but it's the end of the week and they're still clamoring for turns feeding Gracie, giving her a bone, and cleaning up her poop in the yard. Gracie is a pretty chill dog too, which helps. She's been spending most of the day just chilling at the house and she goes to bed early. Gracie and I have even gotten some bonding time early in the morning when I feed her before everyone else is up. Overall, it's been a perfectly fine experience. 

The current timeline is that we'll get a dog (and tortoise!) sometime in the next 18 months or so. We wanted to wait until JoJo was in the kindergarten range and big enough to help with the dog care. We know it'll need to be a hypoallergenic dog since we're pretty sure JoJo (and maybe Ezra too) have allergies. But, we're making our way in that direction. And I'm cool with that... so long as we get that tortoise too. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam 

Justice Program!

Hello, friends! 

One of the most transformative experiences of my college career was doing City Lights during my Freshman Year. City Lights was a week long Spring Break service project. InterVarsity students from all over the country gathered in St. Louis to worship together, do service in the city, and learn about God's heart for the City. It was at City Lights that I made some of my dearest friends and my view for what it meant to follow Jesus expanded beyond personal piety. 

I can't remember how many City Lights I attended as a student and as a staff. What I do remember is that I saw a countless number of students have the same experience that I had in 2004 and that the trip was worth it every time. 

Eventually, due to staff turnover and a few other things, we stopped doing City Lights over Spring Break. It was a bummer to see it go but a decision that made sense. Since then, there have been a few attempts to revive a project similar to City Lights in our Region. The latest, and the one I'm currently really excited about is the Des Moines Justice Program (DSMJP). 

March 15-17, students from all over the Region will gather in Des Moines to partner with one another, local churches and non-profits, and God to do some community service but also learn about God's heart for Justice in a broken world. DSMJP was a huge success last year and we're looking towards another great weekend. 

What excites me the most is that our family is going to be participating this year! DSMPJ falls during our Spring Break week, so we'll be loading up the kids and driving the 2 hours to Des Moines to join with other IV staff and students in DSMJP. We're also looking to bring a group of students from Bellevue too, which will be tons of fun. It'll be just like old times! 

Putting on a a weekend like this certainly isn't cheap and we're trying to keep costs as low as possible for students, which is why I'm asking for your help. Between now and March 1, any donation made towards the DSMPJ will be matched up to $5000. That means we can raise $10k for the program in just 2 weeks! If you're in a position to give, would you consider making a donation? Any amount is greatly appreciated. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam 

Online Bible Study!

Hello, friends! 

Well, we may have accidentally started an online bible study here in Nebraska... Oops! =0). Here's the story. 

A few weeks ago, one of the students who led the bible study at UNL asked me if there was any online bible study available for he and his girlfriend to attend. I put out a few feelers and found that while InterVarsity has a national online bible study, the timing didn't work for him. So, I put the question out to our Nebraska IV Leaders text chain (#NEIVFTW) and the response was overwhelming: I'd love to be a part of something like that! 

So, we decided to go for it! 

We've had 2 bible studies so far and they've been so good! I invited some of the college aged students from our church and two of them have shown up so far, which is also fun since I feel like I get to do work but also be connected to church. 

Friends, I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed leading student bible studies. When I was staff of ACF at Mizzou, a big chunk of my life was spent leading bible studies with and for students. After I moved up to Team Leader and Associate Area Director, I still got to do some of it but it was a little bit less. When we moved to Omaha in 2018, my opportunities pretty well dried up. I was coaching students in how to lead bible studies but my schedule didn't allow me to actually be there and see them in action much. Even the past 2 years, as I've been involved with Bellevue, it's been on coaching our student leaders on leading and not actually participating in the bible studies. It's so much fun reconnecting with students, getting into the Word, and seeing folk discover the Bible in a whole new way. 

Would you please pray for our new online bible study? Pray that students would continue to be blessed by the the study. Pray that students would invite their friends to take part in the goodness. Pray that an 8pm bible study on Thursday nights doesn't make me too cranky on Friday mornings. =0). 

Have an excellent day!

~Adam 

New Hiring Season!

Hello, friends! 

First of all, Happy Black History Month to you! #BlackLivesMatter

Right now, we're in an exciting season of ministry; it's hiring season! This is the part of the year when we have the most applicants apply to join staff with InterVarsity, either as full-time staff, part-time, interns, or official volunteers. It's an exciting time as we get to review applications, read letters of recommendation, and interview candidates with the hopes of growing our team. 

So far, I've read about a half-dozen applications and have sat in on 2 interviews. What's exciting about this crop of staff candidates is that it's different than anything I've seen in quite some time. We have a few "traditional" hires (students who were involved with InterVarsity and students and will be graduating in May), but we also have a staff couple, an international student, and a folk coming from different missions organizations. This is also the most number of applicants that we've had in a few years. 

On the one hand, it's exciting to meet folk who feel like they have a calling on their lives to spend this next season of life in college ministry. At one point, a long time ago, I was in their shoes. I was excited for what's next but still apprehensive about the unknown. I wanted to nail the interview and also make sure I was making the "right" decision for my life. 

But on the other hand, I'm also aware that this is just the beginning of the process. Once the offer is extended and (hopefully) accepted, the real work begins, particularly in the area of Ministry Partnership Development. We need to get these staff resourced as quickly as possible, which means that these next few weeks are going to be pretty busy for me. I'm looking forward to the work and I absolutely believe that God will show himself to be Jehovah Jireh, the God who provides. 

So, friends, would you pray with me for our hiring process? Would you pray that we as a staff team would hear clearly from the LORD on potential job offers? Would you pray for our staff candidates, that God would show them their worth apart from their vocation? Would you pray in advance for the MPD process for all those who accept offers, knowing that the work is hard but God is good? 

Have an excellent day!

~Adam