Commissioned

What an amazing week! I am done with support raising, am currently in Columbia, SC, and am driving to Raleigh tomorrow! I will be getting the rest of my stuff from Chicago as well as wrapping up a few things and then start on campus next week.

Here are some pictures of this weekend. Our team met for the day and shared about our summers and what God is teaching us. We were commissioned by First Presbyterian Church of Augusta, they shared what we're doing with their church and laid hands over us and prayed. We ate a lot and talked and laughed of course. I can't wait to work beside these amazing people.

The whole Raleigh team:

University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill team:

North Carolina State team:

A Vision to Give Your Life To

I have always been a pretty passionate person and when I find something I love, I give all my attention to it. When I find a song I enjoy, I listen to it non-stop. I learned how to cook one vegetable in college- green beans! People that I've cooked for throughout the years know to expect them as a never-fail-side-dish. The only t.v. show I watch is the Office (season premier is Sept. 21st), I can quote almost all the lines! And if I'm in the middle of a good book (i.e. the latest Harry Potter) I will most certainly ignore your phone call until I've finished every page.

I always hoped I would find a job that I love, a job that I couldn't wait to wake up to every day. As a religion and psychology major in college, I thought that I would go overseas after graduation and help women who were in despair, perhaps those emotionally crippled by the sex trade in Thailand or train missionaries to meet the needs of HIV sufferers in Africa.

But God called me to share Him with college students, often priviledged young people who have financial means and great possibility laid before their lives. God has reminded me that even if we have all of our physical needs met, without Him as our savior, all that can be counted as a "gain" in this world will be lost. And that great possibility does not always equal great hope, we can be physically rich but in our hearts, very poor.

A couple weeks ago, we had a staff meeting in which a leader said: "The vision of Campus Outreach is worth your life." That really stuck with me and I haven't been able to shake it out of my mind.

How often do we find something that is really worth giving our one life to? Maybe I'll be connected to this ministry for just a few years but it is definitely worth all of me. If it wasn't for the women that shared their faith with me, I would be navigating through this world without Jesus and I do not think that that would be a life worth giving to anything at all.

Charleston, SC

Hello friends! I hope that you're doing wonderful! I have not written for a long time on this, exactly a month! I often wonder what events in my life merit a post that is worth your time to read and it's almost always... nothing! I hope you simply enjoy hearing about a very small part of what God is doing to redeem others back to Himself!
I am currently in Charleston, South Carolina sitting at my most favorite Starbucks, it earns this glorious title because of the giant tree that sits outside the large window I always choose to face. I have been here for many hours with my stationary box, taking note of my car and how its contents are melting in this 105 degree heat!

I had a wonderful drive to South Carolina last week, my first time making the 14 hour trek alone and had a successful trip which was definitely a result of many prayers! I guess people don't trust my driving very much and the idea of me making a cross-country trip alone prompted a great deal of concerned phone calls. But thanks to Harry Potter on cd and the beautiful scenery as I drove through the Blue Ridge Mountains, the day flew by.

This past weekend I had the honor of standing up in one of my dearest friend's weddings. Ashley played a BIG role in telling me the story of God's love for us. As a freshman at college I felt lost and did not know what my purpose in this big world was. She took me under her wing and shared her faith and life with me. A big part of this life was her adoration of a handsome football player- Bowe Butler. But a problem with Ashley's feelings for Bowe was that she lived with them for four
(the picture is of me and fellow bridesmaids and future roomies Kellie and Katie!) years, never knowing whether or not the affection was reciprocated. After 4 1/2 years and lots of prayer, Bowe felt like it was the right time to let Ashley know that he loved her. They began dating last October, were engaged in January, and married this past weekend. It was so amazing to watch these people that waited so long for God's timing to stand before Him and declare their promise to love each other forever... and ever! They are now on their honeymoon in Mexico. Both Ashley and Bowe will be serving the Lord along side of me at UNC this fall.

C.I.Y.

This past week I was able to hang out with 80 awesome students and leaders from CCC church in Naperville. We went to a conference called CIY- Christ in Youth (www.ciy.com) held at Hope College in Michigan- so beautiful- it's where my sister goes. At the end of the trip my mom asked me if I got anything out of the week since I've been on so many conferences, retreats, etc. I told her that it was honestly one of the most wonderful times I've spent growing closer to the Lord! Here's some of the reasons why!
1. The Music- even though the worship leaders wore v-neck shirts that revealed their hairy man chests, I LOVED the music and had so much joy over singing beside the students. It was awesome to look around the auditorium and see 1,000+ people praising God, singing and dancing.
2. The other leaders- I was able to have awesome talks and see the giftedness of the leaders there. Alison H and I had a talk one night- she told me about how conversational her relationship with God is, how she often talks to Him aloud, sometimes getting so choked up by the fact that when she prays she is ushered into God's presence. What an awesome reminder of how near our Creator is.
3. My small group! I was able to lead a small group with Shawn Williams who is the youth group leader at CCC. He made me laugh so much and when students shared in our group I could hear in them their excitement about God and desire to follow Him with their lives. These kids are so different from one another but they are united for sure by their passion.
4. Plexiglass- so there were these plexi-glass walls put up all over the auditorium one night and during worship, the speaker told the students to go write on the walls a few words that described the painful issues in their lives. I walked around and looked at the hundreds of words and saw so many things that broke my heart- depression, rape, abuse, divorce... these students are living in a very broken world. There were so many times throughout the week I was moved to tears by the stories some of the high school girls shared with me. But there is hope. So many of them realized that healing can come from the love and connection we're all made for through Jesus. That night some staff of CIY prayed for 14 hours for every un-named individual that wrote on the plexi-glass and for their pain. Definitely an example of how God seeks to be a part of our every hurt and enter into it with us
5. Ones- The theme of the week was ONES- Here is the mission statement I found on the CIY website about the week (the picture below is some of our students holding hands and singing):

