Skip to main content

Christmas, COVID, and Comradery!

Hi friends!

I hope you enjoyed Christmas, New Years, and any other Holidays you celebrated last month!

Christmas Party!
Speaking of the holidays, I'd like to share a few pictures from UTD Focus's Christmas Party!

This is the sweet team of ministers I get to work with at UTD! They're such a blast. They all exemplify Jesus so well both to me and all the students we're blessed to shepherd.

Here are a few of the faces you've seen in most of my previous blogs! Not everyone from Core (our small group) could make it that night, but these 4 did! From left to right: Nhala, myself, Jared, Sion, and Sylvia!

And these are my roommates! I seriously love getting to live with them. They're all so goofy, fun, and full of Jesus's love. From left to right we have Ari, myself, Peter, Kyle, and Luke.

I couldn't leave out our sixth roommate, David! He couldn't make it to the Christmas party that night.
He's hidden in one of my previous blogs... bonus points if you can find him!


I got got.
I have good news and bad news... Bad news is COVID got me. Good news is today is my last day of quarantine! Thankfully I had a light case and my symptoms are no longer present. Just in time for students to start returning to town this and next week! My roommate still has it and is having a rougher time with his symptoms so please be praying for him!


Because of the recent spike in cases, our church elected to stream our service this week. It worked out for me, considering I happened to be one of those cases!
P.S. Peep the merch from UTA, my Alma Mater!

Also on a serious note, the mother of one of our FOCUS students passed away 4 days ago with a fatal case of COVID, so please pray for that family and for God to use us as a loving, therapeutic community for them to lean on in this difficult time.

Stian!
I'll finish off by introducing to you my friend Stian, one of our graduating seniors at UTD! He's an incredible leader and a mentor to many. We've been friends for a few years, bonding over our shared love of the game Spikeball, and now disc golf. It's been so sweet getting to do ministry with him after so long of only knowing him in the context of "one of the Dallas FOCUS guys." He's planning on doing the FOCUS apprenticeship next year, and I'm so excited to watch how God moves in him through that. It's already been such a blessing in my life and I know it will be in Stian's too.


Everyone says we look like brothers. We have both had moments of existential crisis this semester when we literally thought the other person was ourselves. Dead serious, lol


Thank you all so much again for your support! Like I say every week, it's your prayer and financial generosity that enables me to do this and build so many friendships with these students and fellow-minsters. I am so grateful to our good God for having you all on my team. :)


Your brother,
Taylor



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Happy New Year!

Hi everyone, and happy new year! At least that's how it feels in FOCUS when August 1st hits. Welcome Week is around the corner, brand new pastoral apprentices are joining our team, and a whole new wave of students are coming to DFW to begin or continue their college careers, and will hopefully encounter Jesus while they're here. Last Summer FOCUS of 2024 Tonight is our last Summer FOCUS, where all the local students join together for a weekly worship service.  We took a group picture last Thursday, and you can see just how many students make the drive each week, some from all the way across the metroplex. One of the most special moments this summer was when a group of Hispanic students & ministers led worship together in both English and Spanish throughout the night.  It was a really cool way of experiencing the first fruits of the Biblical promise that we will witness a "great multitude from every nation and all the tribes, peoples, and languages, standing before the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Baby Bass!

Hi everyone, I hope you and your families had a fun Halloween and are looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas! As you could see in the title, Erin and I have huge news!! We're expecting our first baby this May, 2025! We will hopefully find out the gender later this month, so there's a good chance I'll get to share that by the next ministry update. We've been thinking and praying about having a child since getting married in 2022, and are overjoyed to have one on the way. Please pray for Erin's safety as pregnancy progresses, and that our baby grows strong and finds a life waiting for them filled abundantly with love, and a passion for the Lord. Shoutout to our old friends from UTA FOCUS, Nathan and Parker, who did a FREE photo shoot for us! Check out some of our favorite reactions from family and friends Update with Jaden! Our baby isn't the only encouraging thing to share this month! October has also been really exciting with regard to SMU and ministry! Y...
Post a Comment
Read more

California, Dallas, & San Antonio

Hi everyone, I hope you've been staying cool in the heat, and staying safe if you live along the coast. If anyone suffered any damage and there's anything I can do or people I can connect you with, please don't hesitate to reach out! Praying for y'all. Summer Growth Just because students are taking a break doesn't mean that God has been! He's still been moving and maturing them as disciples, getting them ready for this coming school year! Two students in particular come to mind. I've gotten to keep up with Jaden and Luke over the summer. Luke is in town taking summer classes, and Jaden and I have been Facetiming from California to Texas, continuing to study the Bible together where we left off in May. You may remember Jaden - I shared a bit of his story and his coming to know Jesus this semester in a ministry update a few months ago! A wise man once said, "If you make your life about climbing the ladder, you'll pass Jesus on his way down." Jad...
Post a Comment
Read more