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What do screaming, eating Turducken, and decorating a Christmas tree have in common? They are all acts of celebration! For Thanksgiving, my big, crazy family would get together to eat our mom’s turducken (chicken inside of a duck inside a turkey with layers of shrimp, sausage, and bacon stuffings in between); that weekend, we would decorate the Christmas tree. When I was in college at Michigan State, we would open our windows precisely at midnight every night during finals week and scream our lungs out to celebrate the finals we had taken that day. Celebrations take many forms; what does a celebration look like for you and your family?
Adele Ahlberg Calhoun writes in the Spiritual Disciplines Handbook, “Whether solemn or exhilarating, formal or spontaneous, celebration can enlarge our capacity to enjoy and serve God.” Several examples of celebration in scripture occur before, during, or after great hardship. Celebration does not discount or dismiss our challenges or disappointments. Instead, it’s a powerful spiritual discipline that helps us embody that God is deeply good and worth celebrating despite adversity or struggle. Maybe you’ve had an incredible semester, aced all your classes, and your NCF group has flourished. Or maybe you’re ending one semester and starting another feeling discouraged and disappointed. Either way, make time to celebrate anything and everything you can. Make it a game to see how much you can find to celebrate this year out of wanting to “enlarge your capacity to enjoy God.” Scriptures highlighting celebration: Exodus 15:1-21, Philippians 4:4-7, Genesis 2:1-3, Acts 16, and many Psalms.
- Lara Kaiser NCF Student Ministry Associate Director
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Squeeze in time with Jesus in those in-between moments by listening to our new podcast, “Following Jesus in Nursing”--on your drive to work while exercising, or make chores fun! Each monthly episode brings stories from nurses, students, and educators sharing how faith in Jesus shapes patient care, decision-making, and the bonds formed with colleagues. We'll explore topics like spiritual care, ethical dilemmas, and the importance of self-care in a demanding profession. The first episodes are coming in November 2023. Follow and share these links!
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Refresh What’s Broken
Join us for our 4th annual online national NCF Student Ministry Retreat!
February 3rd: 9-11 AM PST 10-12 MST 11-1 CST 12-2 EST
We'll hear from Dr. Heidi Saarinen on mental health and being a healthy caregiver. Check out what she says… ”Trauma, Brokenness, Struggle: Those of us in nursing go into this field wanting to help others and are often high encouragers, so we’re often pouring out into others. However, we may not be pouring back into ourselves, realize we have underlying brokenness, experienced significant traumas, or struggle with a daily battle, whether physically or mentally. We all have strengths and weaknesses that appear in patterns of our behaviors and relationships. This is why helping to create healthy patterns can help our journey in helping professions and our futures as professionals. Dealing with these issues is less like having a root canal and more like brushing your teeth; there is daily effort and time for the intentional habit, and you WILL see improvement over the long road to being an emotionally healthy caregiver!”
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Group Membership
This year, we launched a new group membership package! All student groups can purchase an NCF Student Group membership package at a greatly reduced cost. Connecting students and faculty to NCF Membership connects them to support and resources -- great for developing students through nursing school and beyond! In addition to membership (with print and online access to the Journal of Christian Nursing), our group package includes the following:
- 5, 10, or 15 student memberships with 1 to 2 FREE faculty memberships (add extra students or faculty as needed!)
- NCF in a Bag© complete digital materials package for resourcing your group for the entire year!
- Gift bag complete with NCF swag to support outreach and marketing:
- 5, 10, or 15 Graduation Honor Cords -- one for each student (pictured above)
- 15 Spiritual Care Cards - quick reference tool with questions, interventions, and more
- 15 Backpack pins - promote your group!
- 15 NCF Stickers - great on your laptop
- 15 writing Pens
- NCF Student Ministry Staff support - we will Zoom into your first meeting to introduce NCF
- Nursing Student Quiet Time Guide (digital)
- Helpful ideas for funding your NCF group for outreach and events
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Find us on Facebook for more announcements and resources as you lead your group!
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Student Ministries Director
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