Christmas Time Was Here

 Didja miss me?! It feels like it's been forever since I've gotten the chance to update y'all!

Personal Updates: 

December was a wild month that I can hardly remember! After isolating myself and getting a negative test, I was able to fly home for Christmas for the first time in a few years. (At my previous position with Fossil, I wasn't able to take any vacation days in the month of December.) It was nice to see my family during the holidays — I know that many families were unable to do so this year, so I feel particularly fortunate. It was the first time that Stephanie has been able to meet my parents as well! Given that we've been dating during COVID longer than out of it and also that my parents live in another state, there haven't been many opportunities for them to meet. (It went well.) 

Ministry Updates:

After cautioning everyone to stay socially distant and safe for after the holidays, our ministers were given the option to opt into going to an optional staff retreat. Which, I leapt at the chance. We haven't had many opportunities as a whole staff team to interact together. We discussed a book titled, Money and Power, by Jacques Ellul, reminisced over the history of FOCUS: how all of our ministers came to be a part of the ministry and were led to pursue ministry full-time, and experienced some semblance of normalcy as we bonded as a staff group.

But the gloves are off and the new semester is about to begin again! We're working hard to prepare for our students' return and hit the ground running — right where we left off.

If you would, please pray about the following:

- For the safety of our students as they return from their time with their families.

- That we can discern the best course of action in reaching out to students as the future remains uncertain.

- For the healing of our nation in our time of transition.

Before Christmas break, we had our apprentice sermons. All of the apprentices gave a sermon surrounding their testimony. There is power in everyone's testimony!

Me and Steph taking a picture in front of the Christmas tree with my older sister's dog.

I received an inflatable chair for Christmas and tested it out immediately in the backyard. This is surely the height of technology.

This happens to be the only picture I took during staff retreat. It was taken during one of our sessions where we listened to everyone's story of their place in FOCUS — how they got involved and why they stayed.