strangest thing someone has ever eaten in class...

today in history a girl brought a candy apple to snack on.

where does someone buy a candy apple on campus?

how does someone decide a candy apple is the best snack choice for a university class?

i mean, a caramel apple i would totally understand because those things are delicious but a candy apple is a whole different story.

retreating to the city...

yesterday we held our first ever one-day winter conference in the place of our classic winter retreat and i am so glad we decided to make the change. the day was unbelievable on so many levels and i think really came in line with who we are as a community right now and where we are headed in our ministry.

we held our conference at the frwy cafe, a small cafe in downtown hamilton run by a salvation army church plant. the cafe itself is located in the beasley neighbourhood, which is one of canada's poorest nieghbourhoods (third to be exact after regent park in toronto and vancouver's downtown eastside). it was an awesome space for a morning of scripture study, where we dug into isaiah 58 (check it out for yourself) and opened our hearts to the fast God desired Israel to engage in. after our study, we headed out into groups for lunch in the nieghbourhood and had a couple questions to think about this neighbourhood. it was an eye opening experience. sometimes it really shocks me to think that this nieghbourhood is only a 15 minute bus ride away from the MAC campus because it feels like a whole different world. pernell, the pastor of frwy, helped us to debrief our afternoon out in the city and shared his own experience of living in this neighbourhood.

after dinner we sat around and discussed how we could apply this to our campus, specifically thinking of those students who are in first year, living in residence. the discussion was encouraging as people began to see the 'homelessness' of sorts that exists on our own campus and how we can begin sharing our lives with others who feel displaced or marginalized at the university.

we ended the day off with a coffeehouse and good old fashioned hang out time. it was great to have students so involved in all aspects of the day, participating in scripture study and discussions, interacting in the nieghbourhood, and sharing their talents and lives with one another. the day for me had such a redemptive element and promise to us as staff and the community.

we went out on a limb with a number of different changes to our structure this year (the conference being just one of them) without really knowing what would happen but each time God has continued to reveal Himself to us and it is just awe inspiring. we have had to be so dependent on Him through these changes and while it really never ends up looking the way i expect it to, Jesus NEVER fails us.

diet of worms...

january is just slipping away and i can't believe that it is already the 22nd. i forgot how busy things are when i am actually involved on campus. meetings with students, meetings with staff, meetings with supporters, visioning and planning for upcoming events, prepping teaching stuff...all this makes a month feel like a week.
i had dinner with some friends from undergrad a little over a week ago and i got some good feedback on this blog. one friend said 'your blog used to be good.' hmm...thanks. apparently my postings here sound a little too businessy and not enough like me so i am going to try to remedy that. let's hope the problem isn't that i actually am more businessy (or is it businessie?) than i used to be.
today in my history class we learned about the Diet of Worms. it was a strong reminder of how important it is to pay attention in class because it took a while for me to realize that this was not actually about what Martin Luther ate in his excommunication but that it is actually written in german. Diet of Worms in english is much different than deet of vorms, as it is is pronounced in german.

new year, new goal...

classes started yesterday and i am making my triumphant return to campus! that's right, in true God fashion, He was faithful to provide the funding i needed to reach my halftime goal and i can now return to messing in the lives of students. i must admit, it came just in time because i was starting to go crazy spending most of my week fundraising. don't get me wrong, the meeting with people part of fundraising is great but for someone like myself who is administratively challenged, the letter writing and number crunching is less than ideal.
the fundraising is not over, however, since i am now convinced that full-time staff (and a full-time budget) is what God is calling me to. this NEEDS prayer.

a tiny post-urbana thought...

i am back safe and sound after a week in st. louis for URBANA and i am just starting to feel settled from how overwhelming the whole experience was. there were 22, 000 people representing roughly 130 nations, all coming together to find God's calling for their life. it meant standing in a lot of long lines, but i survived.
there is so much that i am still processing from the whole experience but i know that it has changed me and many others and i can only imagine the difference this will have on our campus. the good conversations with students have only just begun and the majority have realized how uncomfortable they are with being comfortable and they are ready for God to make drastic change in their lives. i can work with this...
stay tuned for more urbana thoughts over the month.