Dead Week

That's what this week at Cal Poly is called - the last week before finals. Everyone knows that it's not really dead in the sense that you don't have much to do, rather it takes on a more literal meaning because often there's so much to do that you think the week might result in death. I definitely remember those days. . .and am so glad they're behind me!

I haven't posted in a while so just a little update: things are going well! Thanksgiving at home was nice, we BBQed a turkey for the first time. . .a little dry if you ask me, but everyone else disagrees so I must have gotten the ONLY dry slice on the whole bird. Went to a great high school football game - the Oakdale boys are in the playoffs. . .hadn't been to one of their games in 5 years, weird (a turf field in HS. . .now that's a little much) but fun. I also sewed some Christmas gifts. . .however, I will not disclose details for fear that some of the recipients are secret readers of my musings here.

By the time Sunday rolled around I was so excited to get back to SLO. And not because I had a bad time at home (I didn't!) but because I was thrilled to get back to work, doing what I love to do. . .to have a purpose and a passion for my day that is greater then myself. I'm so thankful for the Lord's calling on my life - His plans really are so good!

And now it's already the middle of the week. It's been busy thus far. . .with a bit of a break today which has been nice. Because it's the last week with students there is the need to wrap things up. . .which really is kinda sad since it has been such a great quarter. . .thankfully there's another one on the horizon - Winter Quarter starts January 7, 2008.

Some fun highlights coming up:
-Switchfoot and Reliant K concert at Cal Poly's Rec Center tonight! I'm excited to go. . .although I'm not super familiar with the music, oh well - can't turn down a free ticket!
-Getting to drop off a meal for Dan, Deb, and the 1 week old (today!) Kate Goodson on Thursday. . .she's the newest addition to the staff team, too bad she can't enjoy the Turkey Pot Pie (yay for Thanksgiving leftovers) that I'm bringing for her!
-The last CORE leadership meeting for the quarter this Friday. . .we've been meeting at 6:30 in the morning every other week because no other time would work for our busy college student leadership team - they certainly are deserving of a yummy breakfast to close off the year (and I get to put my melon-baller to work for a fruit salad, fun!)
-A super fun "Tea at Three" on Friday for the 6 women that I meet with for discipleship this quarter. What's better then warm drinks, goodies, and a homemade gift to close off the year?!
-Our ministry wide "NativiTAY ParTAY" (why we're saying it that way I do not know) on Saturday night. . .we're dressing up like the nativity scene according to college, because I've been involved in the College of Liberal Arts this year (Bible study and Unplugged) I will be dressing up like an angel. Have yet to create the costume though, any suggestions?
-Christmas Party/Outreach for the women of Trinity Hall at the lovely home of a wonderful couple from church on Sunday late afternoon. Girls are coming dressed up to enjoy yummy treats, a gift exchange, and a break from studying. . .how fun!
-During Finals week we, as a staff team, will have planning days for the new year and then close off this year with a party at the Pappas' on Wednesday night. . .Christmas carols around the piano, what fun!
-And then, to end this never ending list for now, I'm off to Oshkosh, Wisconsin thanks to a super cheap round-trip ticket I got that leaves out of the airport in SLO; you'd think that "super cheap" and the "airport in SLO" would never be in the same sentence but for once it is! I am so excited to see Jena, a fellow intern with Crusade out at the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh. I fear that I will freeze to death, but if I do it'll be worth it. . .to die is gain! :) More about this wonderful gal later. . .

Now I can check "update blog" off of my to-do list for the day (though I love writing here it's hard to squeeze it in at times!) and move on to other things before heading to the concert in a couple of hours. If you feel motivated to pray then I hope that the above list will help to inform your prayers. Thanks for being so wonderful!

And I'm back . . .

Hello! Well, I'm back in SLO. . .although only to leave again today to go home for Thanksgiving! My 5 days at the Calvary Chapel Conference Center were amazing. It was a huge blessing to meet the other interns in the region and to get poured into, cared for, and trained up. It was a very rejuvenating time for me, and in that sense I am sad that we're not on campus this week! The Crossroads Conference was also fantastic, Roger Hershey is such an amazing communicator and many students left with a fresh understanding of decision making, eternal perspective, and stewardship. . .as did I! It was so special to hear these talks again for last year, at this same conference, I realized the call the Lord had placed upon my life to go into full-time ministry. I am so thankful that this call still holds true today, the weekend was very affirming of what the Lord is doing with my life. How I want to be a faithful and obedient child! I could write volumes about all the thoughts that went through my head the past week. . .but alas, I'll leave it at that. Thank you for your prayers. I'll be home until Sunday and probably will not be blogging, the internet is slow and it'll be a nice break from technology! This Thanksgiving I have so much to be thankful for - I am thankful for you!!

