The last year: highlights of our weekly and monthly rhythm

After our first year of ministry to Stanford students and looking back, we have had an awesome year. We have both grown so much personally by engaging with God through the Word, prayer, and solitude, through practicing to walk alongside students, and through sharing life with an awesome community of believers. There were many highlights, but here are a few: (This first blog is kind of an outline/highlight of what we do on a weekly/monthly basis and the second blog is of what God has been teaching us this year. We hope you will read all of it)

1. Meeting one on one with students-We feel that this is the most important aspect and our favorite part of what we do. This is where the most authentic relationships develop because students feel more safe to open up. We are able to really listen and come alongside them in their walk with the Lord, wrestle through faith and life questions with them, and dig into the Word and other challenging material together. We have seen a lot of fruit and growth (for them and us) come out of this time. Most of my (Natalie) time is actually spent meeting one on one with about 20-25 girls per week, while Trent divides his time a little more evenly between planning 2nd mile and meeting with guys.

2. 2nd mile- For those of you who don't know what 2nd mile is, it was started by the couple we work with (Steve and Lori Stenstrom) a few years ago. While Jesus was on earth about to go to the cross, he did something we are told to both "show the extent of his love" and "set an example" (John 13:1, 15). He took the posture of a servant and he washed his disciples feet. Upon finishing, he told the twelve, "Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them," (John 13:17). The 2nd mile is awakening a church community around this area and on campus. It is not about a project but about a mindset and an approach to living. The 2nd mile is what He did for us, and how we in turn are called to love Him and love our neighbor as ourselves. We had three awesome 2nd mile projects this year. The last one in the spring was a complete rebuilding and rennovation of the Young Life house in East Palo Alto (there is a link to a slideshow of it in the right hand column). As always, there were some really cool relationships built and it was tear jerking to present it to the YL staff. We know this new house will be a huge blessing to the growing YL ministry there. We really experience the paradox of being blessed so much when we serve during 2nd mile!

3. Quarterly book studies- We often go through books with students one on one, but every quarter we have one or two specific books that we go through with groups of students who want to. This last year we went through Jesus Among Other Gods by Ravi Zacharias, The Great Omission by Dallas Willard, Stand Against the Wind by Erwin McManus, Following Jesus by NT Wright, Experiencing God by Henry Blackaby, and Hearing God by Dallas Willard. These books sparked a lot of really good conversations and questions, and it was really neat to see how much we were all impacted by each book we read.

4. Having bbqs and game nights at our house throughout the year- It is neat to open our home and have a lot of students come who don't normally come to Cardinal Life. Trent and I got to know quite a few new students through these events. These nights were always a blast as we had some intense games like dodgeball, football, mafia, washoes, and polish golf (I bet you haven't heard of most of these:).

5. Weekly small group bible studies- This is a really neat time to study and discuss the Bible and how it applies to our life. It was cool for both of us to see a hunger in a lot of students to seriously engage with the Word and follow Jesus. It was also neat to see relationships within the group grow a lot stronger and people start to share more honestly this year.

6. SALT (student athlete leadership team) meetings- There are about 20 students on the leadership team who were invited to be apart of it because of their love for Jesus and people (especially their teammates), their desire to seriously be a follower of Him, and the leadership through Christ like character they show. We have meetings a few times each quarter and what an amazing group of students they are! We have some great discussions during these meetings of what it means to be a follower of Jesus, how we can be more of a light at Stanford, and how we can be a community of faith and love that is genuinely centered on Jesus and his Word. These students are invited to take leadership in different ways and have a voice in the direction of Cardinal Life. Trent and I (and Steve, Lori, and Jim Stump) are closely connected to this group and meet one on one or in small groups with all of them. It is awesome for Trent and I to be working alongside a team of students who share our vision and heart for Stanford. In addition to the students, it is a complete joy to work alongside Steve and Lori Stenstrom and Jim Stump. They have a fire to serve God and Stanford students, and we are so blessed to work alongside them. We are all very like minded and hearted in our approach to reaching students, and we have a blast working together.

7. Cardinal Life large group meetings each Wednesday- Once a month we have a speaker come, and this last year we had some really awesome, challenging teachers. The other Wednesday's of the month, we do something like worship, prayer, reading scripture, or just spending time in silence soaking in God's presence. We really appreciate that weekly time set apart to have fellowship and to worship and meet with God.

8. Hosting students at our house for dinner- we love to invite different groups of students over for dinner to get to know them more and serve them in a small way. We have grown to love cooking and hosting people at our house, and it makes us so happy to see students enjoy themselves. We desire our home to be a safe, welcoming, and comforting place for students, and we feel like it truly has become that to a lot of them.

9. In addition to all of this stuff, we hope to do more mission trips and conferences with students this school year and next summer. Last year we went to the Passion Conference in Atlanta with one student (I heart Katie Riley!!) which was an incredible time of worship, fellowship, and some of the best teaching we have ever heard. We are going to go again this year in LA and hopefully bring more students. (Also, since going to Passion last year where we first heard a guy named Francis Chan speak, we have really enjoyed listening to his sermons online at cornerstonesimi.com. He is an incredible teacher, so if you are looking for good sermons, you should definitely listen to him!)

As you can see, we love what we do and feel blessed to be in the position we are! To read more of what God has been specifically teaching us and reminding us of this year, you can read the next entry.