Happy Thanksgiving!

I thought I'd take this chance to write about some ways I'm grateful. I hope you'll do the same, no matter what kind of season you're in. I'm reminded that our praises and thanksgiving to God cannot and should not be dependent on our feelings or our circumstances.

I'm grateful for each of you! No matter how brief, you have impacted my life. By following along with my ministry experience, I am grateful to share with you the highs and lows of life. Thank you for reading, praying, encouraging, and/or giving. 

I'm grateful for our Denton students. I've mentioned being a bit shocked by how many new students we've had this year but their zeal for the Lord is such an encouragement to me. I may have a (tiny) bit of experience following God but they keep me on my toes and remind me that our God is sooo creative. He's not asking us to follow Him the exact same way year after year. There are new areas where He is moving and leading people all the time and praise him for that! 

A group of students playing Cornhole at a Friendsgiving.

I'm so grateful that God has placed a desire to learn and grow in faith in so many of them too! Here's the crowd at our Pizza Theology - 400 students willing to spend 4 hours studying 1 Samuel.

I'm grateful for the Denton team, who love me so well in my weaknesses. They accept me as I am and point me to Jesus. And they love my kid, too!

I'm grateful for our church community. They so eagerly want to know what it is to love God and love people.

I'm grateful for my husband Jon and the sacrifices he makes that allow me to do ministry. His kindness and generosity often inspire me.

Thank you, Lord, for sweet gifts too many to count. I ask that you would cultivate gratitude, contentment, and humility in my heart and life.

Keep FOCUS Growing

With much humility and trust in God, I ask that you would pray for and consider giving to our annual Keep FOCUS Growing fundraiser. This is our keep the lights on campaign, as well as a chance to invest in new campuses as God opens up opportunities for us around the metroplex. Hopefully y'all can see how ripe for the harvest the field of college ministry is! This Tuesday is Giving Tuesday, a great chance to invest in this corner of the kingdom. Check out anyfocus.org/KFG for more info.

Love y'all so so much. Happy Thanksgiving!

October: An Amazing Fall Retreat!

 

Fall retreat was so COOL! God is moving in Denton. We had way more people show up than we initially expected (260, are you kidding me?!) but more than that, so many students are excited and ready for God to transform and reshape their lives. 

We do a big game competition every year and split the small groups into teams to work together for bragging rights. This year was so fun! Here's a couple of the teams, they really get into the team spirit.

Janae (right) and Lilli (middle left) are two girls I get to study the Bible with. They are so sweet; I love watching them grow closer to God.

MJ and Owen

Some of our staff sneaked away to the local Sonic ... and ran into a bunch of our students! We had a good laugh about that.

These students are a breath of fresh air. Trying to pastor a community that has grown so rapidly in a year comes with some challenges. How do we communicate to so many well? What do we emphasize? When there is inevitable conflict, how to we help people handle it with wisdom and grace? When people disagree, how do we find unity to glorify God?

This season of ministry has been humbling, in the sense that I am constantly being faced with how necessary humility is when serving God and loving people. I could do things my way and follow what seems best to me. But ultimately that leads people to me and not God. If I'm going to lead others, I have to do it by showing them how to sit at Jesus' feet. I have to constant hold what is true and right and good over what is comfortable to say to people. That's challenging at times but the fruit of that is so much more meaningful than anything surface level I can produce. I'm so grateful that God would want to teach and shape me in these ways. 

"Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us." Romans 5:3-5. Such good news!

Exciting news for next month, our Keep FOCUS Growing campaign is coming up!

I would very much appreciate if you would prayerfully consider giving to this fundraiser! I'll be sending more details out in November but please reach out if you have any questions!

Love y'all! Let me know if there's any way I can be praying for you!

Wrapping Up September

Friends and family, I hope y'all are doing so well! September has been so sweet and fun here in Denton. I didn't take near enough pictures but here are the highlights!

We went to a TWU volleyball game and I realized I don't think I have ever actually sat down and watched volleyball, what a fun game! Owen said it was too loud but still had fun.

