eager feet

The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And wither then? I cannot say.

- J.R.R. Tolkien

Tomorrow we're setting up an interactive display on campus for a couple of hours in order to engage students in conversation about their internal realities and how the good news of the Gospel offers hope for transformation. Pray for good connections and the cultivating of much curiosity about Jesus.

This week One Voice is also committing to inviting our friends to study three passages out of John's Gospel over the first three weeks of November. These GIGs (Groups Investigating God) are a change to invite our curious friends to consider the things we've been learning about Jesus this semester. Pray for boldness as we invite and build community around the Word.

As we press on into the second half of this semester I am mindful that we are not always sure where the road is leading, but we are sure who is walking ahead of us. That makes all the difference.

sufficient

Confidence in the sufficiency of Jesus - my pastor in Tucson defined faith as such. I find myself agreeing with him more and more, especially as I step out into greater risks and invite students to do the same.

Tonight I am having to remind myself of this as I prepare to work on fundraising after a week full of other relational risks on campus. I am confident in his sufficiency.

living water

Yup, that's me - looking terrified in the last row and leaning forward.

Last weekend I fulfilled a lifelong dream: whitewater rafting on a legitimate river. I survived - thrived, actually - through the experience and it was every bit as exciting as I had hoped it would be.

Earlier in the week I had the opportunity to spend three days studying John 1-4 in the company of the Urbana Bible Study teaching team. In the final session we dove into Jesus' interaction with the woman at the well. While I am keenly aware of the way Jesus has been using this preparation time in each of the four passages to refine me, I've been mulling over the 4th chapter of John's Gospel for months now. This time Jesus' offer of "living water" stood out. We talked about living water carrying the cultural understanding of moving water as opposed to water from a well or cistern. For some reason I'd always associated that phrase with something tame, like a fountain. As soon as moving water came up in the conversation, however, the fountain image in my head gave way to a river: wild, untamed, and rapid.

As I rafted the living water of the Ocoee River I couldn't help but marvel at the invitation that Jesus offers us.

Our fitting response is to give it away.

On the last and greatest day of the Festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them."
John 7:37-38 (TNIV)

i will draw all people to myself

Visions Gospel Choir

I am spending a lot of time reading/meditating/studying Scripture these days. The Gospel of John gets a significant chunk of my time, thanks to Urbana. I am fascinated by Jesus' words about himself. He makes a particularly bold claim in John 12:32 - "And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." (TNIV)

Last Saturday night Wash U hosted a huge party for the Class of 2013 at the St. Louis Science Center. Visions Gospel Choir, part of InterVarsity's Harambee chapter at Wash U, was invited to perform. I've been singing with Visions since last fall and it has been a great way to build cross-fellowship relationships and manage to have a musical outlet for myself!

There is something incredibly powerful about speaking - or singing - truth in front of a crowd. As I surveyed the freshmen gathering around us and leaning over the railings of the upper levels of the Science Center to listen to us on Saturday night it hit me that we were lifting up the name of Jesus in a public place and at the invitation of the university administration! Crazy, right?

I believe that Jesus speaks the truth. The drawing people to himself is his job, but we get to play our part in lifting him up!

i heart my staff team

2009-2010 Missouri Area Team

I love these people. No, really I do. I'm realizing how often I use that phrase flippantly, as in, "I love my new dress!" or "I just love New York-style pizza!" But when it comes right down to it I aim for sincerity when talking about love in relationship to other people, so it feels fitting to confess how much I appreciate and care about the people on this team that I get to serve alongside.

God calls us into partnership with him and with each other. It's a beautiful, life-giving gift if we can learn to accept that our relationships are one of the primary tools he uses to refine each of us. We have much to learn from each other and much to give so that the whole Body is built up.

I am looking forward to this year of ministry with this team as we encourage, challenge, and serve one another for the sake of the Kingdom.

dependence and hospitality

Yesterday was our first meeting of the new school year as the Missouri Area Team. We studied Luke 9:1-16 and as the themes of dependence on Jesus and those we serve, coupled with radical hospitality emerged I felt so much hope welling up inside of myself. The past couple of years have been a journey of learning deep dependence on Jesus - it's definitely not over, but some really good work has taken place. In the midst of that work I've also discovered that one of my gifts is hospitality: making space in my life and heart for new relationships. During our reflection time after the study I spent time thanking Jesus for the way he's been transforming my life and ministry in the time since I moved to St. Louis and I asked how he wanted to use this particular passage to shape ministry on campus in the coming year.

"Get ready!" he said.

My sense is that Jesus is going to show up in incredible ways as we order our lives and our fellowship around dependence and hospitality this year.

soar

Taking flight: my favorite mural in the Roosevelt Arts District in Phoenix

It is good to be back in St. Louis after three wonderful weeks in sunny Arizona. I am getting settled into my new home and continuing to reflect on the goodness of God in the midst of a loss that is propelling me into a new year of ministry on Wash U's campus.

If you had asked me in June how I felt about the fall semester I probably would have told you that I didn't have the emotional capacity to even think about it, but such is not the case at the beginning of August. I believe that God has incredibly good things in store as I lead students to engage with His mission. I believe that the new life He wants to bring on our campus is going to be overwhelm us in the best possible way. I believe that He knows what He is doing.

I've been seeing a counselor since January and today she paid me the highest compliment. "Andrea," she said, "You make me love Jesus more. The best part about it is that you're not even trying to get that kind of response, but you're so transparent that it just happens as I get to hear about the way you are letting him transform you. Thank you for letting me be a part of it."

I am treasuring those words and asking Jesus to make transparency a mark of my ministry this year.