Friday, August 22, 2008

Goodbye, Friday...Hello, Students!

This will be our last quiet Friday for a few months -- until the holidays, I guess. School starts on Monday, but things will really begin tomorrow at our student center with a dessert get-together. Last year we held this get-together in our home and had more show up than we thought, so it was pretty packed. We love having students come over, but we also want them to be able to breathe.

School starting up again can hit a nerve with me, but it lessens each year. Casey is beginning his fifth full year of campus ministry, and I am so glad we are farther away from that first year, when I hardly knew anyone and hardly knew what I should be doing as a campus minister's wife. When I say it 'hits a nerve' I mostly just mean that I get a little anxious. This is such an enormously busy time for Casey, because in ministry your job is never a 9 to 5 thing (picture getting calls before 8 a.m. on Christmas morning).

So I know what to expect, for the most part. I know that, although Casey is able to be at home later in the mornings and has Thursdays off, his after-worship time is spent talking to many a student, and most evenings of the week are penciled in with one thing or another. It may not seem like I should have much to adjust to, but Casey is a very hands-on dad. He and I share the responsibilities in a big way, even more during the summer months, and so when that changes a bit in the fall I definitely notice the difference.

Now, the important question: would I change what Casey does to have a more 'normal' life and schedule throughout the year? Never. When Casey finished grad school, he and I both thought he would be headed for associate ministry and/or pulpit ministry. But when he took this job and became a campus minister and I saw him at work with the students, I knew this was where he needed to be. He loves the students and I love the students. We miss them when they leave for the summer and when they graduate -- we even have them over to watch Lost and The Office on Thursday nights (and now probably Heroes on Mondays).

Maybe that anxiousness I feel is not so much anxiety after all.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

and I have been truly blessed that ya'll said hi to me my first year. I hope I am able to come around this semester. love ya

tracey said...

Aww, thanks Jackie! We would love to see you and have you meet new people -- love you too! =)

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...