Thankful

It has been a long, long, very long day.  And yes, we are watching The Tudors again.  Can’t wait to see the Emmy’s tomorrow though…love Jimmy Fallon and definitely want to pull for some folks!

Worship was good this morning, but I admit I nearly choked up saying outloud our news about conference program money.  It’s good to say it outloud.  That makes it real and then we begin to work towards being proactive and not just reactive.

I finally worked up the energy to write to our board members and to some fellow alum and at dinner tonight I told the students about our new opportunity.  I thought I could make it at least the night without telling them – especially since this was our first worship, but at dinner I told them.  We had a good discussion about how we could cut costs and the things that they definitely wanted to keep and that was encouraging.  They were ready to help and all of us I think are ready to see what we can do.

I was also encouraged by a recent graduate who just entered grad school telling me, “I’m going to see how much of my paycheck I can give to Wesley every month.  Other students deserve the same experience that I had with Wesley.”  I was encouraged by the words of a dear, dear friend who was a part of Wesley when it was WNW with me.

“To the old Wesley Crew –

 Narcie – Thank you for sharing this unfortunate news with us all.  As we continue to struggle through this “recession” many nonprofits are losing support from their normal revenue streams.  On a positive note it is an opportunity to seek out new opportunities for funding and partnership.

After reading Narcie’s note I couldn’t help but reflect on my time at Wesley.  I think all of us on this list that are alumni think fondly of our time together.  Wesley gave us home away from home, a place to spend time with other students that were interested in grace and love.  I am forever grateful for the opportunities that Wesley afforded me as a student.  From the experiences of providing hope to those who needed it most to enjoying tons of laughs with friends, Wesley made an indelible mark on my life.

That being said I am pledging to make monthly donations to the Winthrop Wesley Foundation so that currents students can have the same opportunities that we did.  I want the students that are apart of Wesley now to be able to be fans of miracles, mercy, humility, grace and hope and they need our help to make that possible.

I do hope all of you will join me in true reflection on the importance of Wesley in your life and commit to making a monthly gift in support of its mission.”

I am thankful for the passion I saw in the students this evening around the dinner table.  I am thankful for my recent grads who are starting out but are already looking to help the next generation and I am thankful for the dear friends who like me, still to this day feel the forever imprints of our time spent in campus ministry.

Thanks to all of you for the prayers!  Tomorrow will be time for setting up paypal accounts, newsletter writing, and evaluating our budget and ministry! 

These Tudors really are crazy…