Two and a half weeks in AGGIELAND

HOWDY!
So before I give my usual spill, lets have an A&M fact, shall we?

Here in Aggieland, "Howdy" is the official greeting, as it says here on the traditions council website (oh yeah, I do research):

"Howdy" is the official greeting of Texas A&M University. It is our way of ensuring that no one feels like a stranger. The exact origin on this tradition is not known. However, "Howdy" is what sets us apart as the friendliest campus in the world.

It's everywhere. I walked into the bank to set up an account and what to my wondering ears did I hear but a friendly "HOWDY! How can we help you today?" Whenever anyone needs to get the attention of a large group, guess what they say?? HOWWDDYY!! Then they reply "HOOWWDDYYY!" Simply put, I really hope they make a t-shirt that says, "You had me at Howdy."

I want to go ahead and apologize for the delay in my posting here. Quite honestly, moving to a new city and trying to figure out life is kind of crazy. Then trying to learn how to do ministry in that new environment is a whole other challenge considering there is a lot of new things going on around me (not to mention the crazy stuff going on in my heart that I had no idea about)...but I digress/I'll share more later.

This is my new room! I downloaded a special panorama app just so I could post this picture for y'all. I have loved living here. I drive to campus every day but it is only a 7 minute drive. My roommates are so wonderful and all work in ministry which is a really cool connector.
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The weekend before school started, we took our ministry team to Boerne (pronounced like Bernie), Texas for our ministry team retreat. We played games, ate good food, bonded (of course), and watched this video on vulnerability. You should watch it.


So if you watched the video, hope it resonated with you as much as it did with us. It really opened up the floor for a lot of encouragement and transparency among our team which is always difficult but necessary to emulate the Gospel.

A shot of our ministry team
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Large group this semester is on the book of Ephesians.

It has been such an awesome experience for me to see how consistent the Gospel is in the midst of my inconsistency. Also, it makes me appreciate this little gold nugget called RUF. We have what is called a "fixed theology with a flexible methodology." This means no matter where you go to RUF, whether it is in Mississippi (holler) or in Texas (holler again) you will hear the same message strait from the Word. It may look a little different in style or set-up but my campus minister reminded us during our ministry team retreat to "hold our preferences loosely." How often do we hold our theology loosely but our preferences with a firm grip? Interesting to think about... Pictures from large group (courtesy of an RUF student- Margaret Stroud):

announcements

 worship

 visiting before large group starts

outside of All Faiths Chapel on campus
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Y'all, Angleball. (see picture below)

We play this every Tuesday with people from RUF and Westminster PCA Church in Bryan, TX. This sport is a mix between quidditch, water polo, ultimate frisbee, yodeling, idk it's all things at once. All I know is, this is my sanctification. 

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On a more serious note, this transition has really revealed my idols. All transitions are hard and I need to give myself room to adjust and to struggle; however, I can see a little more clearly just how much I relied on other things back home or in Oxford to give me affirmation and worth. Now that I am in a new town without any real places to hide, I feel exposed and threatened which leads to questioning of who I really am. Here;s the beautiful thing though: Even though I feel like I have completely built my life around finding affirmation from things other than Jesus, it doesn't change how He feels about me. I was reading 2 Timothy 2:13 which reads- "If we are faithless, he remains faithful--for he cannot deny himself." I also find much comfort in Colossians 2:13-14- "And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross." 

Praise be to God that my fickle heart is nailed to the cross and all of its sin is no longer mine to bear. I am adopted into the kingdom forever. 

So to all of you who have persevered to the end of this blog post, y'all are awesome. And to all of my supporters, whether you gave financially or have been praying, thank you for being an instrument of God in my life. I am still AMAZED that He has blessed me with friends who are willing to sacrifice time, money, energy, etc. in hopes that some may come to know Jesus as the lover of their soul.

Grace and peace in Christ who is our hope,

Anna