Welcome weeks....the very phrase can cause a college minister's wife to feel both elation and utter panic all at once. "Welcome Weeks" is the term used by the University of Arkansas to classify the week before the fall semester begins and the first week of classes. If you are in college ministry, this is PRIME TIME to meet new students and get connected with them. If you are a college minister's wife, it means that your husband will be occupied a LOT for the next two weeks....
Activities the week before classes start includes sorority recruitment (more on how we are involved in this later this week), move-in, early week for the Razorback Marching Band, and various other activities on campus hosted by various groups in order to get students plugged in and adjusted to life at their new "home."
For BCM staff, it means they are pushing themselves and our students all week long to get out and meet students on campus. For several years, we did a big block party to welcome back students and introduce them to the BCM. We realized however, we weren't pushing our students to go to the campus. We kept expecting the campus to come to us. So, we switched gears and came up with a plan that gave us the opportunity to interact with students where they are already at. Our new game plan involved going to different parts of campus every evening and hosting a low-cost, high-invitation (meaning students have to get out during the day and invite students) event. Most of these events encourage conversation and building relationships with new students. This year our activities include yard games near a dorm, glow in the dark ultimate frisbee on Old Main lawn, a trip to the Drive-In, attending Friday Night Live (a university sponsored event that is populated by freshman and international students) and hiking in Devils Den. We encourage our students to get phone numbers of the people they make good connections with and to CONTACT THEM...facebook, twitter, vine, text message or just a good ol' phone call is sometimes all a person needs to encourage them to come give the BCM a try.
And that's just this week....next week includes the launch of Villages (our BCM small groups and our main focus this year), Razorbash (a big event with booths of local businesses, churches, campus ministries, and student organizations), Freshman Pep Rally, and....oh yeah....classes start! And in between all of those things, staff and students alike are trying to reconnect with anyone they met in the last week. Reconnecting could involve meeting up for a meal in the cafeteria or union, grabbing coffee, getting ice cream, or offering to take students on a run to the store.
Can you see why this time of year is so exciting and exhausting at the same time? It is so thrilling to get to meet new students and get to see our upperclassmen grow in leadership and ministry as they reach out to underclassmen. But the days are long for everyone involved. Cole is up and out the door by 9 and comes home for dinner, only to go back out again until 10 or later.
So back to the BCM wife....what does this mean for me? Lots of long days at home with small kiddos (we have three that are four and under). And my prayer for myself this year is that I wouldn't just seek to survive, but to THRIVE. I am NOT a staff minister of the BCM; my first responsibility is to minister well to our family, and then to our students. Ministry for me right now mostly happens within the walls of our home. Sometimes that can be hosting a small group or discipling college girls. Sometimes ministry for me is simply letting our home be a haven for Cole when he comes home. And I want to do this well. I desperately want to not be a heap on the floor when my husband comes home. I don't want the words that come out of my mouth to be harsh and angry because I am exhausted by the long days. I don't want my children to dread these weeks because it means mom is on edge and short tempered.
So I am trying to gear up for battle these next two weeks....I am in the word at some point in the day (I'm not fixated on a time as long as it happens). I am in prayer over our current students and the ones the Lord will bring to us this year. I am trying to get out of the house when I can so my kiddos don't get cabin fever. I am eating well and drinking lots of water and getting in a workout when I can. And most of all...I am giving myself and my husband and my kids lots of mercy and grace because the enemy would like nothing more than to distract from the work of the kingdom than by causing conflict in our home. Will this be the week someone gets sick...YES! It's already happened. Is my house a war zone from 7 a.m.-8 p.m. while I try to entertain kiddos? Absolutely! Do I have a stash of dark chocolate hidden for my personal consumption when I need a break...you know it! But the fruit that will come out of my husband and his staff/students pushing hard these first two weeks will hopefully be ETERNAL! ETERNAL.....isn't that amazing?! We are doing eternal work for the kingdom as we engage with college students! We are fighting for the souls of these students as we engage them in gospel conversation over yard games or dinner in the Union. And that is worth two hard weeks out of my year....the souls of students who one day I'll get to stand beside as we sing, "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty...who was and is and is to come!"
