Congrats, The Kid!

Hello, friends!

Megan, the kids, and I just got back from a quick trip to California. Why were we there? For a wedding!!! My younger sister, Chrissie "The Kid" got married this weekend. It was a small family affair that was tons of fun. Below is a photo of the happy couple (welcome to the family, Uncle Kyle!) with my kids and my niece and nephew, who served as ring bearers and flower girls.

It's official... we're all married now and Mama can stop worrying... well, at least about that. =0).

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

Travel Abounds!

Hello, friends!

I hope that y'all are enjoying your summer thus far. Now that the calendar has turned to July, it's officially year 2 of being on the job. I'll be posting a bit later on some of the fun things that God has been putting on my heart for this next year as a Regional Ministry Coordinator but I have a slightly more urgent prayer request.

One of the things that Megan and I have noticed is that we are travelling a LOT more than we did before when we were living in Columbia. Part of that is because of the job and part of that is because of where we live now. By my count, we've probably made close to 4 years worth of trips up to see Megan's family in South Dakota (or them coming down to see us) in the 18 months that we've lived in Omaha. It's been great being so close, even if it is exhausting.

These next 2 weeks are going to see even more travel ahead as we have a few things planned. My sister is getting married in California on Sunday (congrats, The Kid!). We also have another wedding in St. Louis the weekend after, so we'll be taking a trip out there too. The itinerary looks like this:

- Today through Friday: Omaha
- Saturday through Tuesday: California
- Wednesday: Omaha
- Thursday through Monday: St. Louis

All these trips are great. It's great to see friends and family. It's great to celebrate marriages. It's great to eat tons of tasty food. The kids get a little bit out of routine. Megan and I get a little bit out of routine. Travel by plane can be stressful. Long trips in the car are definitely stressful. It's a lot and it's been a lot already this summer.

So, friends, if you're thinking about us, please be praying for us these next few weeks. Pray for journey's mercies, especially that there be no airport delays or bad weather as we're driving. Pray for good rest for the kids and us as we are constantly adjusting to new surroundings. Pray for blessed times with family and friends. Thanks!

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

Happy Birthday, Ezra!

Hello, friends!

Last week, our dear boy Ezra turned 4! As per tradition, here's the birthday parody song I wrote for him. It's to his current favorite song, When Can I See You Again? By Owl City. Enjoy!

What a Trip!

Hello, friends!

After 10 hours of driving, 14 appointments, and way too many peanut M&M's to keep me awake as I was on the road, I'm back from CoMO! It was a really great time of connecting with folk, eating old favorites (spicy beef noodle soup, anyone?), and being reminded of God's generosity. Here are a few takeaways from my time in CoMO.

1) MPD is exhausting! Y'all, I'd never slept so hard as the night I got back from my trip. The meetings themselves weren't physically exhausting, per se; it was mostly me sitting and talking with folk for an hour or so. It was more about the mental and spiritual exhaustion that comes from presenting vision over and over again. There was also the fact that I fit in so many appointments so it was going from meeting to meeting. I don't regret any of it, but it did take a lot more out of me than I'd anticipated.

2) MPD is fun! I had so much fun. I love meeting with folk. I love hearing their stories and how God is moving in their lives. I love sharing about InterVarsity and how it connects to what God has called them to as well. I love inviting folk to partner with the work that we're doing. I love every part of it. I told the same stories over and over again but each time, it felt new and felt good. By the end of the weekend, I was gassed but I had so much fun.

3) MPD is worth it! I don't mean this in the financial sense, although it appears as though, things worked out in that department. I mean that I really got to see God move in some really cool ways. I was reminded of God's goodness and His generosity. I was reminded that I've been called to a noble calling. I was surprised by accidental meetings and folk writing checks in my presence. I was reminded that I'm actually OK at my job. Even if I'd gotten nothing but "no", I still would have seen this trip as a success, just given how I saw God meet me.

I'm sure that I want to do another jam packed MPD trip like this again. I don't know if it'll be next year or the year after. I do know that it was a proof of concept that was tons of fun. Thanks to everyone who met with me and everyone who prayed for the trip.

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

On the road again...

Hello, friends!

I'll get to Part 3 of my Leading Regional MPD series in a bit but I need to invite y'all to be praying for me as I make a road trip this week.

As part of my MPD Sprint, I'm heading to CoMO for a few days to meet with potential ministry partners as well as current partners. I'm excited about this trip as it'll be good for me to connect with folk, cast vision, and eat some old favorites (Spicy beef noodle soup, anyone?!).

Friends, please be praying for me on this trip. There are a few specific ways to be praying:
- Journey's mercies. It's a 5 hour drive to CoMO, which isn't too big of a deal. Still, with weather in the Midwest, prayers are always appreciated.
- A few more appointments. Right now, I have 11 appointments set up for the weekend but I have room for one or two more. I'd really like to completely fill up my calendar.
- Good rest and good strength. That being said, it's going to be slightly exhausting (in the best way possible). Please pray that God gives me good rest and good strength to be at my best as I engage in MPD.
- Family. Megan and the kids aren't coming on this trip. Megan's parents are coming down to visit though, which is nice. Please pray for a good time with family and for the kids especially.

