A Change of Pace

Alright, friends. We admit we've be remiss at keeping up this blog consistently, so here's what we're going to try to do. Harkening back to the beginnings of this blog, I (Rachel) am going to try to commit to writing for 15 minutes about campus ministry. Now, Elliott strived to write 15 minutes per day about ministry, but at this point, baby Gwendolyn won't let me. So here's what I will strive for: a 15 minute update per week. Perhaps I will be able to do more, but I figured weekly was a good starting point, considering we were doing every other month or so.

Okay, let's start the clock. 11:45 am. I have until noon.

To give you a swift update of our life since we last wrote, we've actually moved in with two of our students. Zack and Jocelyn were married a little over a year ago and have a little baby. They got a pretty good deal on a house rental but had a little too much space. So after much prayer and seeking out of wisdom, Elliott and I decided to move in. You can read more about our day-to-day experiences on my personal blog. It's definitely been a shaping experience, but we have seen God's hand through the entire process. We have been able to mentor Zack and Jocelyn on a more personal level, but at the same time, living in intentional community with them has strengthened us spiritually as well. It's pretty cool how God works like that. :)

We're also thankful for the move in that it has brought us to the very neighborhood where we do ministry. Although we loved living in the city, it brought us so far away from our church home and the campuses where we work. We now live about 10 minutes from our church (and walking-distance from a number of church members), 15 minutes from Haverford, and 20-25 minutes from Eastern.

11:50 am. 10 minutes to go!

As for the summer, a lot of our students have gone on trips. God provided in full for the three girls mentioned previously on the blog - in mighty, miraculous ways! And there were many others that we didn't share about on here that also saw miraculous provision. There are also a number of students who have remained behind on campus. Elliott has put together discipleship groups of about 3-4 students and meets with them weekly or every other week. He has also been playing games with a group of students once a week. Tonight, we're actually having some people from the discipleship groups over for a big game night.

As for me, I've been (and am still) on maternity leave. Come this fall, I'll be scaling back my hours a little bit. But I'm thankful that the CCO is flexible and I will still be able to stay involved with college students. In case you couldn't tell, Elliott and I really love what we do and consider it pure joy to have the opportunity to do what we do.

So thank you for reading and praying and supporting us. It's 11:57 right now, and I suppose I haven't lived up to my promise of 15 minutes.... but Gwen is squirming and seems discontent so I better attend to the needs of my three-week-old.

This is Rachel, signing off!