LOYOLA- Fall 2012

I will be attending Loyola University in Chicago this Fall!

The more involved I become in the world of Higher Education, the more I want to know about it and how to make it better. With some encouragement from my boss especially, I applied to Loyola and was accepted. I will still be working at Moody full time and taking classes part time in the M.Ed Higher Education Program.

My hope is that this degree and future opportunities can help to bridge the gap between the two worlds I am most passionate about, under-resourced communities and college. In the future, I would love to be working in minority student affairs/multi-cultural office or in enrollment management programming for first generation college students. Maybe some other things too, but we will see how long my scholarly ambition lasts. :)

The direction I am headed now feels opposite in some ways to what I came here for. I came to Chicago for a Bible education with plans to do mission work overseas. I could have never expected how much I love the city and the westside in particular. I could never have known what deep relationships I would develop with the youth here. I could never have imagined loving my job so much or having some of these key opportunities. I could never have realized how my ideas about cross-cultural ministry and incarnational living would be made realities here in Chicago.This internal conflict over what I thought my future would be and what it has turned out to be has caused me to deeply appreciate that we are called to Christ, not to a place. It would be too easy to have guilt over what I am not doing instead of delighting in the ministry He has gifted to me. 

One of my favorite missionary stories is of Mary Slessor (Run, Ma, Run). I've been thinking what an inspiration she is young and doing Bible studies in a rough part of town. I love the scene when the tough boys swing a rock in front of her face and she does not flinch. If I remember right they end of attending the study and making sure no one gives Mary any more trouble. I may not be that heroic, but I do have great hope for this place. The Spirit of God is certainly at work and I look forward to seeing how all this will turn out... Maybe a few years from now I will be writing another entry where my life takes another twist. :)