I started a new job

I started a new job yesterday. As most people know I have taken a new job with St. Paul's Outreach. It was somewhat surreal. Most of the day was spent in Orientation. It's been a long time since I have had a day quite like that. It was refreshing. A brand new beginning.

I am very excited about the work I will be a part of on three different campus centers in the Twin Cities area - University of St. Thomas, University of Minnesota, and Northfield, MN (St. Olaf and Carlton College). There is something significant and hope filled about a college campus and the students that populate them. I will never forget the moment that I realized, 11 years ago, that I wanted to spend the rest of my life, telling college students about "the love of God in Jesus Christ."

I was working at William Jewell College, my undergraduate alma mater, as an Admission Counselor. I was a college recruiter and in fact I loved to tell others about William Jewell and why it was an investment that they would never second guess. Over the course of a few months on the job I travelled to high schools from Western Nebraska to the the bootheel of Southern Missouri (but in the bootheel, it's pronounced Mizzurrah). I-70 was like a second home. I was always chided for having every Missouri exit, along I-70, memorized. Like Sweet Springs, exit 66.


Anyhow, it was during one of the days of the year that I wasn't on the road when I elected to participate, as a William Jewell Staff person, in a service day for the students called "Serve and Celebrate." It was an amazing day. I will never forget the joy I felt working and serving alongside this group of students, washing dishes in a soup kitchen. They (and I) were filled with joy at the opportunity to be Christ and to see Christ in others. It was a powerful day. My heart was beginning to turn, and God, in my heart and mind, made a simple proposition to me: Ryan, would you rather help people 'get into' William Jewell College, or help people 'get into' heaven?

Well, you can imagine how I answered that question. It was a no-brainer. It was but a few months later that I heard about a job opening for a Campus Minister at the University of Missouri Newman Center. The rest is history and my heart hasn't stopped beating for the university scene and all the restlessness, high hopes, potential, and intrigue that lies within. It's an incredible venue to serve God and His people. Thank you, Lord!

p.s. Kansas City's own, Waterdeep, performed that night at the 'Celebrate' part of the event listed above. If you know of Waterdeep you would think that's cool. If you don't know them, nevermind.