Fall is officially upon us, at least in terms of the school calendar, if not yet the weather! Already the exciting stories of God moving on campuses are all over social media, and it is exciting to see what God is doing in the lives of these students. Students are being saved, disciples are being made, the Gospel is going forward. God is good.
However, this morning, as I was rushing out the door, those thoughts were far from my mind. Instead, I was trying to get the car loaded up with everything we would need for our free lunch and Bible study, as well as my three kids and all of their things in order to drop them off at three different locations. I had already received a text yesterday that my fellow campus minister was sick and would be unavailable today, and then I woke up to a text from our one (and only one) student leader that a family emergency called him away.
By the time I was driving away from my house (later than planned), I was DONE. My parting words to my husband were “I can’t do this anymore. This feels like too much.” I was not looking forward to wrangling the kids to all of their places, and then trying to pick up the pizza and get it and all of our needed things across a hot parking lot on a 107 degree day. I just knew I was going to have to make multiple trips by myself, and since the year just started, students hadn’t begun sleeping through classes (or dropping them), so the parking lot would be very full. I was done.
And then, as I was driving across town, the Lord began speaking to my heart, as He often does. He started sending me gentle reminders. Reminders of the important work we are doing. Reminders of our Bible study last year, and how most of the students who came were not Believers, and they were encountering Jesus for the first time or in a new way. Reminders of the students that originally refused at the beginning of the year to stay for the Bible study, but by the end of the year were staying beyond just eating pizza. Reminders of watching our one student leader grow and mature and be ready even more this year to lead. So many great moments from last year.
He also reminded me of how our church had been praying for two years for someone to come and start a ministry at this small, local community college, and how God brought my family all the way across the country to this desert town. I had spent almost 10 years in full time college ministry before I got married, and I assumed those days were done. And yet, God brought us all the way here to Arizona, to walk in the doors of our church and have them rejoice at having someone who loved college students who could serve in the exact way they had been praying.
Despite all of these reminders, I wasn’t done complaining. I texted my friend Kasey who had worked with me in Dallas, because she understood where I was coming from. And then she reminded me of something our friend Beth Smith used to tell us in Texas: You can’t quit in August (or was it October?). Either way, the message was there: you can’t take what you are feeling now and hold it as truth. August is fun and exciting! God is moving in great ways! But you can also be exhausted. You can be frustrated by the lack of help or lack of student leaders. You can feel alone or overwhelmed at the needs in front of you. It can be a lot. But now is not the time to make big life-altering decisions, such as giving up on the ministry He has called you to.
Some seasons are harder than others. God knows this! He knows what we need, and He can help us get through it. August doesn’t last forever. (Thank goodness…who can keep up this pace?) Thankfully, the fruit we see from this fall will be the very things God will use to remind us of in the future.
(UPDATE: I did have to make two trips…BUT I got a front row parking spot. See? God is good!)
Jenny Caylor is a campus missionary at Estrella Mountain Community College.
by