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I’m on my 15th multi-state, college ministry-exploring road trip! (Details here.) So this week’s blogs are providing a little bit of an “under the hood” look at what I learn and experience on these trips, both for the world of college ministry and otherwise. Enjoy!
Road trips taught me to balance my diet. At home, “enough” fruits and such would enter my system, and I’d simply “eat what I was hungry for” a good portion of the time. So my body would balance things out fairly well. On the road trips, negligence in balance soon enough brings headaches, lethargy, or general grossness. And tighter-fitting college T-shirts.
At home, intentional time with the Lord finds its way into my schedule; on road trips, it has to be planned, purposed, guarded.
When the weeks stretch before me in unending semi-pattern at home, procrastination never stings me too deeply. Little diversions and distractions don’t seem to matter much. On a road trip, the seconds don’t really matter more – but they seem to; I’m reminded that they do; I’m taught to “number my days” out here in a special way.
Road trips always remind me about the value of time spent on people. The joy from one dinner with one longtime friend last night… the beauty of getting to encourage college ministers (who just about always need encouragement!)… doing in-person what I get to do – what I’m supposed to do – from a distance every day: support these men and women who labor among the collegians. Each is worth the time spent (in Dallas or in Las Vegas), but road trips have to remind me.
Road trips demand marshaling.
By even taking this trip, I’m marshaling my funds to the causes that matter most to me. On the trip, I marshal my time towards the most necessary, whether that be accomplishment or relationship or administration or rest or, yes, definitely sometimes play. So I marshal wisdom and prayer to determine what is most needed at this point, caring far more about “I should do this now” than “I should do this soon.” On road trips, I’m far better about going to sleep when I need to, finding odd half-hours to tweak my upcoming seminar, spending real time with real people, turning the TV off, and also begging God to show me how to proceed – knowing (in my heart and not only my head) that unless He builds this trip, I labor in vain who build it.
Road trips remind me how to live like a sojourner. Because I should be living much more like this all the time.
Some have said I’m supposed to live like it’s wartime, a phenomenal (and biblical) metaphor. But since I’ve never been in a war but have taken a few extensive road trips, I’ll put this metaphor alongside that one.
Written from Henderson, Nevada
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I’m on my 15th multi-state, college ministry-exploring road trip! (Details here.) This week’s blogs are a chance to ride along with me, both on the fun stuff and the ministry learnin’. Enjoy.
It makes sense to spread far and wide the “Spring Forward, Fall Back” reminder for clock-adjustment… until you come here. As you may be well aware, Arizona doesn’t “celebrate” Daylight Saving Time, so at this moment they’re in line with Pacific Time; come mid-November, they’ll be tracking with the Mountain Timers.
Similarly, it’s natural and helpful to discuss strong August college ministry ideas, or to share an excellent approach to reaching students in each half of the school year. Until you’re talking to college ministers at the dozens of Quarter System schools.
One might be tempted to call regular on-campus meetings an “obvious” “Best Practice”… but that just means we haven’t met too many campus ministers at commuter schools.
And I’ve heard about methods trumpeted because of their fruits at one campus… then seen the scars left from those same methods on several other campuses.
It looks like this road trip is going to involve some purposeful time spent getting to know a couple of campuses and God’s work there. But I already know that both schools are great examples of campus diversity. UNLV is clearly in one of the most unique metropolitan areas in the U.S.. And last time I visited, I thoroughly enjoyed stumbling upon its large Hotel Management school (makes sense in Las Vegas, right?).
Northern Arizona University, on the other hand, is where I once met a college minister devoted to niche ministry among outdoors-lovers. NAU, surrounded by mountains and in the middle of the very unique town of Flagstaff, naturally inspires unique ministry.
And THAT’s why it makes sense to travel 1200 miles to explore a little more of the college ministry world: because I can’t really learn about Northern Arizona University by studying SMU (the closest university to where I live). In fact, studying SMU wouldn’t even tell me an awful lot about impacting University of Texas at Dallas, TCU, Texas Wesleyan University, or any of the other schools within 50 miles of my house.
