March Update!

 Hello again. I hope you are all doing well as we come into this new month. 

I am encouraged by what has been going on at UTA. I am starting to feel sort of normal when on campus as the days become longer and sunnier. We hosted one of our first outdoor outreach displays of the year. It was on a beautiful Wednesday. We posed the question of “How do you know if someone loves you”? It was our delayed Valentines outreach (thanks snowpocalypse). Anyways, we had students sign up in shifts and ask people if they wanted to answer the question. The response was amazing. There was one point where every one of our student leaders were in groups talking with new students. Students on campus are lonely and desperate to meet new people. It is exciting to be a part of such meaningful work: we are filling a need on our campus by being present, friendly and inviting people in Jesus community.  Many phone numbers were swapped and I trust the Lord is doing something there. 

This update, I wanted to do something a little different. Here is a glimpse of my typical Tuesday as a campus pastor. I wanted to show you the faces I see and how as a pastor I use my time. Every day is different. Some days, I am catching up on reading or thinking through a project, but I am mostly meeting with students in some capacity every day. This brings me a lot of joy. I chose Tuesday because it has the same structure each week this semester. I start at 10am and am ending sometime in the evening like 6:30pm or 7pm. Let's go!

10am: 

I’m at my staff meeting. We meet every week and our agenda is always different. Sometimes it’s planning events or devotionals. Other times, we need to discuss content for our leader meeting and our weekly services. It all happens here. This team is so fun to work with. 

12pm: 

My staff meeting has now wrapped up. By this point, I am quite hungry. This particular Tuesday I packed a sandwich. I now have a small break before meeting with my sweet supervisor. 

12:30pm: 

Okay. I did not get a photo of me and Sarah, but here’s her headshot. Sarah and I are cut from the same cloth. We both have large personalities and love people. Fun fact: we were both mascots. I type up a report for this meeting on how my ministry went this past week. We talk through students I’m ministering to and think through the women’s side of the ministry together. We also get to laugh and be sweet friends to each other. 

2:00pm:

Sarah and I wrap up our time around 2 or 2:15. I go from this meeting to another. I did not take a selfie, so here's a cute car cartoon.

2:30pm:

(This picture is so funny and embarrassing. I have no idea why my eyes are closed). 

This starts my time with two of my lady leaders. These two women are in our ministry and lead a small group. We meet together and discuss how their life and ministry is. I typically am bringing questions each week and some sort of devotional or chapter from a book. There’s also a lot of joy and laughter in these meetings. There were some acorns thrown at one another in this meeting. 

4:00pm: 

My two-on-one ends at this point. There is no break here. I sprint to my laptop and join a zoom. I have been a part of a book club with our staff that starts at 4. We are currently reading Vulnerable Pastor by Mandy Smith. I am always reading some book for FOCUS. Our book club is a special time to see other staff members. 

5:00pm:

Our book club is pretty short. We wrap up around this time. This particular Tuesday, I took an hour break and made spaghetti. I was preparing dinner for a student!

6:00pm:

Yay! Dinner with a student. Another embarrassing part about this picture. That student is holding a bowl I made tea in. I do not own a pitcher. I realized that as I was making us a meal. Anyways, I am blessed to live very close to campus. Our house is a hub for small groups and movie nights. I live with a couple other FOCUS ministers. It’s pretty common for one of us to have someone over for a meal!

7:30pm:

This particular Tuesday, I went to visit one of my leader pairs and their small group. This is a great way to meet the students who they are leading. Covid has affected when certain students meet me. Visiting small groups is also a way for me to give my leaders feedback on how they are facilitating their group, but mostly, it’s just pretty fun. 

9:30pm:

You better believe as the small group ended we chatted some. I rode with a friend to the small group and this is when I got home! A successful day I’d say. 

There you have it! That’s a glimpse of my Tuesday as a campus minister. Thank you for indulging me. I hope this was fun to read. Thank you again for your support and prayers. Be praying for our students as they are finishing up their semester.  Pray for new leaders to rise up as some of our seniors graduate.

Here's a photo dump of other pictures from the month: