Saying Goodbye, Looking Back and Moving Forward

Life's transitions are always different and can be difficult. I'm in the middle of a transition currently. I'm finishing up my last couple of months here at Collegiate United Methodist Church and Wesley Foundation. Even though I still have a couple of months left here finals are finishing at ISU so I am finding myself saying goodbye to some of my students.

If I'm honest about it is not easy saying goodbye to this wonderful group of students I have worked with over the last two year. They have brought a lot of joy into my life. There are not words that could possibly express how great being a part of this faith community has been and how blessed I have been to be able to serve them. The things I have gained from them will last a life time. So I have to say I'm sad today as I say goodbye to some of them. I am lucky that I will get to work with some of them over the summer. But in the end it is a good thing that I am sad because that means that this experience has meant a lot to me.

I am excited about going to seminary and am very much looking forward to that experience but I will miss all the great thing I have been a part of here over the past two years. And I think it is as important to mourn the loss of the amazing experience. There will be a lot of time to be excited for all the wonderful things I will discover in the Bay Area but today is for looking back at how blessed I have been, to thank those students I have been so lucky to share my time with, to say goodbye to some of them and to recognize the sadness even as I am excited for the future.

Thank God for College Students!

I love my job working as a campus ministry associate. I can not express to you how fulfilling what I do each day is.  This blog is not about me though this blog is about my students.  

I have to thank God each day for the students I work with.  They are amazing. Each of them on very different journeys but coming together to be a community.   As they walk their faith journey each day, they enrich the faith journey of those around them. I know this because they have enriched my journey so much. 

The truth is that the students I work will have a positive effect on all the groups and communities they are apart of.  They live their faith don't just believe in it.  They are always ready to explore their faith and try to deepen their relationship with God. What they don't often realize is that while they do this they act as example for others in the church to do the same. 

These students are the very reason that I'm so concerned about the national trend to defund campus ministries. I'm lucky to work in a church and in a conference that is very supportive of it's campus ministries but that is not where a lot of churches and conferences around the country are.  I think it is a grave mistake for the conferences and churches to get rid of campus ministries.  The fact is that as the students I work with bring life to the church; so will other students bring life to other churches.  I often hear that students are the future of the church, but the fact is that students and the campus ministries that are apart of are the here and now of the church.

These young adults have much to offer and they simply want to be asked. Let young adults into the conversation. The life and passion that they bring with them is simply transformative.  They are ready to be a part of your communities you simply need to ask them and treat them like they have something to offer because they do. 

So tonight on the cusp of another school year I'm thanking God for college students, for those students I work with, and for how they enrich the church.