And I'm Off. . .

Friends! What a busy and joyful day it has been. . .and not only because the weather is AMAZING right now, although that helps! I met with Jamey this morning to wrap up some Fellowship Dinner stuff (and tomorrow I am meeting the contact woman at the Marriott to give feedback and ask for compensation for some things that did not go smoothly the night of the event. . .I am not looking forward to this conversation BUT I am praying that even in this I would be filled with the Spirit so that His fruits would be evident in me). After this I went on to campus and did the 3rd new Christian follow-up lesson with Danielle. It was on the Holy Spirit and we looked at a passage on 1 Corinthians. I am so enjoying my times with her! I also met with my Bible study co-leader Hannah to talk about how study would go tonight and to tentatively map out the rest of the quarter. . .we have a super fun Christmas party outreach in the works, what a blast! I then had some down time to work on thank you notes that need to be sent out to people who gave toward the ministry but were unable to make it to the dinner on Friday night. After writing the same thing over and over and over I enjoyed a nice break from this while meeting for discipleship with Kelly and Sarah - it was a sweet chance to get into the Word, how blessed we are to have the living words of God at our fingertips! Then I zoomed home, started a load of laundry, finished prepping for Bible study, and awaited Melissa's arrival. She came over to learn how to cook a meal. . .so we made a super easy and yummy Chicken Pot Pie (the recipe on the back of the Bisquick box!) and green salad. I also had her "ball" a honeydew melon. . .I was afraid the melon would taste good because it's out of season but it was one of the best! We invited two girls, and my roommate, to enjoy the meal - and it really was so fun to fellowship over food. Melissa did a great job, and I had a blast instructing her! And then it was off to Bible study. I led the girls on the importance of prayer and we studied the story of Hannah in 1 Samuel. . .she was so persistent in prayer and a wonderful role model for women! We also had a "guest speaker", simply an upperclassmen who has been on a summer project that came to talk to us for a few minutes about the many great missions opportunities that Crusade offers during the summer. The application process has already begun. Pray that girls would be open to going and would seek direction from the Lord!

Okay, and that brings me to this moment - phew! Really, such a great day. Anyway, tomorrow morning I am leaving for a conference and will be gone until Sunday. Myself and all other first year interns in the Pacific Southwest region (CA, HI, AZ, NV) are headed to the Twin Peaks Calvary Chapel Conference Center for "Intern Briefing" Wednesday and Thursday. And then, Fri-Sun we, as well as all the staff members will be joining us at this point, will be putting on a conference for college juniors and seniors in our region called Crossroads. This is the conference that I attended last year that was so instrumental in bringing me to an awareness of what the Lord had for me after graduation. . .I'll never forget it. And now it's neat to be on the other end of things! So, I won't be blogging during this time but I would love your prayers and promise to update you when I return! Here are some, but not all, ways you can pray:
- safe travel, I am driving a full car tomorrow. . .we're leaving around 11
- a sweet time of connection and encouragement amongst the interns that are gathering
- rest and refreshment from the Lord as we reflect on how the past quarter has been and as we gear up for the rest of the year - may the joy of the Lord be our strength
- that the 115 juniors and seniors (30 of which are coming from SLO) would experience the Lord's presence and direction both now and in the future. That they would be obedient as they begin to take steps of faith in the plans that Lord leads them to make.

Thanks. . .and have a great week!

Oh Dear!

Nothing super profound in this post. . . I just wanted to show you my new haircut!! Yep, it's a change. I'm excited to get used to it and do it funky. . .it should be easy as well which is definitely my style. Okay, off to grocery shop with my roommate for our Pizza Making Party tonight! I'll try to take pictures, I am charging my camera's battery right now. Happy Monday. . .and thank you to all the veterans, both past and present.

Wow!

So, the Fellowship Dinner has come. . .and gone. Thank you for all of your prayers - it was an amazing evening of both celebration and a call to action. Things went so smoothly and people really seemed to enjoy the program. Dr. J.P. Moreland did an excellent job addressing the parents and community members and hearing him talk got me re-aligned and re-excited to go out and reach college students for Christ. He called the Campus Crusade for Christ ministry at Cal Poly and Cuesta the #1 college ministry across the nation (he has spoken at over 200 colleges in the states. . .I didn't even know there were that many :)!) because of our commitment to reaching the lost AND building the faith, through intellectual study (he is referring to our theological library of over 600 books for our students to read, research, and reflect on in order to strengthen their faith in a post-Christian culture), of our students. His remarks were so encouraging, but also very sobering - there are many more who need to hear the Good News of Christ.

