Thursday, March 31, 2011

McNelson Staff

The Staff I Work With

The McDonald and Nelson Halls staff work together. Shannon B. is the Residence Director (RD; not pictured above) and lives in an apartment in Nelson. Jess S. is the Assistant Director (AD; far right) for Nelson and Gerina D. (not pictured) is the AD for McDonald. The two Resident Assistants (RAs) in McDonald are Lindsay S. and Brittany H. (both not pictured). The RAs for Nelson include Irene A. (far left), Whitney B. (between Irene and me), Jada Y. (between Jess and me), Anno H. (not pictured), Brittany T. (not pictured), and me (in the middle).

These women are SSOO amazing to me. As warned when they were inducted into Res Life, they live their lives in a fish bowl. People watch them and they are expected to live exemplary lives that reflect the mission of Res Life:
The mission of Residence Life Education and Housing is to support ACU's mission by offering intentional, Christ-centered living and learning communities that provide opportunities for student learning, student success, and authentic relationships in excellent residential facilities.

Each of them have been faithfully committed to weekly devotionals as a staff, weekly staff meetings, organizing bimonthly hall programs/activities, 6+ hours of intentional relational contact with the girls on their hall, encouraging one another in everything, being open to grow, setting high standards for themselves, praying, and still being excellent students! I don't know how they do it, but it blows my mind!

Remember how crazy your freshmen hall was? The circumstances these women face on a regular basis are insane! One thing I've been so overwhelmingly reminded of this year is God's faithfulness to only call us to the things He will empower us to do. It's been ridiculously amazing to see the Lord give each of us such peace despite all of the caos and sadness we face. It's also been amazing to experience the power of such a close and positive community... I love the girls on my hall! They bring so much joy to my life.

Thank You so much, Jesus, for the friendships that are forming because of You calling us here. Lift up the Res Life staff I work with to see Your face and be enthralled by Your beauty. Give them confidence to surrender themselves constantly into Your hands. We love You so much!

P.S. About 3 weeks ago I was welcomed onto the Res Life staff for Morris Hall, a sophomore hall. I am SO STOKED about that and can't wait to blog about it.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

"Do Your Best and Give God the Rest"


Wheeww (*big sigh*), obviously I failed at keeping up with this blog. That being said, I have undoubtably had it constantly on my heart to keep post blogs, I've just been extremely lacking in the time to be able to do so. Nevertheless, I will seize this moment! As this semester continues on, I can just see mediocrity creeping into the lives of many of my residents and I know they were made for more and are capable of more. This is my cry for them.


"Do your best and give God the rest." I've been learning the value of this quote from Pastor Jon Courson, the pastor from my home church Applegate Christian Fellowship, lately. The most important thing in life is to LOVE the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love our neighbor as our self. This means being intentionally involved only in the things we can devote our energy to and intentionally devote our energy in the things we are involved in. This requires looking at current situations with a very futuristic perspective. Be careful to invest only in the things we are called to. Then dare to do big things! Let go of burdens. Place everything In God's Hands.

Also, like the parable of the coins in Luke 19 (v.11-27): take what the Lord has given you, the gifts and talents you have, and instead of stuffing them away, make the most of them. "Let your light so shine before men, that they might see you good works and glorify your Father in heaven" Matthew 5:16.

These things remind me to intentionally do things as unto my Faithful Creator. What better opportunity to glorify Him than right now? I know this looks different for EVERYONE, but take a few moments to write out the things you're involved in and what your role is in them. Think about what other people's roles are. How can you encourage them in that?

Live life openly. I've noticed that the more I am able to admit my weaknesses before others, the more I am enabled to improve in those areas (a story that is an awesome example of this, hopefully to come later). People love to make other people happy! It's innate and it's so good! When you live openly before God, He empowers you. He empowers us to be His servants. I do my part. He does His.

There is "love, joy, peace, and righteousness in the Holy Spirit," as my current favorite song puts it. So wake up (Psalm 63), dress up (Ephesians 6), and give it up (John 3:30) to Him. All of it. Anything. Everything. Then DO IT. God out there. Make a positive difference whenever there's opportunity. Seek out opportunity. Have you ever seen God answer a prayer in your life? God pray for someone, that they might experience the same joy!

Live selflessly. Seek vision. Acknowledge Him.

Side note: My off-the-top-of-my-head definition of VISION is a heavenly direction that motivates you toward godliness, transformation, contentment, love, and satisfaction.
Another side note: Please pray for me to be an encouragement to my girls without offending them. Pray that they would become the leaders and followers of Christ that I know that they are.