God, I'm Just Grateful

As a staff, we had the opportunity to go to Burnet for a retreat as a chance to refresh and connect before the second semester. We were blessed by Ronnie, the man who started the church family we are a part of, with his sermons all week long. He spoke about seeing ourselves the way that God sees us, and how that understanding can greatly influence how we see other people. It was very encouraging! I also got to spend lots of time outdoors hiking at Inks Lake, paddleboarding, talking with friends, and more!

I also got to have some conversations about how this apprenticeship has been and start the conversations about staying on staff next year! I have loved everything about this job and now am going to spend some time asking God if this is where he wants me to continue serving Him! I am so thankful to all of you for making this year possible! Would you pray that I will seek the Lord and be obedient to Him whatever he asks me to do and wherever he asks me to go?

After staff retreat, our students have a chance to reset for the new semester as well! Over 800 college students spent four days in Glen Rose worshipping our God, learning about their belovedness, and fellowshipping together. We brought in Marty Solomon, the host of BEMA Podcast, to speak; put on somewhere around 35 various activities ranging from flag football to improv class to bird watching so there is something for everyone; and we have the most amazing 10 person bands leading us in worship. It is truly an amazing weekend that allows rest, fun, and connection for college students all across DFW.

I helped to host a girls night that was a smashing success and taught a Chinese yo-yo class to about 40 students. Ten girls from my core came and they all deepened their friendships while meeting so many new friends as well! One of those girls is named Alexandria (I call her Alex), she is a junior that grew up in Garland in a Christian home. She got involved with some friends that did not prioritize Jesus during her first two years of school, but recently joined my core and started FOJ (one on one bible study) with me. She is so excited about the community we have and has been fired up about reading scripture this year. I am so excited for the young woman the Lord is shaping her to be. Would you pray that Alex stays on fire for the Lord, continues to lean in and trust His plan for her, and starts to believe in her strong ability to be a good friend to the people around her?

My classes are starting to ramp up again! This semester we are taking New Testament, Diversity, Eschatology, Body Stewardship, Preaching Lab, and a few more that we have been doing all year. I am really excited to continue diving into scripture, and this time getting to talk to Rikk Watts each week about anything that we want to. Rikk is a seminary professor at Regent College in Canada, and he is teaching our New Testament class.

While classes are great, I am reminded of my sweet friend Hannah. She is doing the apprenticeship with me in Denton, but has been very sick for about a month now. She is taking time off from work to hopefully get back to a good place, but we miss having her around so much. Would you pray for Hannah’s health physically, but also for her emotional and spiritual health? Being mostly alone without any work to do is taking a toll on her!

I chose this lyric of the song God I’m Just Grateful for the title of this section because I have been blown away by the scope of this ministry. There is nothing like seeing 800 students singing at the top of their lungs for Jesus, and there was no way that could happen without God orchestrating every piece. In addition, I have also been thinking about how there is no way I would be here or be a part of this without all of you making that way for me. I am overjoyed to get to serve the Lord in this way and so grateful for each one of you helping make that a reality.

Since you all knew me before ministry, it feels wrong to only talk about work! So I put some pictures from my regular life! I got to go to the beach with my sister, her husband, and my boyfriend and we went on a fishing charter but did not catch ANYTHING for seven hours!! Exhausting. I also went to a Harry Potter museum with my mom, had some late Christmas get togethers with the cousins, and learned how to crochet! I made a little Stitch doll and he’s a little wonky, but still super cute. :) Plus, I still spent every possible moment with my little dog Mango. I adore her and wish that every single one of you could meet her.

That’s all for now! Text me if you want to see a video of worship at winter retreat or a link to Marty’s talks! I think they would really bless anyone who listens. Love you all!

❤ Hannah