September 05, 2008

What do you all day?

The subject today is also the reason of the tardiness of this entry: School has begun! And thus, so has our ministry.

So many people ask us what our days look like in the profession we are in. I stumble a lot when people ask this, because each day varies in activities. To tell you what we did all day would be to give you a play-by-play of each week. (Which, I know, is not what you really care to hear!) So, I thought it would be good to give a taste of what our week looks like and also to catch everyone up (especially those of you who support us financially and pray for us!) on what is going on at Auburn University.

With that, I give you: "What in the world do you do all day?"

1. We spend time with the Lord. That might be an obvious, and should also be a staple in the life of every Christian... but we see it as a high priority of our job to be in the prescense of the Lord daily so that we have something to offer those that we come in contact with. Without that time, our work is done in vain.

2. We plan. We have a time set aside for ourselves and also for the team as a whole to pray about/think about strategies to put the Gospel within arms reach of every student at Auburn.

3. We disciple. Both Andrew and I have a group of 10-12 student leaders (who each have their own personal ministires) that we meet with weekly to disciple, challenge, and encourage. We cherish these times! I know Andrew would say the same about his guys, but the girls I meet with aren't your average Southern complacent Christians. They have truly grasped what it means to be a part in advancing the Kingdom at Auburn and seize every opportunity to do so.

4. We build relationships for the sake of the Gospel. Our north star that we set before us is to get the Gospel within arms reach of every student at Auburn so that they might be able to experience Christ in Gospel-centered communities. This is done through both of us being an advisor in our respective Greek organizations, pledge communities (starting next week! they inclue a three-week series we get to do with almost every Greek pledge class at Auburn!), freshmen community (same as pledge comm, just not with Greeks), and just meeting people on campus and grabbing lunch/coffee and sharing life.

5. We help plan a weekly meeting. Every Thursday night we have a weekly meeting on campus that includes social time, worship, and a great message. Andrew is on a rotation to speak at these meetings every third week. This year we are studying through the book of Matthew and the messages have been great. We normally have around 250-300 students at the meetings.

6. We have fun! Not a day goes by that I'm not thankful for what we get to do with our lives. Our occupation is so rewarding... to be used by the Lord to have eternal impacts on people's lives is a joy! A lot of our time is spent just sharing life with the students. We are a relationally-based ministry... so that is a bulk of what we do. So, we have cook-outs, "Office" (TV show) parties, mug and muffin mornings, etc.

Life is good! We can't wait to share with you through this blog what the Lord does this semester.

2 comments:

Busy momma said...

I always enjoy reading your blog and it makes me wish I had been more involved in student ministries when I was at AU!! By the way, if you want ideas for a backpack for Madelyn, Stephen Joseph backpacks are super cute :)
war eagle and God bless~ Ashley Spencer

Leslie Harwell said...

Update your blog! hehe :)
We miss you! Love you bunches, Les