March: Story Time!

Happy April! I hope you are all doing well and enjoying these beautiful spring days when they come. Here's my ministry update for March!

Since spring break, we've tried a new way to reach out to the UNT campus and i've been really enjoying it! Throughout the year, we have had these events called Story Time where we read short stories/fables/etc to a group of students and then invite them to discuss it. It's been a really cool way for us to engage with people in a way that is fun, different, and not super intimidating! The last few weeks, we've been spicing it up - with free books! It's been so fun to see the students get excited about the books that have impacted our staff. Here's a list of the books we're handing out: 
The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis
Finding Calcutta by Mary Poplin
Hinds' Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard 
Gay Girl, Good God by Jackie Hill Perry
Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
The Imitation of Christ by Thomas Á Kempis

We've also started bookclubs where we give students a chance to discuss these books if they would like to. 
Overall, I have loved getting to see students willing to read and discuss different people's perspectives. There was one girl who showed up to a bookclub the same day she got a free book - on her birthday, no less!
It can be difficult to tell if we succeed when it comes to outreach. How do we even measure that? With these events though, I really do feel we are impacting our campus and somehow showing them God's character and generous heart for them. Even when they take a book and don't stay to chat, I'm convinced that the Spirit is willing and able to speak to them through the words of these great Christian thinkers. It's hard to know what will come out of that but I am so blessed to be a part of that process. Please join me in prayer for the students we've come into contact with during Story Time.

This is my sweet sweet peer team. I know I talk about them a lot but I just love these girls and have really appreciated their support and friendship this year. They really make me love my job even more! We've been talking a lot about God's sovereignty this semester. The Spirit is working in the five of us to get us to understand that God is the one in control, not us. We get to rest in His grace and trust Him to be faithful. The Lord has been so patient to each of us as we learn the tension between trusting the Lord and obeying Him. Here's a quote from a book we started reading, Out of Solitude: 

"Jesus went to a lonely place to pray, that is, to grow in the awareness that all the power he had was given to him; that all the words he spoke came from his Father; and that all the works he did were not really his, but the works of the One who sent him. In the lonely place, Jesus was made free to fail." 

- Henri J.M. Nouwen

I'm definitely not there yet, but this is a breath of fresh air for me. I'm eager to see how the Spirit will continue to cultivate this kind of time with God in me and my peer team.

Announcement!!!

I wanted to let y'all know, I have committed to staying on staff for another four years! I know, I know, that's a huge commitment to me too, but I'm so excited to continue being a part of this ministry and the work God is going here! I've been blessed and encouraged by my coworkers who have become friends, students who have ministered to me, and the Lord who has sustained me. I ask that you would be praying for me as I finish the semester and prepare to make this longer term commitment. For those of you who are supporting me financially, I'd love to catch up soon and discuss the possibility of you continuing to support me. For all of you, I so greatly appreciate your investments into my life - I can't say thank you enough! 

Love you all and I really appreciate each of you so much.