twenty-three

First off, I have to apologize for dropping on my weekly reflections the last two weeks. That whole Thanksgiving and snowed-in bit last week kind of messed up my working schedule, so I dropped the ball on writing about those weeks.

So a brief summary of the last 3 weeks: we had a short week for Thanksgiving, followed by a week of icy/snowy conditions that actually led to two missed days of work, a canceled SHOP (student leadership meeting) and the first Tuesday night INN in at least ten years to be canceled, all due to the crazy weather. Western canceled a couple days of school, many local public schools missed entire weeks due to poor road conditions. Just when you think that nothing can pull the world down from its breakneck pace, Bellingham screeched to a halt. I loved it, for the chance to take a break, read, decorate my Christmas tree, and spend time with Stacy.

The brief break did allow me to get some finish-up work done on a project I’ve been working on all quarter and finally launch the newest version of the INN’s website. After a series of delays, we finally were able to get things going with a new content management system called XOOPS (www.xoops.org) and build a new design that is more visually pleasing and has the ability to accommodate for growth in the future. Please take a second to check out the site at www.theinnministries.org.

The quarter is now begin to draw to a close for Western and we have begun to think about the next few months, as well as plan our final Christmas events to wrap up the year. A large part of my job role is to help plan and coordinate our special events and retreats, so I am in charge of the last INN of the quarter, which we host up on campus as a Christmas Party called Fa La La La La La La La INN (catchy huh?). This year’s gathering will feature special musical guests Late Tuesday, Christmas games, and refreshments. I’m pretty excited as it all comes together. We’re kind of in "crunch mode" as the last stages of planning are upon us, so the stress and excitement levels are both raising a bit.

Also, to wrap up the quarter, every year the staff and students take part in a service activity of some sort, giving us all a way to give back to the community at this time of year. This year we’re heading down to Seattle to help the Salvation Army decorate for their Toys ‘N Joy festival, where they host less-fortunate families for a gift-giving party. I’m excited about this, especially because I haven’t had the opportunity to do this "Christmas Plunge" activity with the INN before and it will be great to get down into Seattle to see and serve the people there.

Finally, as the quarter is drawing to a close, I have also been reflecting on what I have experienced over the last 3.5 months. It’s weird to look back and see all that’s happened in such a short time. Welcoming students back to school, planning INN program stuff, working to help small group leaders get started with their new groups, beginning to get excited about the Spring mission trips, and so much more. Even beyond all of the programs and activities, I look back to see how close our staff has become. We spent the last two days together planning ahead for next quarter. We did the same sort of thing in early September, when we met together for the first time as a staff, but this week felt much different to me. Part of it is me feeling more comfortable as a staff member. I feel like every day I am more comfortable in my position here, more prepared to do the next thing, and more aware of the bigger things that God is doing in and with this community. The other part that changed at this retreat was the closeness of the staff and interns. I think we have all grown much closer over these months, learning each other’s personalities, strengths, weaknesses, and finding ways to work together as something of a family. There is a tremendous amount of support and loyalty that we have for each other and I feel like I saw that a lot this week. I am proud to be a part of this group and see the way God touches our staff.

Oh, and I also had a birthday during that period. I might need to change this "Twenty-three" thing to "Twenty-Four" some time soon. Or maybe think up a more creative name. We shall see.

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