The last 48 hours have been a blur. I guess my staff partner and I decided we wanted to be able to empathize with our final-exam-laden, stress-filled students when we planned the end of the semester. I feel a bit like we've arrived on the other end of a marathon that ended in a sprint to the finish. It's been a busy semester and, as our students hit the books extra hard this week, Esther and I can finally take a second to breathe (and update a blog!).To get you up to speed, November ended on a high note here at SLU. Our month of investigative Bible studies (or GIGs) saw eight of our student leaders (around half of the core group) stepping forward to invite their friends to study Scripture with them, many for the first time. We are so proud of our students and the way that Jesus is calling them to take initiative on campus! All eight of these students are freshmen and sophomores which means that they have plenty of time left in college to be shaped by the Holy Spirit before heading out into the "real" world. It has been wonderful to watch our younger students step forward to lead the upperclassmen into mission on campus. How often the Kingdom turns our expectations and understandings of power and ability upside-down!
Now, on to the past few days. Last night was our annual Christmas party - Bacon 'n' Waffles 2009. As legend has it, the first InterVarsity leadership team at SLU was made up predominantly of men. When asked what they would like to eat at a Christmas party, these manly men responded "Bacon and waffles." And so it has been since before my time at SLU. The tradition continued this year as around 25 SLU students packed into my supervisor's house to eat dozens of waffles, seven pounds of bacon, and a myriad of toppings and side items. We saw familiar faces from years back and even from earlier this semester. We further developed relationships with newer students. We met a few folks for the first time. My students have become so invitational this semester and I am consistently blown away by how many new people I meet on a regular basis. They are so excited to see their friends meet Jesus and experience our quirky little community. I love it.
After the madness of last night and the subsequent clean-up efforts, I awoke this morning (barely) and headed to a brunch (yes, more breakfast food) that I co-hosted with one of SLU's Campus Ministry staff for students interested in Fraternity and Sorority ministry. Reaching out to the Greek organizations on our campus has been a growing seed in the back of my mind for nearly a year now. I was at a staff conference in December of last year when I first felt God compelling me to begin praying for the Greek community at SLU. I quickly texted one of my students who is in a fraternity to ask him to join me in prayer. A few months later, I gathered the students I have who are also in the Greek system and we began to talk and pray about what reaching out to the fraternities and sororities might look like on our campus. Another month went by and the Campus Ministry staff in charge of the Greek dormitory at SLU contacted me to talk about putting together a potential Greek Bible Study. As these opportunities to think and pray about this idea have continued to pour into my life, I have realized that God is calling me to further investigate Greek ministry. So, this morning, the Greek Campus Minister and I hosted a brunch for students in the Greek system that might also be interested in a similar ministry opportunity. Ten of us sat around a pile of muffins and I listened as they told me their stories of life in the system. I heard about their frustrations, their joys, and their hopes for a spiritual awakening in the fraternities and sororities at SLU. And I got excited. God is on the move here, people, and I think it could be really big. Keep reading next semester.
So the semester draws near to the end and our students get ready to head home for Christmas break. It's been a rollercoaster ride and I am so thankful to have you along the way with me. Blessings on you and yours this Advent season - may we all await His coming again resting in the grace and peace that His first coming affords.
