Gearing up!

Happy New Year! 

I hope the holidays treated you well and you got to spend some meaningful time with people you love :) Here are a few pictures from my break 

The wedding of two UTA Alum, Ben & Anna! Obviously had the best table :) 

Met my family in NYC for Christmas Day! 

Went to the lake at night with some students who also are very dear friends to me. Ignore the mustaches hahaha. 

We are back in full swing over in Arlington, our staff got back from a retreat in Austin a few days ago. We have hit the ground running in preparation for Winter Retreat which is this weekend! I will get there in a moment but I wanted to share with you some of what we discussed at retreat. 

The Three Kings: 

Prior to retreat we all read this book, A Tale of Three Kings by Gene Edwards. It was a very very thought provoking book covering the rise and fall of Saul, David, and Absalom. It is written much more as a narrative novel which made it easy to engage with imaginatively. I was very challenged in how I think about the wisdom of God and power. What haunted me the most through out the whole book is that if the decision whether all of those men should’ve been king or not was mine to make, I almost never would’ve arrived at God’s answer. Which was unsettling, left me really thinking about how often that must happen in my life now. The wisdom of God is foolishness to the world. The wisdom of God does not bow to logic, rationale, or what I think is wise. 

I wanted to share this excerpt from the book that kind of captures what I am talking about. Obviously there is context very much written into this, so if you are unfamiliar with the stories of Saul and David in particular some of this wont make sense, but the principle is still discernible nonetheless. 

"My king is mad. At least, I perceive him SO. What can I do?" First, recognize this immutable fact: You cannot tell (none of us can) who is the Lord's anointed and who is not. Some kings, whom all will swear are after the order of King Saul, are really after the order of David. And others, whom all men swear are after the order of David, really belong to the order of King Saul. Who is correct? Who can know? To whose voice do you listen? No man is wise enough ever to break that riddle. All any of us can do is walk around asking ourselves the question: "Is this man the Lord's anointed, and if so, is he after the order of Saul?" Memorize that question very well. You may have to ask it of yourself 10,000 times. Especially if you are a citizen of a realm whose king just might be mad. Asking this question may not seem difficult, but it is. Especially when you are crying very hard... and dodging spears ... and being tempted to throw one back...and being encouraged by others to do just that. And all your rationality and sanity and logic and intelligence and common sense agree. But remember in your tears: You know only the question, not the answer. No one knows the answer. Except God. And He never tells.” 

I hope that gives you food for thought and left you wrestling as it did I. The book is a super short read so I would definitely recommend! 

Winter Retreat:

On Friday we have one of our biggest events of the whole year, Winter Retreat! This is when all of the FOCUS campuses get together for a Friday-Monday retreat. It is always one of the most pivotal times of year where students catch a vision for the fact that God is doing something far beyond them. This time of year is when you really get to see students change from attendees to contributors and builders. It also is just one of the most enjoyable and fun weekends of the year. The very first picture is from retreat last year. 

Will you pray for us going into this weekend? 

1. Pray that our students encounter God genuinely and deeply. 
2. Pray that our students feel sincerely loved and rooted in this community- give them eyes to look out for the people around them. 
3. Pray this would fill them with excitement and courage to be missionaries to their peers back on campus as they go back to school. 
4. Pray for a smooth weekend with minimal hiccups :)

So thankful for you, your supports and prayers. They mean the world to me and our students. You make places like retreat where students encounter God in new ways possible. Thank you for contributing to the lives of these students, I am forever touched and grateful for you! 

Until next month, 

Sophie