January Update!

Hello 2022! I hope everyone had a wonderful New Year and Christmas. 

December was incredibly restful. The month started out with our annual Christmas party. The theme was Candyland Christmas. I was a part of the team who put on the party. I am finding out that I love being in charge of food. I think this particularly comes from a desire to ensure there is tasty food I like at every party. The day of the party some students and I made 216 cookies. My apartment was like the Keebler Elf tree for an afternoon. I love how in ministry I can pull students into fun tasks I have to do. There is something so valuable in sharing life with the people you are ministering to. Graham and I’s apartment has hosted many groups in our short time of being married. There’s nothing quite like it!

Another sweet thing about the Christmas party was seeing our TCC students come and be involved. My prayer is that the students there will catch a vision for the community they can bring to their own campuses. A girl from Northeast came to our party and I am blown away at her boldness to jump into the larger community. Seeing her willingness and excitement for the community continues to fuel my desire to reach the TCC campus. I’ll be taking another class this semester to meet students at Northeast TCC.  Be praying for this upcoming year and what God will do at these new campuses. Pray for the girls I will befriend in class and that they will check out our small group. Pray that people will be blessed by FOCUS at TCC. 

I’m feeling nostalgic about 2021. What can I say? 

Here is a photo from each month:

January:

 This is a photo from January 2021. This lady beside me was in my peer team. We tried going on a walk, but it was cold and rainy. Sophie is now working on staff alongside me. 

 

February:

 This is a photo from a core visit. Part of my job is to check in on the ladies who are leading small groups in our ministry. It's a great way to meet people in the ministry who may not come to our larger meeting. 

March:

I love this photo! We did a mixed gender peer team meet up! We played fish bowl and talked about spiritual stuff. I remember being so thankful that we were able to meet with masks!

April:

This photo blows me away. The semester had been spent not seeing how full ministry. We had to host our large group meetings at 50% capacity. This was taken at an after event at Andy's. Many of these ladies are leading this year!

May:

This was taken right before I went to dinner with this core group! We got dressed up and ate fancy pizza. We were celebrating getting to be together! 

June:

 I got married!!!!

July:

During the summer, the focus staff women try to meet up and spend time together. We went to an arcade and I was reminded how quick you can go through coins. 

August:

This was taken at our leadership training, SICM!!! This is my sweet friend Jessica. She is a blast to be around. It's crazy I've known her since the beginning of my time with FOCUS. 

September:

I had to include one silly photo. This is my cofa Sam. I'm not sure why she was sitting that way during our small group.

October:

 I love October and everything festive. This was a pumpkin painting event we hosted. What is so funny about this picture is we actually weren't able to be outside very long. We picked a park that didn't have adequate lights. 

November:

I'm obsessed with this photo. I snapped this while me and these girls went Christmas shopping together! 

December: 

This is a photo from the TCC Christmas party! We had so much fun. I was blown away from the buy in these students have towards making community at TCC. 

Thank you so much for partnering with me in ministry. These photos are just glimpses of the meaningful relationships and conversations that happen. There are students who are being welcomed into community and coming to know Jesus. You are investing in lives that are changing! Praise God! These photos remind me of how good He really is.