As I head into the office this morning, I noticed something different from months past. The pandemic, as we all know, has changed our routines and lives. This last year traffic has been quiet, coffee drive-thrus vacant and our campuses empty. However, today I saw a positive disruption to the silence. Morning traffic was present, coffee lines were long and the main campus was busy with athletes preparing to take team photos. For me, this is light at the end of the long pandemic journey and a reminder our Lord is at work in the details of each one of our lives. It is as if springtime brings more than just blossoms this year, but a sense of renewal and restoration.

March 19 marks the official one-year anniversary Fresno Pacific University began working remote. During this time, we have learned new phrases like Zoom fatigue, doom-scrolling and blursday. We have also discovered our dislike of the word “unprecedented.” While our work environment has looked different, we have learned how to balance and flex in ways we never thought of. We have persevered as a community remembering it is our Lord and Savior who has and always will be our constant.

As some of you know, this past year has also been my first year as the university registrar. It has been a challenging and rewarding journey to navigate a pandemic alongside my team while learning a new role. I have enjoyed how this past year has connected me more with our FPU community. Typically, I would not have had the opportunity to connect and collaborate in the various ways I have been able to. Commencement conversations, classroom capacities, inquiry circles and synchronous/asynchronous learning are a few of the many areas I have been blessed to dive into with other great leaders on campus.

The Registrar’s Office has been on the frontlines this past year. Flexibility has become easier for us as we search for new ways to come alongside staff, faculty and students. There is so much more to our department than meets the eye. We collaborate on many projects throughout the university that go beyond helping students register for courses. Each member of the office holds a vital role which impacts students, faculty and staff. Everything from enrollment reporting to transcript evaluation to creating our university academic calendar, just to name a few.

As the pandemic anniversary passes, I am reminded that the Lord seeks to renew and restore. Isaiah 43:19 says, “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” As we begin to find our new routines and return to more in-person functions, my prayer is we remember that our Lord is at work in the details. He sees and knows each one of us our story, and our journey. I am looking forward to seeing what 2021 brings our university!