I'm here, I'm really here, and my office is my car, and Jon's car, and the kitchen table and my actual office.

Just a bit of what has been going on lately.

A lot. It is New Student Outreach time, which is completely amazing and completely exhausting. It is difficult for me, because I don't enjoy all the New Student  stuff. I am not a big program person, I don't really enjoy meeting new people and I don't enjoy small talk. It is hard to be an introvert and act like an extrovert.

But I do it. I put on the faith, peace and joy that Jesus gives me. I lean into Him and lean onto His promise that He has called me to this campus for this season for His purposes and His glory. I can throw away my pleasures and my desires for the sake of the Gospel going forth on campus. On my own strength, not a chance, but living with joy in His strength.

What NSO has looked like this year.... (so far)....
-Chalking campus

-Follow up....going door to door getting to know students who may be interested in InterVarsity, interested in joining a small group, interested in learning more about God, etc.....

-Hosting a Welcome Tent, serving free hot dogs to any one who walked by, and of course starting spiritual conversations and inviting to InterVarsity

-Hosting a game night to get to know new folks better. I had so much fun at this, even though I hate games. I guess a few fun rounds of Spicey Uno and Catch Phrase can really convert me:)

-Emails. Texts. Emails. Texts. Emails. Texts. Emails. Texts.

-Training new small group leaders on how to lead inductive studies on campus. (insert giddy laugh, skips and jumps about how much I love my job).

-Jump into the book of Romans with said leaders.

-Briton Bash: Code for all of the student organizations on campus gather on the quad to promote their group. All students must attend Briton Bash if they want to eat:) We meet a lot of people who are looking for a Christian group and a lot of people who aren't. Those are the fun conversations:))

A few of my favorite God moments of NSO....(and conversations had) 


-A student comes to our table at Briton Bash--- "I am not a Christian. I am a  Buddhist from (asian country). I want to learn about God. Can I join? "

-Meeting a girl who has lived all over the world, and is really jaded by world religions. I asked if she would be interested in InterVaristy and she declined. As we talked, I told her that I am not surprised at her reaction, that the Jesus she has known about is not the Jesus I follow, and if I saw only what she saw I would be really turned off too. I asked her if she would like to meet and learn more about Jesus. She said yes:)

-We are meet SEVERAL international students that want to learn about who God is.

-One girl from an Asian country....In an airport from her country to here, she saw a Bible and decided to buy it. She thought it would be a good way to learn English and she could learn about God too. She asked one of the InterVaristy students if they could read it together.


So there you have it. An NSO run down if you will.

And now I am off to bed. Can't wait for Labor Day weekend. I can only live on 6 hours of sleep for so long, unlike my husband.

NSO

It is officially NSO season..(NEW STUDENT OUTREACH). I will be spending the next few weeks getting to know students, building relationships, doing a lot of publicity for InterVarsity, etc.

Tonight we chalked campus. For those of you who have not had the privilege of chalking, your back, knees and knuckles thank you. Sidewalk chalk may be fun as a kid, maybe even as a parent, but when you are chalking an entire campus, hoping that 2000 people will see your beautiful artwork (er.....publicity), well, body parts start to ache.

Here is how I spent my night:)

A week ago, Caleb and I ventured to Bowling Green State University for my Regional Staff (staff from Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia and Western Pennsylvania) for InterVarsity.

It was a G R E A T time. I loved being with other staff. They are my favorite people on earth, and I cannot believe that I get to work with them. It was an amazing place to hear from God, to be challenged and encouraged and to laugh. Regionals is one of my favorite "work requirements."

I would LOVE to share with you what happened during Regionals, in detail. We spent lots of time in prayer, and studying Hebrews. It was so refreshing in so many ways.

Last year I brought Caleb to Regionals and it was so fun to show him off to everyone. It was also hard, because we were sharing a dorm room together, which meant I heard every noise, had no bathroom and had to figure out how to make bottles and wash bottles out of the nearest water fountain.

Oh this year was going to be so easy. I could feed him whatever he wanted, he walked, he didn't require the huge travel system. Life was going to be easy. I could simply bask in the "oh, he is so cute. He is so big, I love his hair cut, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah."

Don't worry. I hit reality really fast. About 25 seconds into moving into our dorm room, I realized that life can be harder with a toddler. I had a meltdown.

"Mom, it looks like you need some help. Mind, if I put up my own bed?"

"ok, so this is harder than I thought. Mom, why didn't we bring daddy.?"

"Got it. I can sleep like this all week."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am going to miss this.

Life is about to get really busy. Doesn't fall do that? I love it!! I love busy, I love the excitement, but, a BIG BUT....I am going to miss my lazy days on the lake......

 When he gets stressed, I am going to picture him chilled out like this!

 Best thing ever! Dock the boat in the middle of the lake, hook the rafts together (with cooler in the middle) you could be out there all day!!!

 Jon's first time on the tube...didn't last long, Jalissa pushed him off:) Good thing he had the life jacket on

Someday....

 Someday, those eyes are going to get that kid in serious trouble. There might be a day where he will have people wrapped around his finger, everyone thinking he is so cute, not believing that their was any capability in him to do any wrong. Someday, those eyes will get that kid in trouble.  Someone should really warn his mother to look beyond the facade of sheer cuteness.

 

Except I think that day is already here. Oops. 

Just in case you were wondering what is going to be going through my mind in the next 2 months

Because today feels like summer is almost over

Today I am....

READY to start back to work. I feel refreshed from a great weekend away, and last week was a great week with my colleagues! 

WISHING that I had more dedication to losing weight. It is a constant battle.

EXCITED to use my new camera that came in the mail while I was gone this weekend!

HAPPY that my boys are peacefully sleeping and I get some much needed alone time. 

PROUD of some of the Christian leaders in my life, including pastors and InterVarsity staff. 

REALIZING that I am going to have to have a consistent schedule this school year in order to get things done, my house is a mess, and my to do list keeps getting longer. 

FINALLY ADJUSTING to getting up early in the mornings. I love being up by 6 now! Ofcourse, didn't happen during our vacation weekend, so we will see how it all works out tomorrow!

NOTICING how hard my husband tried to make this past weekend away glorious! 

SPENDING more money on cameras and lenses. Which means....other things to go, so I can have more cash. Soo....thrifting anyone? 

HUNGRY for the most delicious watermelon you have ever tasted.....mmmmmm......

LOOKING FORWARD TO really starting the adoption process again, via foster care, looking forward to school starting, to playing with my new camera and for Krista to be back in the country so I can write her letters:) 

THANKFUL for God's Word.          
 

A perfect date

It was perfect summer evening. We had a babysitter and left down for the perfect date. I was so excited to do something beyond dinner and a movie. 

We headed west a few towns and found a dueling piano bar. There were two piano players that could play and sing anything, I am sure. It was so fun, loud but fun. 

We then walked up 6 flights of stairs (cue winded breaths) to the stop of the building, finding this: 

 We sat on the roof top, enjoying drinks and conversation. 

Did I mention that it was kid free? 

And that we were on the roof top when the sun set? 

Yes, I think we will be going back there.