Last month of ministry and what God has in store next!

Hello Everyone! I can't believe we're already done with another year! How quickly it has gone by! God has done so much and I am so excited to share some reflections with you.

I have been in contact with most of you all to update you that I am coming to the end of my three year commitment with FOCUS and I am deciding to transition off staff and go back into full time nursing. It was a hard decision that was full of a lot of prayer and getting advice, but I feel a lot of peace about it and excited about new opportunities to do ministry in other ways as an adult.

 I know that God has used my time in FOCUS in so many amazing ways at our TWU Dallas and SMU campuses, but most of all I've been in reflection of how God has used it to change me. It is hard, if not impossible, for me to try to condense everything I have learned and ways that God has shaped me these past four years into this one blog post, but I will try. 

Jesus has taught me how to love more deeply. Jesus' command in John 13:34 is, "love one another. As I have loved you, so you also must love one another." This has been written on my heart in a whole new way these past four years. And it is not a love that comes from myself, but that comes from the depth and height of the love our Father God has for us. And the beautiful thing about loving like Jesus' loved us, is that love you receive in return. We don't love with the expectancy to be loved back, and sometimes it wasn't always the case that it was returned. But I believe that God has blessed me with way more people that love me than I deserve during my time in FOCUS. I am so humbled and grateful that God would give me some of my best friends through this ministry, both through coworkers as well as students, and I know that I will have these relationships for the rest of my life. 

The second thing Jesus has taught me is how to let myself be known and seen by others and to embrace my weaknesses. There have been countless times in ministry these past four years where I have fought to keep up my guard and not let my weakness be seen. But praise God for the Holy Spirit more often than not, tearing those walls down and letting me be fully seen and known by others. Some of my most special moments have been the times I've let myself cry with my students, when I've opened my heart to my fellow campus pastors, and when I've admitted to others when I feel most weak and helpless. In those moments, I feel God's love and acceptance from others reminding me Paul's words in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, "But he (the Lord) said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." It has been in some of my weakest and worst moments that I have felt held up by the Lord's strength and love and God has used students and other FOCUS pastors as instruments to remind of of that love.

The last thing Jesus has taught me that I want to share, is the power of the Good News. I have seen how the Good News of Jesus when lived out by His people has radically changed lives, first and foremost with my own. Jesus has radically loved and ransomed us to live in the fullest of relationships with our Father. And when we as disciples understand that radical truth and live out that love to others, God does amazing things! I have seen students that were living in death and destruction literally become made new in Christ! I have seen students who heard the gospel their whole lives, experience life change when they understand their purpose in Christ to be know by Him and to make Him known to others. And I have seen students who have been living in loneliness and isolation find ultimate love and friendship in Jesus driven community. The Good News is alive and powerful! Praise God!

While I am sad to leave campus ministry, I know that God has used this season to make me into the person I am, that He is molding me to be. And He's not done with me yet! This next season will be difficult, but I know that wherever God leads, He goes before me and that the power of the Good News and the love of our Father still needs to be heard by so many!

I am so grateful for my time in FOCUS serving as a campus minister and I am also so grateful to each one of you who have supported me financially and prayerfully. It has been such an encouragement to have you as part of my ministry support team and God has used your giving to bless and build up SMU and TWU Dallas into the ministries they are today! If you're excited about the opportunity to support another campus minister at SMU, I would love to connect with another one of our amazing campus ministers so you can continue to partner in the work God is doing in college ministry.

I wanted to end with pictures of my women student leaders I had the honor of meeting with this past year, they are all so special to me and I know will be some of my lifelong friends!

Ruth and Abbie, two of our student leaders going into their senior year I've known since their freshman year!

Jacquelyn, doing her masters at SMU after transferring from UTD!

Siena (far left), one of our apprentices who will be staying on at SMU for another 3 years!

Ashlyn, one of our apprentices who will be getting her masters in biblical counseling at DTS!

Laura (far left) who I have also known since her freshman year! We did FOJ together, led core with one another and have become such close friends.

I also wanted to mention Laurence (third from the left) who I have worked with at SMU the past four years. Laurence has led me and our ministry faithfully and so servant heartedly. He constantly has pointed us back to God and reminded us to seek the Lord's presence in hard times. I am grateful for his leadership and that he will continue to lead our SMU ministry.

 Last but not least I want to honor Albert. He has not only served in our SMU ministry humbly and without accolades but he has also supported me through many tough seasons in ministry often at my worst. I am so grateful for him and that God would give me such a patient, loving and thoughtful man. 

That's a wrap! Enjoy some more photos from the end of the semester!

End of the Year Party

Our last leader meeting together!

One of our students, Sneha, got baptized this past month!