New strategies on the horizon

As campus staff we're always looking for new and inventive ways to love students, initiate spiritual conversations with them and get them involved in what God is doing on the campus. So as the spring is coming to an end, seniors are graduating, and many students are getting ready for a summer of working and/or traveling, we have begun to plan what next fall will look like.

We have some great things in the works. One thing we're considering is an all Freshman bible study, the hope with this study would be that freshman would build community early on. There would be upper classmen leading discussions and planning events, they would also be mentoring these freshman. We have said in the past that the first 6 weeks of school are very crucial, it is the time when freshman are getting involved and trying to find a place to fit in on campus, we want to make sure that with us that place is clearly established and welcoming.

In our prayer letter Tyler talked about IJM, this is also an exciting thing that we will be pursuing. It is a christian organization that we will be partnering with. They work to end slavery, such as sex trafficking and labor practices. They actually work with law enforcement to find and incarcerate criminals involved in these acts. Since many students on college campus care about social injustice and that it unfortunately has not been the Christians heading up these movements it is neat to now have the opportunity to show the campus that we can act as well and be on the forefront of change. It has been really neat to see Tyler's heart in this and to see him run with it to raise awareness.

Finally, like I've said before there will be a lot of change in the fall with our staff team and new babies coming into the world. Currently I'm 32 weeks a long and the other pregnant staff woman, Rachel is 36 weeks along, we are getting close and very excited. I've also been very nervous with this pregnancy, not for any good reason but it has really brought me to a point of complete faith and trust that God will take care of everything. This is truly one aspect of my life that I have no control over the outcome. Sure I can eat right, get good sleep and exercise but ultimately everything is in his hands, it is a great and sometimes scary place to be. We also have scheduled a c-section and would love prayer during that time, it will be April 29, 2010 at 12pm. The reason we are doing a c-section is that I had an emergency c-section with Lacy and my doctor said that there would about a 90% chance that I would end up with one with this one also, I didn't think those odds were worth trying.

This is Lacy and her friend Carter, they are just a month apart and love eachother. They play at least once a week if not more. We have become great friends with Carter's parents and are so thankful for them.

DCC and the spring semester

DCC is Campus Crusade for Christs winter conference. We invite college students from neighboring states to come to Denver to enjoy the city, community with other college students and to challenge them to make desicisions that will impact their lives. From CSU we had about 30 students, there were a lot of freshman and many guys that I had never seen before. That may sound bad, but I thought it was great, it was a great indication that God is reaching beyond what I can imagine.

This year there were so many neat things about the conference. One of the neatest part of the conference was what was called "card board testimoniasls", what made it so impactful and emotional for me was that I knew many of the students who bravely went on stage infront of hundreds people and shared their testimonies (they wrote on a piece of cardboad a sin or struggle, then flipped it over to reveal how God had healed them) knowing them and knowing how God had worked in their lives was so encouraging to see, I have been so blessed to be a part of those students lives. Another neat aspect that was part of the conference was a pledge where the students were challenged to committ one year of their life to full time ministry, what is so cool about this is that from that committment we see many students finding ways to serve, not only with us (campus crusade) but with churches or other ministries where they can live out or find their passions.

Another reason I love DCC is that for the last several years I have gotten to be a part of the finance/registration team. Because I'm a mom I actually don't have to have any job a the conference but I would not give it up. I'm sure there are those of you out there who can't imagine why counting money or importing info in to the computer could be fun, truthfully that isn't why it's fun. I love the team because of the other staff who I get to hang out with for most of the conference, we all get a long so well. I also love it because Tyler and I get to share a suite with some great friends.

The spring semester is always very unique, there isn't the same newness or energy that there is in the fall. Freshman are now veterans who are either committed or are recovering from a misguided failed first semester. Seniors are just counting the days til graduation and not much will distract them from that count. Our hope and prayer for this year is that we can create some energy and newness that God will use to draw students to himself before the summer.

One way that we are doing this is by starting an all women's biblestudy. We have already had 2 meetings and we are so thankful to see how God is already using it to bring new girls to the study and challenging long time leaders. We are reading The New Eve by Robert Lewis, it has been a great book that challenges us as women and what God desires for our lives.

Our spring will still be very unique, there are two babies coming (1 for us and 1 for another staff couple), a wedding, a job transition and a hiatus to raise support. With all those things in our staff midst we are so excited to see how God will work through it like only he can.

Below are some fun pics of our family

wow the fall just flew by

Hi everyone, I'm so sorry that it has been so long since our last post. It's amazing how the semester just flies and how hard it can be to keep up. There are so many great things that have happened this semester it is so hard to know where to start.

The summer ended well, the summer project ended great with students coming back having grown in so many ways, ways that would later come out throughout this semester. Sarah Harmon was one our CSU students that was on the project, I have been spending time meeting with her this semester and it has been so neat to see what God has done in her life these last few months. She is now at a point of really considering interning with Campus Crusade, and she is really excited about the idea of spending her time pouring into younger girls and helping others understand what it means to have a personal relationship with Jesus. I so love seeing women that I work with make decision and grow in ways that are going to affect their lives and the lives around them for eternity.

Like I said the semester has gone by so fast and we have done so many things to show Christ to the students at CSU. Every year we have several events the first week of classes. The first week is a crucial time, especially for freshman, this is the time that they will decide where they want to spend the majority of their time and who they want to spend it with.

We have a great group of students who have step up to lead, a lot of sophomores which is really fun, they're young with fresh ideas and they don't really know what to do with all those ideas. That is where we come in, to give some direction to those passions that they have and also provide some tools to help them.

On a personal note: It has been overwhelming trying to figure out ministry while taking care of an energetic two year old while pregnant. Our second child is due May 5th and we're really excited to have another. Though Lacy doesn't fully understand what it means to have a sibling she already is showing us that she'll be a great big sister, she has a doll that she walks around with saying "shhhshhshh". We celebrated Lacy's birthday on Halloween, it was so fun, she actually understood getting presents and loved dressing up and playing with friends.

We had a great thanksgiving, Thursday with my dad and Friday with my mom. Tyler's dad will be out here for Christmas, which will be 3 Christmases (not quite as good as the movie, but close). Besides Christmas, the rest of our December is going to be quite busy. This week we're going to zoo lights, then Saturday we're going to see Santa and then have dinner with our small group, the next week Tyler and I are driving to St. Louis for a close friends wedding, then just before Christmas we'll find out if we're having a boy or girl, we're so anxious and excited to know and we'll be sure to let everyone know.

I will try to be more consistant about updating the blog, thanks so much for all your prayers and support.