Finishing Well

What a year we've had! As more and more people I know are getting vaccinated, we're slowly getting more and more snippets of normalcy. Nothing too crazy has happened in the last couple of months, but our students relationships with one another have grown deeper and richer as they've gotten to interact more and live life together in ways they weren't able to for the majority of the year. It's a joy to see bonds strengthen and reflect on how the Lord has worked in each of their lives as well as my own this last year. Our students are in their finals week and we are gearing up for a change of pace this summer. It's a good time to fundraise, build relationships, and rest. I'm sooo looking forward to the summer but I'm trying to embrace the idea of finishing well. Here are some snapshots from the last month and a half:

I had the privilege to lead small groups with each of these girls in the Fall then we combined them in the Spring.

The girls in my peer team L to R: Hailey, Bailey, me, Hannah, and DeAnne. This was our first time all year being all together as Hannah and DeAnne were on Zoom until they were fully vaccinated this month!

All four of the student leaders I mentored this year are transferring out of Collin College (one is graduating from TWU) and will not be in our Collin ministry next year so I've been thinking through how to help them transition and how to continue our friendships moving forward. They have been incredible leaders this year and often ministered to me through their perseverance and the way they would walk alongside girls in their cores (small groups). Not a single week went by where they didn't also ask how I was doing which was so meaningful and special to me. I'll really miss having them at Collin next year but I'm eager for our next season of friendship and to see what they go on to do in their upcoming stages of life!

Everyone from our group that met Monday nights L to R: Hailey, Adriana, Jessica, me, Hannah, DeAnne, Bella, Andrea, and Bailey

My peer team along with Adriana's peer team met every Monday night this year outside and spread out to take COVID precautions AND it was a hybrid meeting with two girls on Zoom. Of course if weather was too cold or bad we met inside with masks or fully on Zoom depending on circumstances. They totally embodied STEADFASTNESS! All of these girls make me laugh A LOT but when it comes time to get real, they are vulnerable and open and genuinely chase the Lord's heart.

The women of our Collin FOCUS team L to R: Erin, Adriana, me, Kristen, and Dani.

The women I get to work directly with have become some of my closest friends this year! I'm sad that Kristen and Erin will be leaving full-time campus ministry, but I'm thankful they live close by and we no doubt will always be friends. Every Tuesday the five of us along with two other women from our church and our campus director, Garrett, would have what we call Girls Club...plus Garrett. It was time for us to build friendships as well as have thought-provoking discussions about who knows what.

Our end of year party!

To close out the school year, we had a cookout at a community pool for all of our students! It was great to connect with some students from other cores and cast a vision for our upcoming school year to them since we are hoping it will be drastically different from this COVID year.

As I briefly mentioned before, summer is a great time for me to fundraise for the upcoming school year. Thanks to all of you, I'm currently 73% of the way to my goal! I'm asking for prayers as I build my team. I only need $900 more per month. It would be incredible to find 9 people to give $100 a month! Please pray bold prayers with me to find that as I start reaching out to potential ministry partners this upcoming month.

Much love to you all!

Jacy