"In our differences, we are the same. We are a wide spectrum of people, with distinctive traits and talents, each reflecting a different characteristic of God. Each of us is playing a role in a saga so big that it can not be confined by time or space.
In our pockets of isolation, we search for significance and yearn for true community. So we come together, broken and injured, looking for a place to rest. Some come to support, some come to be healed, in coming together, are made whole.
They all come to be known, to matter. We are here as more than just a number or a statistic. We are here because we were created to bring value. We are here to make her laugh, to cause him to think, to convict them, and to grow. Here to be more than just ONE person, ONE failure, ONE sinner, or ONE saint. We are here as a part of the ONES. And we are here…

…Because we were never meant to be alone."

A real home... at the hill!

Yahtzee! We (Me, Kellie, Katie, and Megan) have a wonderful house that is less than 1/2 mile from the UNC-Chapel Hill Campus, so I can totally walk/roller blade/ride my bike there every day. A supporter that we had in Raleigh decided that this would be a good investment so we are very excited. I am especially excited about the abundance of bookshelves and all the pretty trees.

Classes at Wheaton

This past week I have had the privilege to take two classes at Wheaton College. In order to earn a semester's worth of credit in 3 days, I had to read an average of 7 books for each class, sit still and focus for 9 hours at a time, and write a whole notebook full of class notes! It was SO worth it though. I LOVED being at the school, sitting on the trees and eating lunch with new friends and being at a campus where so many amazing people learned to follow God.

The first class I took was called Planting and Reproducing Growing Churches and it was taught by the two wonderful, innovative founders of Community Christian Church in Naperville, IL- Dave and John Ferguson. These guys have helped thousands of people find their way back to God through their church structure and strategy to reach the Chicago area (www.newthing.org). I never knew anything about church planting before I started prepping for this class and now it is definitely on my radar as a BIG way that God is working in the world to let people know of His purpose and presence!

After 3 days of interesting discussion and knowledge from the Fergusons I showed up for Jerry Root's class on C.S. Lewis. We spent two days talking about the Romantic publications and thoughts of Lewis (which doesn't just mean lovey dovey poetry but instead some real deal heart based theology) and then one day focusing on the Reason approach Lewis had to literature. One of the most interesting lectures Dr. Root presented to us was Lewis' journey from atheism to Christianity. As one of the most influential minds in this past century- thought to be true by those inside and outside the faith- Lewis' brilliant understanding of God can make a huge difference in the life of readers from all backgrounds! My favorite books by Lewis that I would recommend are...

• Mere Christianity- Lewis leads the reader through his pilgrimage from doubt to faith with some awesome tips along the way
• The Great Divorce- This piece of fiction provides a really interesting look at heaven and hell with characters that you can totally identify with. It's scary to see hell from this perspective but the hope of what heaven could be like is worth your time and thoughts.
• Screwtape Letters- This fictional book describes the conversations between a senior devil and his nephew, also a scary view on what hell might be like as well as the ways that eternity influences how we live our lives in the present

Ones I can't wait to read based on my classmates' perspective...

• The Silver Chair and Voyage of the Dawn Treader (both from the Chronicles of Narnia series)
• Surprised by Joy (Lewis' autobiography on how he came to faith)
• God in the Dock (a bunch of theological essays I probably won't understand!)

The Happiest Place on Earth

Disney World!! It never gets old, I love it every time. One of the contacts we made at Disney said that Campus Outreach staff could have a day to play in the parks, under the guise that we were "inspecting the working conditions of our students." Ha! After stacking strollers in the arm-pit of the Magic Kingdom for two months I am sure that they're doing fine in comparison to what I did two years ago.

So first we went to the Animal Kingdom (where we went on the best safari ever!) then we headed to Epcot, ate in Mexico, and watched the fireworks at Magic Kingdom. We rode some of the best rides and just had a blast together. We were troopers and went from 10am - 11pm and decided that we had our Disney fix for at least another year, our wallets did too especially since we felt the urge to eat at every park!