I feel like a senior again

This time 11 years ago, I was in 8th grade, and thinking about where I was going to go to high school the next year. I was in the Cesar Chavez zone, but wanted to go to South Mountain because it was closer and it was a black school, while Chavez was a Mexican school (you probably didn’t know 8th grade Jason, and you should count that as one of your blessings). I eventually went to Chavez for 4 years, met Jesus, and did some other stuff that was wholly insignificant.

This time 7 years ago, I was in 12th grade, and thinking about where I was going to go to college the next year. I applied at the three public in-state schools, got accepted to all three, and got scholarships to all three. NAU was my first choice, but they only offered ⅔ tuition. U of A was second, and their offer of full tuition was appealing. However, my last choice, ASU, gave me full tuition plus an extra $1000 per semester (or maybe per year; I can’t remember). I went there, despite losing my scholarship after my sophomore year, really got to know Jesus, and did some other stuff that was mostly insignificant.

This time 2 years ago, I was a supersenior, and thinking about what I was going to do after college. Thinking is actually probably too light a verb. I was freaking out. I mean, this was bigger than what school I was going to next. This was my future we were talking about here. A whole lot of prayer went into this, tons more than what high school and college I was gonna go to combined. As you should already know, after I graduated I went on to EDGE Corps for two years (well, one-and-a-half so far).

Which leads me to this time. 2 weeks ago, I was in Colorado Springs for a training summit with EDGE, and the big question everyone asked was, “What are you doing next year?” It feels very much like my final year of college all over again.

No, this is not a post to tell you what I’m doing next year. I don’t know that yet. It’s just listing options that I’m praying about. Options such as:

Staff in Training: This would mean continuing on on staff wherever they would send me. Chances are, they would send me somewhere other than ASU since that’s where I did my undergrad and both years of EDGE, and they would want me to get some diversity.
Entity Staff: This is staying on staff, but without the long term commitment that comes with Staff in Training. From my understanding, it’s kinda like another year of EDGE minus training summits.
Associate Staff: This person works at a job outside of the Navs, but is still involved with the Navs in their spare time. The only fundraising they have to worry about is for ministry stuff.
City Life: This is a new sector of the Navigators. From my understanding, this is a group of people who still live by the Navigators calling statement (“to advance the gospel of Jesus and His Kingdom into the nations through spiritual generations of laborers living and discipling among the lost”), though they are not employed by the Navs. They live together and minister together, maybe even work together, for the purpose of bringing Jesus to the workplace and to the neighborhood.
Leave Navs: This would probably mean climbing the management ladder at the movie theater or finding a better paying job.

Considering there was one point in my life when I vowed never to go into ministry, I don’t want to take any of these off the table, because I know God can put it right back on. I wanna skip the middle man. I am leaning towards one of these, but I’d rather not say which until something’s more set in stone. So, until then, I will be talking to God, to my campus director, and whoever else will listen and give godly advice.

And fortunately, I don’t have finals this time around.

Outreach Night

Every Tuesday night during the semester, a couple of my co-laborers and I head over to the honors dorms to serve smoothies and other goodies to students in hopes of engaging them in conversation.

Tonight we’re doing something a little different.

We’re showing up a little earlier this week, and serving a full meal. The price of admission for them is to write in our God Journal, which asks something like, “If you could ask God something, what would it be?” or “What are your thoughts on who God is?” We’re really hoping that tonight, before we leave the honors dorms, that we will be able to engage in a deep conversation with the students that they can mull over during the break. Please pray for tonight, as we will be fighting against “Glee” (which will be on in the lounge where we’re eating), studying, and some possible end of the year celebrations. Pray that these students will hear God’s Word and think about what it means for them. Lastly, pray that this would be an open door for us to continue discuss spiritual matters come next semester.