I’ll get the chance on Wednesday to talk to some Las Vegas pastors about reaching their local “campus tribes.” And I’ll tell them the same thing I blog about often: College campuses are different, so we’ve got to figure out how to reach each one.
Fortunately, they won’t have to travel 1200 miles to evaluate their mission fields. And as for me, I’m happy to do it.
Written from Motel 6, Holbrook, Arizona
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Finished updating at 10:33pm Mountain, Sunday the 10th
As I wrote in the introduction to Road Trip 15, I plan to have some fun with this blog over the next week. To kick that off (while I’m still at home in Dallas), I’ll update this post throughout Saturday and Sunday as I count down 24 (or so) hours until I head for Vegas. Newest entries at the bottom.
Saturday 10:47am: Showered – probably my last before I leave tomorrow morning. (Who needs to take a shower before a day in the car? Preposterous!) That’s the first thing to cross off on today’s to-do list: a list that is quite daunting. Way too much to get done before leaving. And I’m sleepy – it took hours to get to sleep last night.
I think I’ve decided to take my dad’s advice and drive as far as I can Sunday. I wanted to stop near Portales and then explore Eastern New Mexico University a little Monday morning, but getting further on Sunday (Flagstaff, maybe?) will make things a lot more flexible.
Saturday 12:12pm: Eating. Calling the people who run the Dallas North Tollway. Paying a credit card. Emailing a pastor about John 1:1. These aren’t exactly pertinent issues for the upcoming road trip… but they needed to be done. The cross-offs on my to-do list are encouraging.
I have the awesome chance to attend a Messianic-style Seder meal with friends tonight. Otherwise I would have left for Vegas a few days ago, I imagine, but I’ve been looking forward to this.
Saturday 12:37pm: An email about needing cash for the meal tonight presented a more pressing problem: Needing cash for my road trip. It seems unwise to drive thousands of miles with an empty wallet… but that’s my present state of affairs, and my local bank is closed weekends. A hitch.
A year between giant road trips means I’ll probably forget some other stuff, too. Road Tripping is a delicate art.
Saturday 1:26pm: On the yearlong trip, I quickly realized I might need to do banking at someplace other than my Texas-only credit union. So I set up a random Bank of America checking account in a foreign state – and besides the occasional cash needs on road trips, have used it very little.
But today, it came in handy – and so did the fact that I’d been negligent in cashing one sizeable check.
Cash in hand. Disaster averted.
Saturday 2:15pm: Spent some time making the new picture for my FB profile (above). Spent extra time worrying that it might look like I don’t advocate seatbelts. Hoping it’s clear that I’m parked at a gas station.
Picture-making was not on my original to-do list. 18 items still remaining.
Saturday 4:27pm: 17 college T-shirts stacked on the floor (and several hoodies – iPhone says I’ll see temps in the 20s on this trip). Four file boxes of books, socks and stuff, DVDs, and snacks (I find file boxes handier than luggage). Bedding piled up by the door (because my sheets and blankets are way better than Motel 6′s). It’s starting to look like I’m taking a road trip.
The Rangers are losing. Which may be good, because I’ll be less distracted.
Saturday 5:39pm: Taking a moment to look at my seminars for Wednesday (which are, as always, a work in progress). I use pictures of the campuses whenever I can in my talks, and these pics are pretty fun indeed.
Realized I may need to change my pic of Southern Utah University. Not sure these local Nevadans will find it as interesting as that group in Indiana did…
In the back of my mind, I continue to wonder if I might end up hitting the road tonight. If the Seder goes quickly, it will be very tempting to get a few hours’ head start…
Rangers still losing.
Sunday 12:37am: Our meal & Messianic Seder (and the subsequent hanging out and cleaning up) lasted ’til about midnight, so I will indeed be sleeping in my own bed. At this point, sleeping well is more important than “getting on the road,” so no alarm. (The Seder was neat, by the way.)
