Beginnings

My favorite part about raising support = having an excuse to meet with people.

Taking on a leadership role in InterVarsity took my relationships with people to a deeper level.  God wasn't just helping me gain more leadership skills to learn how to apply them.  I discovered who people really were and was learning to care about where they've come from and where they were going.  I learned that leadership wasn't about gaining power, being completely adequate, or having things always go my way.  The reality of my leadership became a repeating process of submitting myself to God's lead, relinquishing my power, accepting my identity in Christ, and breaking my heart for the things His heart breaks for.  

Meeting with people helped me begin to see the potential of what God could do in each person's life, and that the possibilities were beyond my imagination.  I'd get excited just thinking about it!

Talking with each one of you gives me the chance to see a glimpse of what God is doing in your life and allows me to participate in His work through you.  My goal is not only to invite you to be a part of what God is doing in my life and through my life, but also to see how I can support you and partner with you in the ways God is calling you to serve Him.  Your kingdom work is just as important as mine because it is all for the glory of God.

For those of you with whom I've met with/talked with already, thank you for the privilege of sharing your life with me.  You have provided the opportunity to remind me of how big our God really is, and how He works in awesome and creative ways.  Most of you have made me laugh, encouraged me tremendously, gotten me all excited about where God is leading you, and you've made my days that much brighter.  I'm not trying to be cheesy, I'm being totally serious!

Here are some of my goals throughout this process of building a support team, to the best of my knowledge, ability and power through Christ:

• To make myself as readily available and accessible to you for prayer and any kind of support.
• To encourage you and remind you that you are worthy to be heard, known, and loved because of who God is.
• To be in tune with what God may be saying to you through me as well as what He may be saying to me through you.

And forgive me if I fail to accomplish these goals - I am trying to remain in a posture of learning and sometimes just need some time, a little extra help, or some grace.

Building a Cathedral

My InterVarsity chapter at Binghamton University would meet every other Sunday night (well, we tried to, anyway) for our Core Meeting.  Carrie, our staff worker, would help us spend the first hour recapturing stories from our recent events, lead us through prayer, or an activity to help us put things in perspective of the vision that leaks so easily.

It was my senior year, and I think it was the middle of the spring semester, the time where we tend to lose quite a bit of steam from the semester New Student Outreach events and start to get a little crabby from all the hustle and bustle of the end of the year.  At one of these meetings, Carrie read to us the old story of "Building a Cathedral" (at the bottom of this blog page) from a book series called Habitudes.  

It struck a particular chord in me.  I don't think I'd claim myself as burnt out or dragging my feet through things (not that I never am/do, but at the time I wasn't), but it did remind me of the big picture I had easily forgotten.  Without much effort I could identify with the first two laborers, who could get caught up in the trudges of survival and everyday tasks/routines.  But I wanted to be like the third, whose perspective stayed focused on the vision.  It didn't mean he didn't know what he was doing, or that there wasn't a plan or that he didn't have a particular task at hand - but by keeping his focus on the big idea of what he was working towards, he found value, direction, and purpose in his particular job.  And he was excited about it!

That's what I want this blog to capture.  I am a world changer, a kingdom builder, and I want to use this to try and track the journey that God leads me through, and to share this with all of you as well.  Notice in the cathedral story that the third laborer says, "We're trying to build a cathedral," not, "I'm trying to build a cathedral."  Your prayers, care and support are extremely important to me.  God made us to be in relationship with one another, and I would be a very different person without my relationship with you.

There are a lot of different ways you can stay in touch, and I'll do my best to update as much as possible.  Feel free to explore the blog and leave comments!