Staff Retreat!

Yay, now it's time to get you all caught up on the past week! Last Sunday night (which feels like it was SO long ago because so much has happened) we, as a staff team, gathered at our director's (Jamey Pappas) house for a BBQ. It was such a nice time to connect with the staff that I knew as a student and get to know some of the new interns. Sadly, Caellin and Jacob's (a couple interning who graduated from UC Davis in June) car broke down on the way there so they had to miss out. To give you an idea of what the makeup of the staff team is: there are 5 married couples. One being the recently married Douglass' that I just mentioned. Then there's Jamey and Gretchen Pappas and their two kids, Joe and Allison Priola and their daughter (plus one more child on the way!), Dan and Deb Goodson (plus one of the way), and Kevin and Jenn Lamb (plus one on the way). Perhaps you noticed that three of the couples are expecting within the school year - what a neat time with lots of baby talk! As for the rest of the interns, Kristen Geischenslag is returning for her 2nd year, Tim Fox is interning after spending a year on STINT in East Asia (a missions trip to the region Cal Poly is partnered with), and then there's Kelly Hogan and I who are interning as well. One day I'll post a picture to put a face to all these names but for now just know that I am extremely blessed to have a work environment with co-workers that also serve as family!

On Monday we left for Silver City in the Mineral King Valley. We had to take a narrow road with 650 turns to get to the location - crazy, so thankful I don't get car sick! Silver City is a resort owned by a Christian professor at Cal Poly. . .he and his wife let us use the place (with one of the Chalets costing $400 a night. . .we used 3!) for free for the whole week - what a major blessing. We used the time well and had a busy 5 days to connect and prepare for the year. We spent a good deal of time casting vision for the year (I'll blog more on this later) and then creating path steps and tactics to reach the vision. We also paired up and placed Bible Study leaders, were told which teams we would be coaching and which Bible studies we would be leading (('ll blog more about what I've been assigned to do, just know that I'm already so excited about it!). When the CORE student leadership team (9 awesome kids!) arrived we spent a good chunk of time discussing W8 ("Wednesdays at 8". . .the name for our weekly meeting) as big changes are going into effect soon (I'll blog more on that as well!) as well as planning out the first 5 weeks of the quarter as this is an instrumental time in reaching students for Christ. We were able to enjoy many sweet times in the Word, prayer, and fellowship as well. . .our beautiful surroundings made it easy to be in awe of God and His desire to use us puny humans to relay His redemptive message. During free time I had the chance to go on a great hike with some of the staff as well as enjoy the beautiful weather by reading a book (Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning, so great!) on a rock by a great creek.

So, that's just a glimpse into the past week and boy am I so excited for what lies ahead! There were many times during the week where I felt so inexperienced and unhelpful. . .and yet I know He has called me to this and is faithful to keep me humble in all things. I'm going to try to blog a couple of times tomorrow as well because I want to let you know about "Pre-Fall Retreat" which happened yesterday and was AMAZING as well as the big week that lies ahead (it's WOW week, Week of Welcome for the freshmen and transfers). . .I'll let you know ways you can be praying specifically. It's such an exciting time - thanks for reading and praying!