We got to have a worship night at the adorable Little Chapel in the Woods at TWU! We definitely want to do this again, what a cool way to utilize the campus for God's glory.

Becca and I got gym memberships on campus so we can meet up with girls and hang out there.

Owen loves getting to join in on my one on ones and interrupt. This is Avery helping me keep him safe, she's such a sweetheart!

And finally, we had some baptisms! 

Diana getting baptized by her corefas from two years ago.

Sweet Nia getting baptized by Victoria. Nia has really been taking her faith seriously this year, she is on mission and reaching out to people at TWU all the time. 

MJ getting baptized by Catherine! MJ is one of the student leaders I meet with this year and watching her rededicate her life to Jesus and really seek to know his heart is such a blessing to watch.

And Chris! Y'all might remember Chris from previous updates, I've known her for almost three years now. I had the honor of studying the Bible with her and watching her mature and grow the last few years really is why I love campus ministry. She's a dear friend. I was honored to help baptize her!

What a sweet day and reminder that the Lord is working powerfully on these campuses. This year, God is moving in some cool ways and this seems to just be the start. Please be praying for these students!

Here's a few random family photos too! Owen is 14.5 months and officially walking! He loves slides and swings and playing hide-and-seek. 

Thank you guys for being a part of this journey with me! Please reach out with any prayer requests!

Love y'all!

Welcome to Campus, y'all!

Friends and family, 

I'm so excited to share this update with you! August has been an absolute sprint and such a blast.

We started off with a retreat for our staff! What a cool and passionate team I get to work with. They push me to be better and to pursue real discipleship to Jesus. 

Then we jumped straight into welcome week, which really ended up being welcome month! This is our time to invite new students into community on campus with the hopes that they will catch a vision for the gospel and the kingdom God is building. I'm struggling to find the words to describe how good this month has been. We've met so many people where all we have to do is mention Jesus and they are chomping at the bit to get involved. So many people are intrigued by Jesus right now. We prayed for God to go before us and prepare people's hearts and He has gone above and beyond. 

After the first week at UNT, we took our corefas (student leaders) on a retreat to build them up as a team and do some leadership training. These students impress me so much, their willingness to give up so much of their time to serve others is truly inspirational. And they are just a ton of fun!

Owen loved hanging out with his college friends.

And his bestie, Eli.

Our TWU corefas, minus two. These girls have already been such a blessing to their campus and to me!

We got to baptize a couple of the corefas and pray for them as a team. What a cool way to kick off the year.

After retreat, we got right back to meeting new students!

Becca, Owen and I hosted trivia.

And we made prayer vision boards.

...and painted a flower garden. We like crafts a lot at TWU, okay?

TWU stands for Texas Woman's University, which means that somewhere between 80 and 90% of students are women. But these guys showed up consistently to meet the guys on campus. Their faithfulness was such an encouragement and they ended up meeting so many guys who were interested in community and Jesus.

We served free coffee during the first week of school as a way to bless the students!

The babies were the biggest attraction, of course.

Okay okay, we did another craft - we painted tiny pots and cactus rocks!

 Orr corefas' faithful work came to fruition at our first Thursday Night Fellowship (TNF) where we were bursting out of the room with close to 300 people.

Finding a room on campus that would hold us was a real challenge but again we saw the Lord provide. The next week we were able to meet in a bigger room and the energy and life in the room was crazy. This is the liveliest group I think I've experienced in ministry in almost 10 years. But the thing is, it's not performative. As a whole these students are genuinely worshipping the Lord and wanting to submit their lives to Him.

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind - retreats, campus events and hangouts, planning, praying, so much talking. Owen started daycare a couple days a week, seems to enjoy it, and got his first cold. I left him overnight for the first time during staff retreat and while that was hard, I got to actually retreat with God and work through big feelings with Him. That was a breath of fresh air. 

I know you all have so much on your plate but I hope you are encouraged by how active and present God is on these campuses. Whatever you have going on, know that the Lord is just as present with you. 

Thank you for your prayers and support. They mean so much to these students and to me. Let me know how I can be praying for you!

Love y'all,