With the flip of another calendar page we enter the month of February, arguably one of the toughest months on campus — if not THE toughest!

• The charm and excitement of a new term has worn off and spring break still seems like a long way off!
• Valentines Day will come smack in the middle of this month, which will be the source of great anxiety for a great number of our students, for a wide variety of reasons.
• Winter has long outlasted its’ welcome and for many of us across the US, there appears to be no end in sight.

Yes, February can be a very challenging month for students… which makes our intentional work this month all the more important!

So here are some ministry-related ideas I have for this month… and I hope you’ll add your great ideas in the comment section below!

• Teach on Love — An obvious choice for the month of February!  If we don’t have the theme of love as a regular part our formal teaching with students… then we ought to reconsider.  This at the forefront of our students minds… ALL THE TIME!  We need to be intentional to talk with them, instruct them, and even model for them the different faces of ‘healthy love’… because it is scarce in popular media and too rarely found in the homes that our students come from.
• Teach on Celibacy — Yep, that’s what I said.  Celibacy.  While teaching on love might be more popular, and well-received, helping our students to understand and live into God’s call to a celibate life (until they are married, should that day come) is supremely important for them to hear right now.  You can check out a great blog post from Christine Colon on this, from the recent ‘Sex & the Soul’ blogathon: Reframing the Discussion: Shifting from Abstinence to Celibacy.
• An Event for Couples — Create an opportunity, put on my a couple of strong married couples, that are a part of (or big supporters of) your ministry.  Some kind of Valentine’s dinner event where young couples can be together, and in the company of some great role models, where both formal and informal dialog can happen.  This is another opportunity for students to see, with their own eyes, what love can look like.
• An Event for Singles — Creating opportunities for those not ‘currently dating’ is important too.  The trick here is to not make it a ‘hook-up’ event, on one hand, and ‘pity the singles’ party, on the other.  Try to make it a fun event that celebrates the fun and freedom that can be experienced as a single person.  Even better, don’t denote it as an event for singles, or even an ‘alternative Valentine’s Day’ kind of event, but instead a fun option open to anyone (around the Valentine’s weekend).
• Be Aware of Seasonal Depression — Shifting gears a bit, February can be one of the worst months for seasonal depression.  Becoming aware of this, looking for this in students, walking alongside those who are really struggling, as well as trying to find some creative ways to beat the ‘Winter Blues’ can make a significant difference for some students.  One example might be to throw a beach-themed party — especially if it fits with your spring break mission trip destination!  I think there is a lot of room for creativity here!
• Leader Recruitment — It may seem a long way off to be thinking about the 2011-12 academic year, but now is the best time to start seriously recruiting our student leaders for next year.  Spring break is 4-8 weeks from now, and we all know that once students come back from spring break all they can think about is what they need to do to get to the summer break!  Now is the time to start planting bugs in ears, having intentional conversations, pointing out to students why WE think they would be great in this role or that.  And we can’t forget to be intentional with our current leaders… and talking with them about coming back and stepping into some new levels of ministry leadership.
• Final Prep for Spring Break Mission — As I mentioned above, spring break is now 4-8 weeks out (depending on where you are at) which means that this month is the best time to knock out those final details.  We’ve all likely experienced the stress of trying to pull together all of the trip details the day before (or even the day of) our departure.  Why put ourselves through that?  Let’s take some time to systematically knock those details over the course of the next 4 weeks… and have a much more peaceful start to our spring break!

So that’s my list for February.

What’s missing?

What’s on your list for February?

Take a moment and share your ideas in the comment section below!

Thanks for adding to the conversation!!