Friendships and Contentment

 Hi to all!

And welcome to another round of 'Orion Explaining her Camera Reel' September Edition. Anywho, when I think about this past month, two of the main words that come to mind are 'contentment' and 'friendships'.

 I think for a bit now, I've been in a season of wrestling with what adult friendships look like, and what it means to invest in people long term versus relying on the convenience of who's around me in the moment. Through this, I've both been discouraged and encouraged. Yet, I'm slowly seeing the fruit of God pointing out people in my life whom I get to take joy in and who really look like Jesus to me beyond just the students I meet with. This has been so life giving and has really helped me to feel at peace with where I am right now.

However, I also have been struggling with thinking about the next thing to happen in my life-like, will Connor get this new job? Will we buy a house? What will I do after this school year? When will we have kids? Can I have a farm someday? Can I afford to have a goat soon? A lot of forward thinking. Yet, throughout all this, God has been kindly asking me to slow down and take a look around. I don't know about you, but with getting caught up in the next thing, I find myself being tempted to build an earthly kingdom instead of a heavenly one. It seems like if I can plan out my future, my time, my desires, then, for some reason, I can give myself a false sense of security and control that evidently doesn't come from God. I don't want that though-I want Jesus' living water, but to do that, I can't keep swapping it for something cheap and pretending it's the real deal. That's not how this works, but yet, my brain wants to make it work that way. However, through surrender and slow trust, I've seen God begin to replace the discontentment and anxiety in my heart with joy and gratitude. This has helped to shape the way I'm now beginning to look at ministry and the world around me, and that's made me beyond grateful.

So, hopefully those themes can be witnessed in the stories I'm about to share! I pray that these moments/photos/stories can minister to you and give you a glimpse into ministry this past month!

1. Here is my sweet friend Emily. For those that don't know, we've been friends since freshman year of college, and it was beyond an honor to be able to live with each other our senior year. In a lot of ways, I'd consider her my partner in crime despite her complicated sonic orders and particular obsession with chocolate milk. We were also able to do the FOCUS apprenticeship together last year, which meant that we were still able to see each other consistently. This year, we haven't had as much opportunity to see each other as we normally would, which has been sad to a degree. However, this year, Emily took the time to initiate with me the idea of hanging out intentionally every two weeks. So far, this has been such a highlight since her friendship is something I treasure so deeply. Through her and others, God has reminded me that I'm not as alone in this season of life as the Enemy would like me to believe. Her friendship is really a gift from God that I will never be able to say that I deserve but man, what an honor it is to partake in it. Here she is also holding Tobias! At first, she was pretty fearful of him, but by the end of our hangout that day, she kept asking to hold him. Seriously, what a goof she is.

2. Here's our core! In case anyone has been wondering how the Wylie girl's small group is going-it's been FANTASTIC. Seriously, God is too good. Last year, we had a co-ed small group at Wylie, which was mainly dominated by the guys as the only girl who would show up for the majority of the year was Laiya. In no way was this a bad thing though! I think the guys really needed to experience that and David really ministered to each of them. However, having already so many girls come is such an encouragement to me this year. This really reveals to me that anything I do this year is because of God and his Spirit and nothing to do with my efforts. I really am so excited for what he's going to do with this group over the course of the school year.

3. Our first family dinner at TNF! TNF is our weekly fellowship time among all the Collin campuses, and this year, we're doing a dinner instead of our normal service once a month. In Acts, we see the believers coming together and breaking bread with one another, and that's something we want to mimic in our community. This also was just such a fun thing to experience! We worshiped, ate pizza and brownies, and had some students share their testimonies to the student body. Again, God has been so sweet and too good to us. Even if these nights are a small turnout, it's been evident that the Spirit has been at work in these students' hearts and that means more to me than anything else. 

4. This is just a random photo, but here's a toad. One of my core girls found it as we were leaving core that night. Right after I took this photo, it also jumped out of her hands and scared the living daylights out of me. I don't know, I just felt the need to share this because in a lot of ways, these girls have become my genuine friends and not just students I meet with or mentor. I love them dearly, and I think that's been cool to watch God shape in my heart. He's been showing me more and more about how I struggle to fully love people out of a fear of rejection or being hurt by them, but it's been so freeing this year to put that aside and openly love these girls despite what any of them are going through. 

5. My friends got married!! David is my co-pastor at the Wylie campus, and Alex, his now wife, is one of my good friends and did the apprenticeship with us last year. I really am so thrilled for these two, and I cried a LOT during their wedding. Mainly because when I look at this photo, I see a lot of people that I deeply love and care for, and that just makes me all the more grateful to be in the community I'm in. I pray that God continues to grow David and Alex's marriage, and I am so honored and thrilled to able to witness that and befriend both of them as we walk through the same life stage together.

 

6. So, this has honestly been one of my favorite memories this school year. The girl in pink is one of my core girls named Molly. She seriously is such a joy to be around, and I love getting to hear her thoughts about God and seeing her get excited about life. This particular night, I was trying to just randomly grab dinner with the core, but when I initiated in our group text, Molly responded that she couldn't because her dad's band had a gig at a BBQ place in Wylie. This peaked my interest immediately and I planned with Connor, my husband, that we were going to go and support her family. I even encouraged our core to go too. The moment I walked into the place that night, I watched Molly's face light up and I couldn't help but cry immediately. You could tell how much it meant to her for someone to come, and I'm so glad Connor and I did. It was such a privilege and blessing to hangout with her family, and I became so encouraged talking to them and hearing her dad play music. The food was also fantastic! This night really was just such a sweet little gift from God, and I don't know how much that meant to Molly for us to be there, but it sure meant a lot to me to be able to show up.

7. Here's a photo of the Wylie campus, but specifically, it's a photo from where I was standing when doing outreach. Once a week, David and I try to go on campus to get to know students and to invite them into what we're doing as a ministry. These past couple of weeks, I've been standing outside the student center with a sign asking if anyone needed prayer. These past few weeks have honestly been some of the most encouraging times of outreach I've witnessed. Though I haven't had much conversations with students, I have had multiple people come up and thank us as a ministry, and have had others ask if I needed prayer. The first week I did it, I even had a girl randomly come up and open up about some really hard things she's going through. Like, what the heck! That's so the Spirit at work on this campus, and that gives me so much hope for what he's doing at Wylie. So, please continue praying for the campus and that these students that call Jesus lord be lights to those who are in need here. 

Again, thank you each for your support and care for me, this campus, and these students. When praying through a vision for the school year, God kept putting on my heart the phrase 'this campus is mine and mine alone'. I think I'm now starting to see the fruit of that, and that's due to the generous support and prayers of each of you. God is being made known in the DFW, and that's such a cool thing to witness. Love you each and thank you all!

Love,

Orion Clements

Prayer Requests

• Connor is still waiting to figure out if he has a job that he's been in the process of interviewing for. Please be praying that we find out soon, and that, regardless of circumstances, we seek to praise him!
• The students at the Wylie campus, and that David and I are able to think creatively on how to meet these students where they are. 
• Connor's brother, Gage, recently had back surgery. So far his recovery has been great, but please be praying that he's able to get off his pain meds well, and that he's able to take care of his body as he needs too versus how he or others might want him too. He made a video documenting the process, and if you're interested in watching it, click here.
• Fall Camp is coming up! This is a 24 hr retreat for our students that was honestly so pivotal for me as a freshman. So, if you could be praying for us staff as we think pastorally about these students and the kind of experience we want them to have.