Thankful for all Y'all!

 Hi!

I hope that the beginning to the Holiday season was full of joy for you! It's wild to me that December is already here.

There were so many neat ministry moments this past month. I've continued to have new girls come to core each week, and we have a fun consistent group of gals at this point in the year. There have been some formative moments with the girls that I meet with each week for FOJ, and I've seen our community show up at large as well. Going off of last month's update, I have continued to see the growth that only God can produce. His Spirit really is at work at Collin, and specifically in our ministry. 

Particularly this month, I've been learning the power of showing up. To show up and trust in God's timing, provision, and direction. I've also watched students learning how to show up in spiritual friendships and also in loving God with their mind and schedule. I pray that God would help you show up in whatever sphere or context that you may be in. He really is so faithful with our submissive heart. I'm grateful to have you on my team knowing that the work of the Kingdom is far reaching and spreading through people like you showing up. 

Here are some of the snapshots of God and students showing up this past month:


I took this during worship during one of our Thursday Night Fellowship meetings, and I wish I could play you what I also heard at this moment. There is nothing like a room full of Collin students worshipping God with authentic praise and full surrender. The way that these students worship is a lesson for us all! 


I was able to take CeCe to get her first "adult" Bible. We stayed and looked over several different versions and translations, but she was so excited with what she chose. It was so sweet to see her so ready to read and study with her new Bible. 



One of the apprentice classes for the fall semester is "Evangelism." We read through an encouraging book entitled, "More Ready than You Know", and got to talk through what outreach is. We discussed how we can reach out to students better, and as one of our assignments had to plan an outreach event as a team. We ended up hosting an event called "Taste of Culture." We had different students from the FOCUS community share about their cultural and ethic backgrounds both in and outside of Christian community while we all shared different dishes from varying cultures. 


Lailah preached her first official "sermonette" during one of her FNFs! I am always so stinking proud of her. She has continued to walk through this year ready and available to be used by God. Our community truly is blessed to have her with us. 



We had a lil Thanksgiving meal as a core, and had a blast petting Maria's pet bunnies the rest of the night :)



Here are some of the girls from core who came to an event we put on twice a year called Pizza Theology. It's an event where we can really practice the part of FOCUS' vision to "plant vibrant, intellectual, outreaching, Jesus-loving communities". We as a whole ministry met on a Sunday from 4-9, and learned as a community about some of the filters of thinking as a Christian. The fact that so many students from all our campuses showed up on a Sunday to learn about God, and to be challenged in their thinking is a testament to what God really is doing!

I am so blessed to call you friend and co-laborer. Thank you for your continued investment and support in my ministry, and the Kingdom as a whole. As always, please let me know how I can be praying for you and yours.

With love and peace,

Renee

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