Photos will come once I'm back. =0).

Have an excellent day!

Adam

Leading the Region in MPD Part 2...

Hello, friends!

Yesterday, I set the table for me leading my first Regional MPD Gathering as a Regional Coordinator. Today, I want to run down my thought process on how to put this thing together. Tomorrow, I'll give you a breakdown of what actually happened.

My philosophy on good MPD comes down to a few basic principles:
- MPD needs to be seen as an act of worship
- MPD needs to be seen as something that is mutually beneficial, for both the staff and the partner
- MPD is something that needs to be done with intention
- MPD is more fun in community
- MPD is something that EVERYONE can do a little bit better
- Our current MPD system is not perfect and there are ways to make MPD more just and equitable

With those basic principles in mind, I set out to put together a 3 day (really 48 hour) training that would encapsulate those elements while being seen as "worthwhile" for our staff team to attend. I know there's nothing worse than traveling to an InterVarsity meeting and as you're leaving, saying to yourself, "well, that wasn't worth it."

As I was praying for our time together, the word that came to me was, "Past, Present, and Future." The Regional Leadership Team (RLT) made fun of me for getting a word that sounded so much like a prom theme, but when the LORD gives you a word, you take that word.

The Past was going to represent us looking back at the year that was, specifically in the realm of MPD. Too often, when we look back at the year, we focus too much on the positives or too much on the negatives. I wanted us to be able to reflect on both the good things and the hard things from the year, and give all those up to Jesus. I also knew that we needed to celebrate as a familia, especially since we'd hit some major goals we had set for ourselves.

Present was going to be the work time. June is when our end of the year asks go out, so I knew we wanted to spend some time working on those. But, there were other work elements that we wanted to take into consideration, including making phone calls to prospective partners.

Future was about looking ahead. There were the short term pieces of looking ahead centered around planning your summer well. There's also the long term piece of looking ahead at how we can change the way we do MPD in our Region.

So, that was set. Day 1 was going to focus on the Past. Day 2 was going to focus on the Present. Day 3 was going to focus on the Future. Now, all I needed to do was actually fit all the pieces together...

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

Leading the Region in MPD Part 1...

Hello, friends!

When I was younger staff and I first fell in love with the joy that in Ministry Partnership Development (MPD), a thought that often came to mind was why other staff didn't share the same love for MPD that I had. Being the learner that I am, I was fascinated by new and better ways to do MPD, and being the teacher and trainer that I am, I always wanted to share what I'd learned with my regional familia. So, starting in around 2015 or so, I started volunteering to lead our Regional MPD gatherings, when the whole staff team comes together at the end of the year to do MPD together.

The Regional MPD Gatherings have an interesting history. Before a few years back, the rule was that it was required to attend unless you were above a particular funding threshold. Another way to look at it was that if you haven't raised enough, you had to show up. The Regional MPD Gatherings were a detention of sorts. You didn't do the work, so you had to put in some extra time as punishment.

Needless to say, this did not make for a very inspiring time. The staff who were required to go didn't really want to be there because they felt like they were being punished. Added to that, the funding guidelines didn't take issues of funding justice and equity into account. My funding has always been in a pretty good place so I was never actually required to go. Still, it didn't feel quite right. A few years back, the standards were changed so that everyone is required to go unless there's a really good reason (like you're out of the country on a mission trip). I wasn't the one who made the decision, but I'm glad it was made.

Remember how I said that I would volunteer to lead the Regional MPD Gatherings? Well, since I've taken on my new role, it's not a volunteer job anymore. It's very much part of my job description. As I was preparing for this year's gathering, I didn't realize how much that change would affect me until I actually started getting nervous. Of course, every year I want to lead a good training, but in previous years, since it was volunteer job and not part of my job description, if the training left something to be desired, it was OK. I could just blame it on the fact that I had other stuff going on with my "real" job. The Regional leadership was just happy that it was one less thing they had to do.

But now? Well, now it's part of my job description. I had nothing but time to plan this bad boy. If it was going to be not up to standards, I had to answer for it. Added to that, I pushed for an extra day to be added to the time. Now there was even MORE to plan. What was I thinking?!?!

Spoiler Alert: Things went really well and I'm really proud of the training. It might be the best one I'd ever led. We hit all the beats that I wanted to hit. There were moments of good work being done and the Holy Spirit falling on the staff team. Staff were able to connect personally as well as professionally. It wasn't perfect, but every element felt like it served its purpose well enough. I haven't heard a ton of feedback from my supervisor yet (that will be coming in July) but I'm hopeful that she was encouraged as I was by out time together.

I have lots more details about the week that I may put into a different post later in the week (or next week). Y'all have been reading for long enough. Tl;dr - I led a thing, was worried that the stakes were higher, and it went well. =0).

Have an excellent day!

~Adam