Students come tomorrow. All around campus has been a flurry of activity. People are setting up classrooms, getting dorms ready, learning new job descriptions, responding to emails, volunteering for activities, laminating all kinds of things for all kinds of jobs, even still getting settled into new houses people have just moved into. Meetings are being attended, held, planned and more. Last minute shuffling of all kinds means they’re still looking for teachers to cover study halls, and it means I’m tackling an advanced cooking elective class!

Tomorrow is NSPO (New Student/Parent Orientation). Kids are moving into the dorms tomorrow folks. To get ready, we need staff shirts and a fresh batch just came in. When walking with some new friends to pick them up at an old friends house, we found ourselves standing just outside her dorm chatting. The heaviness was palpable in the circle as eyes were wide describing the insurmountable tasks that still need to be accomplished in the next few days. My old friend started asking how she could pray for us. My new friend asked how we could pray for her. Among the five of us, the theme was clear. Tick the tasks off the check-list. Screw our heads on straight to even know what is still on the checklist. Be prepared to welcome this new and returning batch of students well.

Trained by a former roommate of mine, I learned when people start asking for prayer requests, you don’t wait. You pray now. So we did! We bowed our heads and just prayed. And let me tell you, God answered the prayer for me. Not in the way I expected, but by reminding me of who He is as I read a passage of scripture in my Bible reading plan. Full of surprises, after reading through a list of the men who helped David rule, then names of sons of heads of clans, and about the leaders of this 24,000 troops and that 24,000 troops in the book of Chronicles, I came to this sweet little verse:

“Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the Lord is finished.” (1 Chr. 28:20)

David is getting ready to hand off the kingdom to his son Solomon as he is telling this message to him. David has tasked Solomon with the enormous project of building the temple. Our task is not nearly as daunting as building an entire temple without modern architecture and machines, but starting a new term is always a little unnerving. It always feels like a lot- BUT the truth shared in this verse is still the same.

The first thing that struck me was right after commanding Solomon to be strong and courageous, David commands him to DO THE WORK. Do. The. Work. How often do I want to be strong and courageous, but to skip out on actually completing the tasks? Um, always. The second thing I noticed was that David said, “for the Lord God, MY GOD, is with you.” I loved the reminder that God is MY God. I see a lot in scripture the phrase “The Lord YOUR God.” For some reason, seeing MY God felt much more personal. The third thing I saw was that God will not fail or forsake us until our service of Him is complete. When is it complete? When the whole world knows His name and all His children are called home. So when will he fail or forsake us? He won’t.

After all this mulling, I sent this verse on to those friends I’d prayed with, hoping they’d be encouraged too.

Do the work. Don’t be afraid, don’t be discouraged, God will not fail us, for we are serving Him!

Then I went back to the passage to read it one more time, this time noticing the applicability of verse 19 and verse 21 too!

“All this,” David said [referencing the plans for the temple], “I have in writing as a result of the Lord’s hand on me, and he enabled me to understand all the details of the plan.” (Verse 19) The Lord’s hand is upon us! As we’re wrestling through new curriculum and responsibilities, we can be confident that HE has enabled us to understand all the details, to know exactly what we need to do.

“The divisions of the priests and Levites are ready for all the work on the temple of God, and every willing person skilled in any craft will help you in all the work.” (verse 20) We’re not in it alone! This ministry, this place, this job, is not one to be done alone! A lot of times at RVA it can feel like you are alone- your classroom is on a corner nobody walks past. You’re the only adult in the dorm. You don’t co-lead the Sunday School, it’s just you. Or maybe, you lead the student worship team, the only adult amongst the teens. So many jobs require that we adults are not in the room with other adults, we’re here for the students, and find ourselves with just that, students! What a gift in opportunity for discipleship! What a way for the devil to make us believe we are alone in our ministry.

But we’re not alone. There are so many willing and skilled people on every side of us. They are all here to help us in the work! All of it! Not only that, but they’re ready for the work of the Lord.

So as I’m thinking of this next term that starts tomorrow, I read these verses in my head something like this instead…”All the things I need to know are right there for me- maybe curriculum on the R-Drive, or responsibilities laid out in handbooks. But here’s the deal, they’re all there as a result of the Lord’s hand on this school. He enables me to understand all the details of His plan. He enables me to understand all of the tasks he has laid before me. I are reminded by God himself to be strong and courageous, and to do the work. Do not slack off. Do not be afraid or discouraged for the Lord God, MY GOD, is with me. He will not fail me or forsake me until all the work in the lives of these students for His name’s sake is finished. The departments of leadership, dorm parents, teachers, student health staff, counselors, administrators, office secretaries, cafeteria, maintenance, laundry, and all other departments at RVA are ready for all the work of the Lord in the lives of the students, and every willing person skilled in any craft will help me in all the work that is yet to come.”

And so dear students, we are ready for you.

Prayer Points

-I think some are pretty evident in this post! Please pray for all the departments I listed above as each group as their own unique set of tasks that must be done to prepare well.

-Please be in prayer for our new staff as many are still trying to wrap their brains around how things are run here at RVA.

-Please continue to pray for me and my roommate! God is so good in answering all of your prayers and we’re so far loving life sharing our home.

-Please continue to pray that my dog will calm down and I would have wisdom in training her so she is a blessing to me, my roommate, and my neighbors. She needs lots of exercise I don’t always have the time (or energy) to give to her!