From a details standpoint things went smoothly as well. There are definitely a handful of things that went differently then I would have expected and liked them to go but if I keep the right perspective and remember that God knew exactly how the night would go before it even happened then I can't help but thank Him and give Him all the glory. I really have learned so much about event planning and what it takes to pull off a night like this - it takes a lot of planning and prayer!

So, all this to say that - our fundraising goal for the evening was met, and slightly surpassed!! I am in awe of the generosity of people and am energized to know that so many consider this work on the college campus to be of great importance. We have a fantastic team of people standing behind us and allowing us to be the hands and feet of Christ to our students.

At this point there still are some tasks to complete. Sending out letters to all of the guests who attended (and those who didn't, we had 10 no-shows) in order to follow-up with their commitments and to thank them for giving and/or attending the evening. Also, I need to wrap some things up with the hotel and the caterer before we pay the bill. However, my "fellowship dinner to-do list" has never looked so short. . .there really is light at the end of the tunnel. :)

On another note, it was so nice to have my parents at the event. The enjoyed the company of the people at their table (I strategically placed them with agriculture oriented parents) and simply having them there made the evening that much more special and meaningful for me. They got to meet some of the people I work with as well as hear a lot more about the need for college ministry and what the Lord is doing here on the Central Coast. This morning my mom and I went to go get pedicures together. . .my first one ever!! And it might be my last, it just wasn't relaxing for me - I'm too ticklish! However, it was very fun that my mom wanted to go together, her treat. Afterwards we met up with my dad for a late breakfast and now they're on their way back to the valley. I am blessed to have the parents that I do.

And now, on to a fun and relaxing couple of days (not that the last couple of days haven't been fun, but they certainly haven't been relaxing!). My dear friend Stacie and her family are in town so I'll be meeting up with them today - I'm so excited to celebrate Grandma's 85th with them! In the next couple of days I am also getting a hair cut, having dinner at the home of a wonderful family from church, and having my Bible study girls over for a pizza making party. I hope your next couple days will prove to have moments of fun and relaxation as well!

It's Coming Fast

Hi friends! Just a quick update from SLO. I am doing well, the colonoscopy went fine and now I'm just waiting for the doctor's office to call me to make a follow-up appointment. As for the Fellowship Dinner on Friday, things are well under way. I won't deny that there have been lots of moments in each day where I have been stressed. Pray that I would trust God with ALL of the details and ask for His wisdom as the day approaches. I am waiting to hear back from a couple of people, then I will finalize the seating arrangement and start printing nametags. I am recruiting some of the girls I disciple to help me with this. . .we can partner together in ministry in many different ways! :) It has been fun to see God's hand in this process. For example, yesterday I found out that the hotel does not provide a stage for the event (our previous location did. . .) so I called around frantically and found a company we could rent a stage from. The total cost came to $301 (this stuff isn't cheap. . .I'll keep this in mind if there's a wedding in my future!) which wasn't a fun additional cost that we weren't counting on. However, God is sovereign over all and He was counting on this additional cost because I checked the mail yesterday and a parent sent in a check for $300 as a result of getting an invitation to come to the event. How cool is that?! As of right now our numbers are at 161 - wow! I still have lots of phone calls to make and kinks to work out but it looks like things will come together in time. Pray that we would see the Lord at work, not only in the lives of students, but also in the lives of parents (I'm so excited mine are coming!) and community members. Pray for our student speaker Bethany, our student MC Danny, and our keynote speaker Dr. J.P. Moreland - may the Holy Spirit speak through them as to give God all credit and glory for the things He is doing in our midst. Thanks everyone!

The Week's Happenings. . .

Or at least some of them! This was a full week, Impact 1 was just a part of it but so much more is going on. It's a whirl-wind at times! Sunday evening we had our second, and last, Servant Team meeting of the quarter. This is a time of worship, prayer, evaluation, and encouragement for all of the leaders within the ministry (ministry teams leaders, contextualized ministry leaders, Bible study leaders). About 150 students showed up and God gets all the glory for raising up so many laborers here in SLO. During the week I had the chance to do some mid-quarter encouraging of our Destino and prayer team leaders. . .who doesn't love Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread?! I really enjoy getting to shepherd them so that they lead well. . .although, I am definitely learning as I go. That's one thing about this job, the learning curve is high. I also had the opportunity to meet with a student who I met the first week of school. She is not currently walking with the Lord but He is clearly working in her in many cool ways. She's actually moving from off-campus housing and into Trinity this weekend. . .pray that the Bible study girls would be a blessing to her. I got to lead Bible study this week and it was such JOY! Really, preparing and leading is so fun for me. We studied Luke 15 and learned much about God's heart for His people and how He desires for us to be people after His own heart. Earlier that day my co-leader, Hannah, had the opportunity to lead a student to Christ while out sharing with her roommate on campus. God is on the move at Cal Poly! I met with Danielle again this week and we did the second lesson of the follow-up curriculum that students go through when they pray to receive Christ. I was a lesson about confession and forgiveness. . .good stuff! I also met up with Jamey to plan and pray for the Fellowship Dinner - which is now less than a week away! Honestly, it has been rather stressful for me the past couple of days because we are receiving too many RSVPs in the mail. . . the ballroom is not big enough to hold all the people that want to come - it's a good problem to have but it's stressing me out none the less. I'm learning a lot though and I'm so exciting for the evening to arrive. . .especially since my parents are coming - so cool! On Friday we as a staff team met with our student leadership team, core, at 6:30 in the morning. . .but sadly yours truly woke up at 6:36. :( I felt terrible about coming late, especially since timeliness is super important to me. It was humbling for me! Last night was the "Library Open House", an event to kick off the new year for our library and study center. This place is so cool. . .it's also where we meet for our staff meetings but it's perfect for students because it's close to campus and is packing with amazing resources. It is so easy to take for granted all that we have at our finger tips here in SLO. What an undeserved joy it is to partner with the Lord as He does BIG things here!

