Final Blog!

 Hello Everyone, 

I hope the spring is treating you well! Its been a while since my last update and I have a lot to fill you guys in on!  Let me start with a personal one.  You may remember that after my apprenticeship last year I committed to being on FOCUS staff through the end of May 2021.  As that date is approaching, through prayer and conversations, I have come to the conclusion that it is best for me to make a career change and end my employment with FOCUS at the end of May.  So by May 31st I will have transitioned off of FOCUS staff.  Both my supervisor and I are very optimistic and feel like this is the best next step for me personally and for my career.  I am leaving on great terms and can't wait to support FOCUS and to continue the great relationships I have made in my time in the ministry, both as a student and staff member.  I am still trying to figure out exactly what is next for me but I am very excited to take the things that I have learned about ministry into my future workplace!  FOCUS has blessed me immensely since I was a student and staff member and I am forever thankful that I got to spend two years trying to give back to a ministry that means so much to me!  I am going into to this new chapter with a solid foundation of faith and I can't wait to see how God continues to work in me and take me! Please be praying as I am continuing to look for a job and as I navigate my future plans!  

The school year at Collin is coming to a close and it was a good one!  It was such a strange year and we couldn't do a lot of what a typical year in FOCUS would look like.  We didn't have our normal Thursday Night Fellowship, an event every weekend or a party for every holiday, but we did foster community and offered the students at Collin deep friendship and an opportunity to deepen their faith.  While this year was vastly different it was still a success and I believe that our students and staff remained faithful and did their best to serve the campus as well as we could.  Give you a quick look of two of my favorite things that we did this semester!

Core 

I have talked about core in my previous blogs but I got the opportunity to lead two core this school year and both have ended this week.  Core is what we call our small groups and this year we have gotten to share many laughs and study scripture together.   Combining those two things leads to some great friendships.  These groups have brought lasting and meaningful relationships and core has meant a lot to me and the girls in it.  For our last official small group this past week a girl made a heart out of poster board and then cut it into five pieces and gifted it to each one of us.  It was such a sweet gift and symbol to how special these friendships are and how much we mean to each-other.  I am super proud of all the girls in my cores for their pursuit of God and growth this year!

This is the heart, my friend, Hannah made!

My Wednesday Night Core!

Tuesday Hang 

As a ministry we got to do more things in person this spring semester and with bigger groups of people as restrictions are being lifted and vaccinations are coming out.  One of things we got to do was called Tuesday Hang.  Every Tuesday we would go to one of the Collin campuses and just hang out with each other and in the process invite students we did not know to hang out with us.  I love Tuesday Hang! It was so fun to get to know other students outside of our ministry and to hang out with our current students! We really formed some awesome friendships on each of the Collin campuses.  

Thank YOU!

As I close out on the year and my time working with FOCUS, I can't leave without thanking you for supporting me and our ministry.  Just in my past two years working for FOCUS I have personally known so many students whose lives have changed.  They have grown spiritually, found good friends and have a new found purpose in life.  None of this could be possible without you and your support!  The work done in FOCUS blesses people far beyond college.  I know that to be true for the ways that the things I learned in FOCUS and the friends that I have made are still very active in my life!  So again, thank you for going on this amazing journey with me.  I am forever thankful you and the past two years.  I look forward to seeing you soon! 

With Gratitude, 

Erin