40 is the new 30

One of the best systems The Ember Cast has in place is called the 30 day rule. It states that you make no major decisions for 30 days after you come back from a mission experience. No starting or stopping major relationships, no deciding to drop out of college to be a missionary, no buying a plane ticket to return to the place where you just left, no selling all of your earthly possessions. Certainly none of those things are inherently bad decisions but the intent behind this is to help temper some of the emotions involved in returning from a very intense experience in a new culture.

This year, we've expanded this number to be 40 instead of 30, because you know how much more Biblical the number 40 is. In either case, that kind of time frame allows emotions to settle. If your experience has changed you, your convictions will last past this time and prove to be beyond emotions.

Calling and vocation are topics best navigated with intention and not by accident. When we hope our students figure out what they are good at or we hope that they bump into the right kind of leaders to lead them or we are unclear about a theology of place, we are navigating these topics by accident. Instead, you should have a plan to help your students think about the future and how they will contribute to it. One of the best ways to start is to help them deeply process what are convictions versus what are emotions.

You can do this too. Encourage your students to let God's leading burn in their hearts for a month. Host a dinner with them after that month and celebrate how you all have changed.