Hello FOCUS family followers!

I know it's been a while since I last updated but we have had such a CRAZY couple of weeks! The entire team is now moved in to Omaha and we are more than excited to be kicking the year off.
Last week we had a three day Student Leaders Retreat. It was such an incredible experience and the students really loved it! They were so open and ready to soak up all that God had to offer them on this retreat and it was so beautiful to see Him touch their lives and renew them for the year to come! The Holy Spirit was so present, and so many were filled with His love and power. Praise God for the healing and peace and gifts that were given by the Trinity at this retreat.

Mary Kate, the other female missionary on team, had a birthday! She is now 23 years old! So Happy Birthday to MK! :)
Last week we also participated in helping with freshman move in! We met a lot of new students and already some of them are starting to come around! They are all so wonderful and we really love spending time with the new and old faces.

This week is welcome week!!!! We've got multiple events every day and the team is having a great time just spending time on campus and being present for our students. Our student leaders are doing some amazing outreach and I am so proud of them! They have such great excitement and passion for the mission and for Christ that they're putting themselves out there and it's so great to be a part of.

On another note, I figured I would offer some more reflection today.
As we begin the new school year, sometimes we have a need for some inner healing in order to be able to come alive and have fresh energy to be able to tackle all that will be put in our path. On our retreat, I heard something very beautiful. For starters, God is the lover and we are the beloved. Here is what I was told, the lover wants to be where the beloved is hurting.
God knows our wounds and he knows the things we need healing from, but so many times we don't want to look at those wounds. We are content just keeping them squished back behind all the other junk in our hearts. God wants to bring those wounds out into the light, he wants to be there in those wounds, and he wants to heal them!
Today I invite you to take some quiet time to really spend with Jesus. Take him into those places in your heart that maybe you've been ignoring. Take him to the wound where someone insulted you, take him to where you feel inadequate, ignored, abandoned, jealous, insecure. He wants to be in all those places, and God wants to heal those things for you! We've got to be willing to feel the wound in order for God to heal it for us. Invite Him in today, and take him to all the places. Because you make be hiding those rooms from God on the tour of the house, but you forget there's no roof on the house and God's got a birds eye view ;)

That's it for now! I hope to write again sooner rather than later! :) Have a blessed week and feel free to send me any prayer intentions you might have!!!

God bless,
Agape,
Monica