In Great Appreciation

The past two weeks have been crazy. Events on campus (see below) preceded the great High Feast of Easter. Just a day after Easter Sunday, I received word that my paternal grandfather had died. I rushed home to be with my family. It was a good, if solemn, opportunity to be with my family during the Easter Season. The hour I got back to Maryland I dropped one bag at home and packed another to rush down to Upper Marlboro, MD to join our Catholic Student Center's Spring Retreat. Back on campus this week we've been looking forward to next fall, when we'll have our big outreach push for the year. That planning has been exhausting, as there is much to strategize and organize. This work is enjoyable for me though, so it's been fun work. We will have a retreat next weekend (may 1-3) with our student leaders in West Virginia to talk about what we'll be doing in the fall, vision casting for the systematic incarnational evangelization that we perform.

In the midst of all this, there have been lunches, phone meetings, emails, and much waiting while my placement for next year is determined. I still am unsure where I'll be. Needless to say, it has been a bit of an emotional strain to be unsure whether I'll be back at UMD or not next year this late in the game.

But despite all this, it is incredible to have such a devoted support team who blesses me with such heroic and loving generosity. I am struck with profound appreciation for you all who share with me of your hard-earned paycheck, just to be out here living a life trained on God and encouraging students to do likewise.

The spring semester is what FOCUS calls the "Build Season". It's when we put much energy into forming our disciples through scriptural study, discipline in virtues, and challenges to generosity. Now, as that season comes to a close, we begin to focus our energy outward again, looking ahead to the fall. My disciple, John, has been leading a study for a couple years and now has 2 disciples of his own. His mission for fall outreach will be to support his disciples as they start their own bible studies. Tony has a Bible study but no disciples yet. His mission will be to invest a majority of his energy on those guys in his study already, and hopefully ask a couple of them into discipleship. Chris will be starting a new Bible study. It will be my duty to support him in that and really show him how to do it. I am excited for all these men to step up and respond to these challenges. Please pray for them.