Catching up

I have come to the conclusion that taking going away for a weekend with work and then soon after taking an extended weekend vacation can seriously put a person behind at work! The past few weeks have been crazy and I feel like I am only now catching up because I had a day to hunker down and work yesterday!

As we begin to enter into fall the time of planning, thinking strategically, meeting, and overall prayer will now begin to show themselves. Students have arrived and started class at Western and will be starting at UW this next week. While the rest of the state has been in class for a few weeks the school that I am thinking about is now getting into the swing of things! This week I have done the following:

• Hosted a student breakfast with the leaders of the intentional living communities at WWU
• Went on an epic vacation in Montana zip lining with Caroline's family (check out the pics)
• Spoke with a beloved friend in India who is doing work to change the hearts of students and teachers in Hyderabad
• Studied and discussed the Gospel(check out Colossians 1:27, John 14:6, and John 5:39 &40)
• Continued to discuss what my outcomes are
• Worked on connecting with my friends and family (sharing with them what I am doing and will continue to do in the coming weeks and months)
• Had a planning meeting for the Seattle King County Leadership Prayer Breakfast
• Created a marketing plan for inviting 30 students Washington Weekend in Leavenworth (its an intergenerational weekend with speaker William P. Young)
• Developed a better strategic focus for the year with my partner in crime (Amy McNair)
• Saved a stranded friend from a park and ride
• Invited people to Young Life College (meeting at 9:02 pm at Fraiser Hall #4 on Thursdays)
• Helped a friend get his car out of a ditch
• Discussed how to re-brand WSL's name to reflect its mission, vision, and values

Next week is sure to busy since I have a trip to WSU, Gonzaga, and Whitworth followed by another community gathering in Bellingham, and a meeting with some key people that are helping develop our community core in the city! And oooo I run my marathon on Sunday!!!

I hope all is well with you and that your path has been full of adventure! Until next week!

Brian

The First 3 weeks

Well hello there! Come on in. My name is Brian and I'll be your storyteller for the next few years. This is a blog for friends, family, and anyone else interested in reading about my experiences as an associate for WSL. This might include thoughts that I have heard while on the job, interesting meetings, opportunities had, or relationships built. I will be updating this periodically (hopefully at least weekly) so y'all can hear what is going on and how I'm spending my time! To catch everyone up, I have included a brief synopsis of the past few weeks.

In my three weeks on the job a lot has happened!! I have:

• Traveled and spent time in Seattle each week visioning for what I will be doing the next year, meeting with adults and students, built relationships with the team that I will be spending time with over the next two years, and spent considerable time praying and studying the scriptures (gotta love a "job" that pays ya to pray).
• Begun to build relationships with key adults in the Bellingham area; dreaming with them for a sustainable community core team to surround WWU.
• Gathered student leaders and spent time praying and discussing how to live intentionally as a larger community.
• Met with leaders of various intentional living communities
• Worked out a game plan for how I will be spending my time in Bellingham and Seattle
• Went to Malibu for our Leadership Camp that was focused on building friendships between seasoned leaders and the up and coming generations.

Overall, it has been a whirlwind of a couple of weeks! I am excited to see what happens in the next month. We have a meeting tomorrow with the PLU Campus Core Team, an interest/visioning meeting on the 23rd for Bellingham, and a number of meetings in between! By the end of the month I hope to have built relationship with a number of adults around Bellingham, Seattle, Parkland, and Spokane areas, met and connected with new students at many of the campuses, and connected people around the state.

Well, that's at least a brief look at what I have been doing so far! Keep updated for more info and a solid job description!