Technically, 7 things remain on my to-do list, but some are last-minute morning things (taking the trash out, drying some clothes that are in the wash). I’m mostly ready to pack up the car – multiple piles by the door, and a small ice chest ready to be filled by ice and yogurt.
It’s probably great that I’m rather exhausted, because otherwise I think my excitement would keep me up.
Sunday 9:24am: My body woke up at 9:01am; brain still waking up. My full driving days are probably more affected by tiredness than any other part of the road trip – not so much because of the safety aspect but because it’s a lot harder to use my driving time well while I’m tired. So I’m thankful for a fairly full sleep.
Now the biggest key is to get out of the house as soon as I can. An hour here makes a world of difference.
Sunday 10:03am: Almost forgot to eat breakfast. I’m not that hungry, but that would have been problematic from a road trip standpoint. I won’t eat in a super-balanced way over the next week; starting with some good stuff helps.
Speaking of which, my in-car snackage includes beef jerky, yogurt (in an ice chest), grapefruit juice, V8, and Mountain Dew. Protein and fruits tend to be the hardest to come by on these trips, so those “supplements” should help a lot.
I might rue the moment I chose to wear my heavy-duty Concordia Cobbers sweatpants for today’s long drive, but with a little A/C they are very comfy. And since I’m headed north, it may make more sense in a few hours. It’s 73 degrees here right now; in Flagstaff, it’s 20 (with a high of 43 today).
Kansas State T-shirt.
Sunday 10:15am: Kashi cereal and oatmeal in milk. Two yogurts. A glass of milk. I’m definitely… protein’d.
I feel full. Ug. But this will help me avoid Chick-fil-As for a while. Ug again – why do I always crave Chick-fil-A on Sundays?
I’m ready to head out. Looking forward to this. I’ll probably post a few more logistical updates today here, but stay tuned to Twitter, and look for new blogs here this week!
Sunday 8:40pm (Mountain): Dinner break in Grants, NM. It’s been a long but pretty easy day of driving. Getting enough sleep makes a big difference. The 40 degree temp when I stopped at Taco Bell was a shock. The three $60 gas fill-ups have been a little annoying.
I’ve decided (I think) to stop for the night some 100 miles short of Flagstaff, instead of pushing all the way there (which would still be 4 hours or so to Vegas). It will mean a little more driving tomorrow, but still nothing compared to today. 733 miles so far, with about 150 left to go tonight.
Driving at night isn’t as neat.
Sunday 10:33pm (Arizona time): I happily finished off a yogurt with my finger (I can’t find my spoon) at the Motel 6 after 13 1/2 hours of driving. It feels awesome just to stop. Tomorrow’s shower will feel really nice; taking out my contacts already does. (I shoulda washed my hands after the yogurt, though.)
It feels great to be on another road trip. The “real blogs” this week will tell that story, but it’s been fun letting people in on the nitty-gritty. If I can muster up the energy, I’ll write a blog tonight.
To Vegas tomorrow.
After a yearlong drought, I’m taking another long-distance road trip! Number 15 won’t be the longest trip or take me the furthest, but I’m still very excited about this one. Here’s why (and how you can join in):
1. The Happy Details. Right now, it looks like I’ll leave from Dallas this Sunday (the 10th) and return the following Sunday (the 17th). I’ll be headed to Las Vegas and back (so the above view should be mine by Monday night), with plans to travel (and explore) in northern Texas, northern New Mexico, and northern Arizona.
2. Sharing the Vision, (Re)Considering the Plan. The catalyst for Road Trip 15 was a request to come speak to a group of Las Vegas area pastors about how their churches can best reach students. Plain and simple… right?
Actually, not so much. One of my biggest burdens is to help churches rethink their usual approaches to impacting collegians. In many cases, the classic, standalone, fully staffed “college ministry” isn’t the best College Student Plan for a church… other times, it very much is. How churches think that through – and even getting them motivated in the first place – can make all the difference.
This is an area that affects all of us, because the health of any branch of campus ministry (like church-based campus ministry) obviously impacts the others (i.e., campus-based, institutional, and collegiate churches).
