Thus It Begins.

Today stands as the last day of summer for all of us Covenant students. It's very interesting to be sitting on the cusp of our final year here. It's intimidating because we are cramming so much into the next nine months that it almost feels insurmountable; it is exciting because of all the opportunities that it holds; it is sad because of all that we will leave behind as we finish; it is joyful because it marks the beginning of the end of a personal challenge and because it marks the dawn of a new stage of our life.

We are both extremely excited about the classes that we will be taking, the privilege of stepping gently into our client's lives, and even the structured schedule that we can live around (the above calendar represents only the weekly recurring events). But it's also going to be a whole lot of very hard work. To be completely honest, we are pretty nervous about the upcoming challenge. Not nervous like an ant looking up at a teenager through a microscope, but nervous like a freshly vacationed runner returning home to his waiting training grounds: it's going to hurt. Please pray for us as we step back into the life of school again. Pray for endurance to stay on task even when it's painful. Pray that our attention spans would be flexible enough to make it through all our books. Pray that our memories would be sharp. Pray that our minds would be creative to engage our papers well. Pray that our physical health would not let us down. Pray that our fingers would be nimble as we page through all the research. And most of all, pray that our hearts would not be so distracted by the labor to forget the tasks we are training for.

We love you guys, and we need your prayers and support so much as we enter once again into the melee of scholastic battle! Over the next few months we'll be updating this blog with not only our thoughts and reflections on the adventures we experience, but on our current needs and prayer requests as well. It has been impressed upon us that as missionaries we have to establish a broad base of support. We are continuing to learn that this not only means keeping you all updated on our thoughts and experiences, but on our needs and weaknesses as well. The fact is, we need you. Will you please help to build us a foundation of prayer?

In His Grasp,

- Drew