It's a New Year!

Hi everyone and Happy New Year!

I pray for each of you that this will be a year of contentment and stability. I know these past few years have had a lot of transition and change, and so I pray that out of 2023, we each all get to experience more of his goodness, and that out of that we learn more of his faithfulness. 

So much has happened since my last blog! So, here are some photos and memories that I would love to share with each of you! The way Blogger put the photos, they arrange from most recent to oldest. So, feel free to scroll to the bottom and work your way up if you prefer!

1. This past week we had out semester Corefa Class! Our corefas are our volunteer student leaders of the ministry. Every semester we try to dedicate a time to train and encourage our leaders so that they're going into the semester fired up and excited to do ministry. One student brought King Cake for us to share, and, traditionally, they're filled with plastic baby Jesus'. If you find one, that means you are to serve someone else there. Madi, the girl in the striped shirt, found one in her slice of cake.

2. These next few photos are from staff retreat. Which, again, is something we do once a semester as a full staff team. This time is so special and sweet between all of us, as it gives time to purposefully develop friendships with each other while also spiritually preparing us for the school semester. Here is a group of us playing a board game with each other! However, during this time, as much as we have fun, we also have dedicated sessions of prayer and discussion to think deeper as pastors in our communities. I'll touch more of that later!

3. Here is a full group at retreat watching Planet of the Apes 2. This was apparently a hit as they decided to have a full marathon of the movies. I just found this so sweet and funny though because it reminded me of all my family vacations where, at some point, we would all lounge around and watch movies. It seems comforting to me to be able to call a lot of these co-workers friends and family.

4. As I mentioned earlier, during this retreat, we had dedicated times to engage with God and talk more about different aspects of pastoral care. For this retreat, we focused on Eugene Peterson's book Working the Angles, which is a book on pastoral integrity. One of the sections discussed prayer, and so one of our pastors, Reagann, gave a reflection on that topic. She told us about what God had been teaching her about prayer, and through that, prompted each of us to walk through some questions and activities to make us think more about what God was teaching us. In one activity, she gave instructions to be light-hearted and playful in moving our bodies, despite how silly it might have been. This stemmed from the idea that, if God is a good father, he doesn't just care about us being serious all the time, but is a dad that delights in his kids being goofy and silly with him too. Each has their place in the Kingdom, and that's a beautiful and wonderful thing! So, a few of us climbed a tree in order to be playful and goofy. Despite feeling like a kid, this also led to a group of us cheering each other on and helping each other out like kids trying to climb a tree. Again, this really emphasized the idea of this feeling like a family vacation.

6. This is my sweet friend, Claire, who works at Richland College with FOCUS! We did our apprenticeship year together, which was such a fun time. Something I've really appreciated about our friendship is just how quick Claire is to not only empathize but also call me out and even build me up when I fall short or fall into a shame pattern. She really is a great friend, and I'm so grateful to know her.

7. My final photo of retreat! It's crazy to me that God even lets us experience his kindness through creation in this way.

8. Before the Winter Break, David and I decided to plan a Holiday Hang for our cores! We ate pizza, played Jackbox, and overall just had a sweet time connecting and relaxing-especially since this was in the middle of finals week for the students. I really love how the Wylie students have been able to connect and bond with one another, and I'm excited to see how that carries this next semester!

9. During this hangout, we also tried to build gingerbread houses. Essentially, we tried to do it boys vs girls, but personally, I feel like that was unfair because the boys' gingerbread kit had placeholders for the parts while we had to try to use icing (that also didn't come in a bag) to make things stick. So, the girls and I ended up just eating the gingerbread instead!

10. We also had a Collin corefa White Elephant gift exchange! I genuinely thought this was such a fun thing to do, and really showed the humor and goofiness of our students. It definitely was a highlight for me at the end of the semester!

11. We also had our Collin Christmas Party at the end of the semester! Here is a photo of our staff team from the party. I really love this group of people, and have loved working along side them during this time of life. They really have sought to spur me on to look more like Jesus, and have consistently encouraged me and, even more so, have made me laugh a LOT. Working with the Collin Staff team really is a gift from God.

These photos are only a tip of the iceberg with what ministry and life has looked like this past year! Thank you so much for all of your support and prayers. It really means the world, and, honestly, has been such a reminder of mercy and grace from God. The fact that people believe in what God is doing on these campuses enough to support me in going out there still astounds my mind! Please feel free to reach out with any prayer requests you have!

As always, love,

Orion Clements

Prayer Requests

• Winter Retreat is coming up! This is our annual big retreat for FOCUS that doesn't just involve the Collin students, but all the Collin campuses across the DFW. Please be praying for safe travels, and for these students to encounter the Spirit and God at work in their hearts.
• The new school semester as David and I plan outreach and think pastorally about engaging with those on campus!
• Connor, my husband, and his new job, and that he is able to minister to and love on his co-workers well.