Winter Retreat!

School is officially back in session and we hit the ground running the weekend before classes began at our annual Winter Retreat! Five to six hundred students from campuses all across the metroplex came together to worship, connect, and listen to a professor speak about grace all weekend. One of the highlights of the weekend was when we invited students up to share a scripture in languages other than English if they spoke another language. I wish I had counted how many different languages were represented! It was incredible and beautiful to hear the same passage spoken familiarly by and to people who often only come to church and hear it in English. It just felt like a glimpse of what God meant when he said "for every tribe, nation, and tongue."

Dr. Lee from Fuller Theological Seminary spent the entire weekend with us (despite the possibility of being snowed in the last day) to speak about grace. It always impresses me how engaged our students are when we invite them to engage with scripture at a collegiate level. These weren't 20 minute sermons, but almost hour long lectures. Dr. Lee is incredibly gifted and time passed so quickly - if you want to hear any of his talks from retreat, they're on our FOCUS Spotify account!

I'm super thankful to our staff team valuing family as much as they do. They made accommodations for all of the parents on staff to bring their kiddos and spouses so Luna got to spend the whole weekend with us. It was special to see students love on her and for our friends to help us out without hesitation. My good friend Ashley spent a lot of time entertaining her during sessions so that I could listen in without distractions.

Overall the semester is off to a great start and the adjustment to working with Luna is getting easier...though every week there is something new - so we're learning to be more flexible and communicate communicate communicate!

Thank you all for your prayers and support! God is good and each one of you display that to me through your generosity.

Love,

Jacy