Activities the week before classes start includes sorority recruitment (more on how we are involved in this later this week), move-in, early week for the Razorback Marching Band, and various other activities on campus hosted by various groups in order to get students plugged in and adjusted to life at their new "home."
For BCM staff, it means they are pushing themselves and our students all week long to get out and meet students on campus. For several years, we did a big block party to welcome back students and introduce them to the BCM. We realized however, we weren't pushing our students to go to the campus. We kept expecting the campus to come to us. So, we switched gears and came up with a plan that gave us the opportunity to interact with students where they are already at. Our new game plan involved going to different parts of campus every evening and hosting a low-cost, high-invitation (meaning students have to get out during the day and invite students) event. Most of these events encourage conversation and building relationships with new students. This year our activities include yard games near a dorm, glow in the dark ultimate frisbee on Old Main lawn, a trip to the Drive-In, attending Friday Night Live (a university sponsored event that is populated by freshman and international students) and hiking in Devils Den. We encourage our students to get phone numbers of the people they make good connections with and to CONTACT THEM...facebook, twitter, vine, text message or just a good ol' phone call is sometimes all a person needs to encourage them to come give the BCM a try.
And that's just this week....next week includes the launch of Villages (our BCM small groups and our main focus this year), Razorbash (a big event with booths of local businesses, churches, campus ministries, and student organizations), Freshman Pep Rally, and....oh yeah....classes start! And in between all of those things, staff and students alike are trying to reconnect with anyone they met in the last week. Reconnecting could involve meeting up for a meal in the cafeteria or union, grabbing coffee, getting ice cream, or offering to take students on a run to the store.
Can you see why this time of year is so exciting and exhausting at the same time? It is so thrilling to get to meet new students and get to see our upperclassmen grow in leadership and ministry as they reach out to underclassmen. But the days are long for everyone involved. Cole is up and out the door by 9 and comes home for dinner, only to go back out again until 10 or later.
So back to the BCM wife....what does this mean for me? Lots of long days at home with small kiddos (we have three that are four and under). And my prayer for myself this year is that I wouldn't just seek to survive, but to THRIVE. I am NOT a staff minister of the BCM; my first responsibility is to minister well to our family, and then to our students. Ministry for me right now mostly happens within the walls of our home. Sometimes that can be hosting a small group or discipling college girls. Sometimes ministry for me is simply letting our home be a haven for Cole when he comes home. And I want to do this well. I desperately want to not be a heap on the floor when my husband comes home. I don't want the words that come out of my mouth to be harsh and angry because I am exhausted by the long days. I don't want my children to dread these weeks because it means mom is on edge and short tempered.
So I am trying to gear up for battle these next two weeks....I am in the word at some point in the day (I'm not fixated on a time as long as it happens). I am in prayer over our current students and the ones the Lord will bring to us this year. I am trying to get out of the house when I can so my kiddos don't get cabin fever. I am eating well and drinking lots of water and getting in a workout when I can. And most of all...I am giving myself and my husband and my kids lots of mercy and grace because the enemy would like nothing more than to distract from the work of the kingdom than by causing conflict in our home. Will this be the week someone gets sick...YES! It's already happened. Is my house a war zone from 7 a.m.-8 p.m. while I try to entertain kiddos? Absolutely! Do I have a stash of dark chocolate hidden for my personal consumption when I need a break...you know it! But the fruit that will come out of my husband and his staff/students pushing hard these first two weeks will hopefully be ETERNAL! ETERNAL.....isn't that amazing?! We are doing eternal work for the kingdom as we engage with college students! We are fighting for the souls of these students as we engage them in gospel conversation over yard games or dinner in the Union. And that is worth two hard weeks out of my year....the souls of students who one day I'll get to stand beside as we sing, "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty...who was and is and is to come!"
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