Sunshine Saturday

It was another busy week. . .I'm enjoying a fun and relaxing Saturday. My friend, Nicky, and I went on a bike ride this morning to Avila. It was so refreshing. . .although rather hot - it's hard to believe that it's November! Afterwards we went groccery shopping, one of my hobbies. :) Trader Joes is selling Pumpkin Butter so I bought a jar, can't wait to give it a try. This afternoon I met up with a freshman in Trinity who came to Bible study once or twice at the beginning of the quarter. It was so fun to hang out with this girl! Pray that school work would not come before the Lord as this is a huge struggle for all college students. It is a joy to begin establishing relationships with women and I look back on these past several weeks in amazment of how many wonderful women I have had the chance to get to know. I blessing no doubt. I just finished making some jello because tomorrow I'm not allowed to eat any solid foods in order to prep for the colonoscopy on Monday. . .oh, fun. What really is fun, on the otherhand, is that I am joining some girls to go see a movie tonight - it's been a while since I've seen a movie in the theater. . .we're seeing a chick-flick which is right up my ally.

And lastly, I just have to share that I'm the proud new owner of a green papasan chain and foot stool that I bought off of the girl who is moving out of her apartment downstairs (pray for her, school and social life became too difficult so she's going home. . .my roomie had the chance to share the Gospel with her while studying for a class they have together, praise God that she knows (at least in her head) where true joy lies. . .now pray that she will accept this joy in Christ!) Here's a picture or two, I just love it!

I love the little foot stool that it comes with! I had to close the curtain to take the picture because this Californian sun in November is just too bright!

In what ways have you had the chance to "kick back" this weekend?!

Impact 1

World Vision was on our campus this week. . .allowing students to experience "Impact 1" - an aids awareness tent that was placed on Dexter Lawn. It was open everyday from 12-12 and even until 5AM on Halloween night. Students were given a MP3 player upon entering the tent and could choose between 3 stories to begin the self-guided tour. This was a very impactful (no pun intended!) 20 minutes and at the end students could speak with a response team about their thoughts and feelings. Students were asked to respond financially (by sponsoring a child or by giving money toward an orphanage), emotionally, and spiritually. World Vision is a Christian organization; they did a great job turning people's thoughts toward God and where He is in all the suffering and injustice in Africa. Here are some pictures of my Bible study going through the tent together before our weekly meeting on Wednesday.

First, we had dinner together at the "Garden Grill" (the cafeteria on campus). . .let me just say, things have improved a lot since I was a freshman here many moons ago! :)

We are about the begin the self-guided tour through the tent (two girls who don't come to Bible study came. . .pray that Amy and Kara would come to know the Lord!)

I listened to Olivia's story as I walked through her part of the tent. She was rapped twice, became pregnant both times, and now she and one of her children as aids.

This room was called the "chapel", each picture shows a child or a family who have aids. At one point we were at a "health clinic" and we received a special stamp on our hand if we had the disease. I received that stamp and though it has since faded away. . .the stamp of aids for those who truly have it will never fade.

Students were given the opportunity to write notes of encouragement to the people of Africa as well as make a bracelet to serve as a reminder of one's experience in the tent but more so a reminder of the crisis in Africa.

In a way this experience was very moving because my dear friend and roommate the past three years is in Africa right now, seeing first hand the suffering, and hope that only the Lord can provide, in that country. She is working with AIM, Adventures in Missions. . .check out her blog here: http://kristengardenhire.myadventures.org/ How amazing it is that we can serve the same God and His same creation but in drastically different ways. How omniscient He is!