Summertime

It's hard to believe, but the spring semester is wrapping up for the students here at Virginia Tech, and that means April and I have been here working at the BCM for an entire school year. We've gone through the cycle of what happens in a typical year here, and had a chance to get a good feel for the community and rhythm of the ministry. Although I'm sure every year will be very different due to people and circumstances, it feels good to have this first year behind us. It gives me a feeling of accomplishment and of knowing some of what to expect as we head into year two.

So what are we going to do over the summer? I feel like I get asked that question a lot these days, and understandably so, because what the heck is somebody who works in campus ministry going to do for the three months when the campus is empty? One way I often answer is "I'm not really sure," because we haven't experienced a summer here yet. Here are a few things that we do know we're going to be doing:

• While most students are gone, there are still some around for summer school and jobs in the area. BCM has a Tuesday night summer Bible study, so we will be a part of that. We're also looking forward to spending more time with the students that are around now that life is slower and they're not as overwhelmed with school.
• We want to prepare for the fall. It seems way too early to be thinking about what's going to happen in September since it's only May now, but we would love to have some good plans in place so that we're ready to invest more time and energy in relational things when the students return.
• Reading and studying. I haven't done enough of that this year, and I want to take some time to grow and learn.
• Camp. That's right, April and I are going to be working a week of Centrifuge (a Christian summer camp for high school students) in June at Union University in Tennessee. I last worked camp there in the summer of 2004, so this will be a return to the good old days for me. We're excited to be able to go do this together.
• Vacation! We've planned a vacation to the Outer Banks in July for just the two of us - this will be our first vacation by ourselves since our honeymoon (which was about 3 years ago now). We'll also be doing some other travelling to visit family, friends, and people who support our ministry.
• And finally, we hope to give a little more attention to this blog this summer to share our thoughts on life here in Blacksburg and other things that are going on in our world.

I always wanted to spend a summer in Blacksburg as a student, but it never worked out. I'm very excited to see that dream come to life this summer!