September and October Update

Hello friends! I am sorry it has been so long, recovery has been rough and it has been a bit hard to remember all the things I normally do! I am happy to report that I am 2 months done with my chemo/radiation. All the terrible side effects have gone away; I am not nauseous all the time anymore, I can taste again, and I don't have any terrible mouth sores anymore. The only lingering thing is tiredness, so prayers for that would be great. My doctor expects that I will be back to normal by the end of the year so praise God. God has been so sweet through this whole process. I have said it before and I will say it again, God is so so good. Thank you for all your prayers and support. It would have been impossible without ya. 

I wanted to share a sermon I did on Perseverance recently. Part of writing that, helped me understand what God has been teaching me this season. God promises us that hardship is not wasted and we can have hope in Him through it all. I pray that you can have hope in God, through this long season. If things never return to normal, God is still good. I pray that you can hold on to that and that it encourages you. 

Ministry is just a bit different, because of the pandemic for sure but I still see God working through my peer team and the ministry as a whole. I see God shaping people's hearts and bringing them back onto His agenda. I have seen God bringing people into community and friendship. I have been meeting with people from the community and getting them to look at scripture more and tune into what God has been doing in their lives. 

Here is a photo from the spiritual retreat

I also got the chance to go on a spiritual retreat that someone on our staff hosted and wanted to share about the experience. We read scripture, talked to God out loud and worshiped God. It was good to reconnect with God and spend just a couple hours devoted to him. I would encourage you to take some time and spend at least 30 minutes talking out loud to God. Talk to him about what you have been thinking and feeling. Give those things up to God and let Him be in control. He can handle it. Here is one of the verses we read:

 Luke 10:38-42 38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

We painted pumpkins for Halloween in Peer Team one night! This is Claire!

Ashley

Shannon

Alexis

MacKenzie

Jessica

Keanna

Becca

I am really excited to see what God is going to do with this year. Pray that God continues to raise up leaders and help the students stay connected to him through the next couple of months as they go back home/stay home more. We have had a couple students in our ministry get covid so be praying about that as well. 

We did an outdoor worship night a couple weeks ago

Here is a pic from one of our training days!

Another thing, we have our yearly fundraiser to help us fill in the gaps and invest in the future. It is called Keep Focus Growing! Stay tuned for more information! We will be posting things on Facebook about how to do that really soon. If you feel stirred at all, I would encourage you to pray about it.