They’re Messy, but They’re All That I Have

February and March flew by! I hope all of you had a fantastic last few months and have the opportunity to rest amidst all of the things that make our lives so busy. I pray that this month to come brings a renewed love for being outside and enjoying God’s creation! 

February and March Recap

These past two months have been full of all sorts of events from Pizza Theology to a preaching class to Night of Black Church to Rez fair to weddings and everything in between. It really is such a blessing to be able to be on campus and get to be a part of what God is doing at UTD. He is definitely moving in big ways and I am so excited to tell you all about it!

Prayer Walks

One thing we added to the month of February was doing weekly prayer walks around campus to pray for the things that the Spirit has put on our hearts. For those who have never done a prayer walk, the idea is to walk near or around the place that you believe that God is asking you to pray for while praying for specific things as you walk by them. This activity combined two of my favorite things- praying and walking- so I was excited to try it out. And wow- what a blessing! Weekly, we had a few students join us in praying for fellow students, the activities that they are involved in, the impact that they will have on campus, the buildings that are to come, the exams that they are all taking, the commuters, the people that live on campus, the parents of students, and the list could go on! 

It was such an encouragement to me to be able to be a part of actively praying for the people that we interact with everyday who may or may not have another smiling face on campus. I am so excited to see what God has in store for UTD and how I, and all of our students, get to join him in that! Would you join me in praying for all of UTD and that God would move in big ways on our campus?

Rez Fair and SOW

As many of you know, Easter is coming up and FOCUS at UTD celebrates Easter by doing a Resurrection Fair where we join with a bunch of other ministries on campus to do a big celebration of Jesus’s death and resurrection. It really is one of my favorite events that we do because it is so big that many students who have never heard the gospel get to hear about Jesus and what He did for us. During this event this year, we also had students from Western Washington University join us during their spring break to do outreach on our campus and to pray for our students. How sweet! They have been a great help and have been such a blessing to me and our campus. During their outreach this week, they have been washing shoes, asking students about the burdens that they would like to have lifted, and asking students what they think a redeemed world would look like. It has been so cool to hear about their conversations and how students are reacting to people who want to know them on campus.  Would you join me in praying for the students that we met and that they would know that there are people who are praying for them on our campus? 

Life in Community

What if I told you that life in community is so much better than life anywhere else. This is something that I’ve been thinking about and feel like God has put on my heart over and over again. So this month, I have decided to say yes to the things that I would normally say no to, and really dive in deep to what community can look like. So far, that has looked like more time on the phone calling people who live further away, showing up to things that I may not normally go to, and having a movie night! It really is such a blessing getting to work with the people I get to do life with and God has really moved my heart to see that more and more! Doing life with people can be messy, but it is way better than life any other way! 

Thanks again for joining me in ministry this year and for being so supportive of all that God is doing at UTD! Your prayers and support have been so apparent and appreciated!

Until next time,

Jessica :)

P.S. Can you find Waldo?

P.S.S. Do you know where the title of this blog comes from? Let me know if you do!