So I’m thrilled to help. AND if you know anybody who could benefit from a couple of seminars, extended Q&A, and lunch (all FREE!) in Las Vegas next Wednesday, have them contact me (they’ll need to RSVP with my hosts).
3. Exegesis Extravaganza! At this point, it looks like I’ll have the chance to spend a chunk of time on two very cool campuses: UNLV and Northern Arizona University. Of course, a couple of days isn’t near enough to truly “decode” a college campus. But I’m still excited to do some “exegesis-lite,” learning about the ministry scene and needs among the Rebel and Lumberjack tribes. It’s a challenging, invigorating process!
4. Returning to the Works I Did at First. As I hope for a reinvigorating trip, I’m excited that Road Trip 15 will include some of the flavor of the amazing Yearlong Road Trip from a few years ago:
- Keeping my schedule fairly open to whatever might come up. I don’t have a whole lot already planned, and I’m excited to see what God works out for this trip.
- On the yearlong trip, my blogging was more casual than it is nowadays. For just this coming week, I plan to blog in that more “organic” style, sharing observations AND casual reflections as I have opportunity. So through this blog (and other things! – see below), you’ll have the chance to ride along!
- Hunkering down at a couple of campuses, meeting with multiple ministers and visiting (hopefully) multiple college ministries, is reminiscent of the Yearlong Trip, too. In recent trips, I’ve had to move pretty quickly; I’m excited to spend a little extra time focusing on these campuses.
5. Come Along! As always, you can join in on this road trip in some fun ways. I’ll be blogging in various ways throughout the week, probably having a little more “fun” with it than usual. I’ll also do my best to be active on Twitter and with Facebook updates, including pictures.
You can definitely help by connecting me with anybody I should connect with on this trip!
As always, those in the Exploring College Ministry Facebook group will hear about any particularly big updates or prayer requests, too – so be sure to join up!
And speaking of prayer requests, that’s one last way you can join me – by praying! Please pray for a successful trip, for what I learn to be helpful for a wide group of people, for impactful speaking next Wednesday, and for a healthy dose of relaxation AND invigoration – both of which I really seem to need. I so appreciate your involvement with my ministry, and I’m so happy I get to give my life to serving our work among the campus tribes!
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A couple of weeks ago, a speaking opportunity in Las Vegas popped up out-of-the-blue. I have the awesome chance to speak to pastors about how they can think – and rethink – their churches’ particular College Student Plans. (If you know of any church people in the vicinity who might want to join us, let me know and I can send along info.)
It’s been a year since I last took an “official” Exploring College Ministry road trip. That was Road Trip 14, a nifty little trip to Boulder in which God did some pretty awesome things. I’ve had other neat opportunities since then: exploring college ministry in Brazil, speaking for various campus ministry groups, and even moving where I live. But since last April, I hadn’t been back on the road in a big way, seeing a broader swath of the college ministry landscape. And I was missing it.
Meanwhile, a friend had just recently brought up the idea of taking a vacation. The truth is, I haven’t “vacationed” on purpose (away from home, at least) since 2007, about five months before the Yearlong Road Trip. (That vacation was Road Trip 6.) The truth is, I’m a little drained these days. So a vacation of some sort seemed pretty nice.
So that, in a sense, is what Road Trip 15 will be about. It’s definitely a “working vacation”; after all, I’ll spend a day speaking in the middle of it. And I expect to do some campus- and college ministry-exploring throughout. But I’m actually invigorated and refreshed by spending time on campuses, remembering why we all are invested in this beautiful thing called college ministry.
So I wanted to let you know. And as always, I’d love your help. I want to hear about it if you know of anyone / anyplace I should connect with along the way (probably in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, or Nevada, but I’m always open to craziness!). I won’t be able to do everything I want to do, but I’m definitely open to suggestions!
I’ll leave here around the 10th of April and return around the 17th. So it’s not a very long trip. I’ll keep you posted as I pray and think and plan as much as I can before the trip… but I’m also kind of expecting to play this one by ear a little bit, too.
And that makes me even more excited. Who knows what God might want to do?
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