A New Semester: Events, Links, & A Short Devotional (1/7/25) || DCXA at GU
Just like that, we begin a new semester together tomorrow! Whether you had a great break, a difficult break, or one that was more complex — I am looking forward to catching up and for us to spend time together in community! Be reminded that you are seen and cared for in this community but even more than that, by God the Father Himself.
Upcoming Events
1. Welcome Back Dinner [1/8]
We'll be in McShain Small at 6pm tomorrow (Wednesday). We'll provide Chipotle! We've got burritos, chips, and salsa ordered. Feel free to bring a game (or two) as we all reconnect and hang out together. There's no cost or registration required!
2. Chi Alpha Connect (aka Large Group) [1/9]
We'll be in our normal space of McShain Small from 8pm-9pm. We'll provide snacks and our focus or theme for this week will be a community service group project or in-service project. We've partnered with the national non-profit Color A Smile to provide colored drawings and notes on their stationary, which they'll send to nursing homes, troops overseas, and others who have signed up to receive encouraging notes from volunteers. This gives us a chance to invite friends to participate and to live out our value of existing for something beyond ourselves!
3. NEXA SALT Conference [1/10 - 1/12]
If you're registered, you (fingers crossed!) have received information from me as well as the conference organizers. I can't wait for Friday afternoon/evening when we depart for a weekend together full of worship and learning in PA.
4. Snow Tubing Day Trip to Bryce [1/18]
A fun outing at a resort about only two hours away! DC Chi Alpha is heavily subsidizing this so that as many people can come as possible. We'll leave from GU (near the front gates) at 8:30am for an 11am ticketed slope time. The resort provides the tubes, simply dress warm! I will take care of purchasing our tickets as a group. After an hour of snow tubing (and hopefully a lot of laughs!), we'll grab lunch in a small town nearby and then drive back to campus.
I'd expect us to be back around 3:30pm or 4pm.
Oh, and the resort uses a mixture of natural snow and machine-made snow — so we should be good to go under most weather conditions!
Cost: $25 per person (includes tubing, lunch, and transportation)
Key Links
Register for our Snow Tubing Day Trip [Link]
→ Note: Bryce Resort often sells out, so we are trying to get everyone to register on or before January 14th. But the sooner the better!
Our Instagram (@dcchialpha.gu) is a great way to ensure that you're aware of any last-minute changes to our official events and groups.
A Short Devotional: Love & Doing Good
"Let us not tire of preaching love; it is the force that will overcome the world."
— Oscar Romero
"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."
— Galatians 6:9 (NIV)
The quote from Romero hangs in my dining room, so I see it everyday. And this verse has been an anchor for me the past few years, so it's often in my mind (and it's also likely highlighted in every Bible I own!).
It got me to thinking: What makes preaching (and living) love tiresome? Why do we (as humans) get weary as we do good works?
I think one of the reasons is because love takes a lot of time. It isn't always the expedient route or method.
But it's what we've been called to and it's why, in short, all of us are connected.
We are loved by God. And we are called to love each other as well as those that have yet to respond to His gracious love.
Both the quote and the verse remind me to 'keep the main thing the main thing' but also, allow me to name the reality that loving well requires effort as well as a strength beyond my own.
May we see the cost and with Christ as our Helper and Wonderful Counselor, love from the posture as His beloved.
Jesus, help me do this and help us live this as a community.
Amen. ¶
See you soon!
Rev. Blane Young
blane@dcchialpha.com || biy2@georgetown.edu
