Retreat

We had a retreat with our Leadership Team this past weekend. It was a great time to relax, fellowship, and get to know each other better!

 A Group Picture is always a must!        

                                    

  We did a low ropes course. The students really had a great time!

Most of the girls. They didn't want to hide the baby! haha

 Loved this picture!

 We did so man fun things that weekend! We truly love the students that we work with and feel so blessed to be able to invest in their lives!

On the way home we made a stop at Pops on Rt. 66! It was the perfect way to end a great weekend! 

My Week

So many things have gone on in this past week I am not even sure where to start. My head is a mess with a brain just swishing around. Do you ever feel that way?

Friday the 27th - Britt and I are in staff meeting when we get a call - we thought Britt's dad was calling to tell us his grandfather passed away. We were surprised to hear that Britt's mom was in the Heart Hospital. We spend the rest of the day at the hospital. Britt's brother stays the night with us.

Saturday the 28th - We find out that it was not heart trouble. Praise the Lord! She goes home that afternoon. Britt's brother stays one more night. That evening through a serious of events and craziness (being up till 12am) the Lord begins to do a real work in Britt's brothers life. He is 13.

Sunday the 29th - We get a call at 6am. Britt's grandfather passed away. We go to church and pastor gives a great message. Britt's younger brother goes forward and gives his life to the Lord. An emotional day for sure. We spend a lot of the day with Britt's family and then we stay the night with my family.

Monday the 30th - Dr. Appointment for me. Shopping with my parent's, my Maw'Maw and Britt. Sometimes escaping it all is not a bad thing. Found out that Britt's other grandfather is having emergency heart surgery to put a pace make in Tuesday morning.

Tuesday the 31st - Work. Why can't you escape work on crazy weeks like this? Surgery goes well. We go to my older brothers house with several other couples to listen to a speaker talk about raising children. Home late. Bed.

Wednesday the 1st - Work. Clean house. Grocery shop. Britt's sisters come into town. One of them and her husband are staying with us. We actually go to bed a a decent time although I can't sleep. I am starving so I eat a bowl of cereal at 11. Bed.

Thursday today - Work till noon. Go grocery shopping for a retreat Britt and I are in charge of this weekend. Go see Britt's family. Go to a viewing of his grandfather.

Friday tomorrow - Go see the family, go to a lunch for the family, go to the funeral and graveside, jump in the car and leave for our retreat until Sunday afternoon.

Notes to self for today/this weekend:
- Take lots of deep breaths.
- Rely on the Lord knowing that His grace is sufficient and His joy is my strength.
- Remember what it means to celebrate a life well lived and that it is not goodbye.
- Be a support to my husband.
- Find the energy to give and invest where needed this weekend.
- Take more deep breaths and lean on my constant-one, Jesus Christ.

God's Leading in Our Life

‎‎"To change the world we must first change the way we see it; we must see it from a different perspective. A cultivated mind can see the universe in a falling leaf, an orchard in a seed, an ocean in a drop of water, eternity in a grain of sand. A cultivated mind produces more insight, possesses a richer sense of the world and enjoys a more attractive experience of reality." - Scripture By Heart - Joshua Choonmin Kang

Perspective.  Seeing things differently.

God has brought Britt and I on an incredible journey over the last 2 ½ years that we have been married. He has taken us places and we have looked around saying “God, why here?” only to see His perfect plan unfold, to see how he uses where we are to take us where He wants us. He is still doing that in our life and I don’t anticipate it stopping anytime soon.

Faithfulness.  Seeing God work through any circumstance.

The place God has brought us to for now is different than what I would have ever expected. If you asked me a year ago if we would be here I would look at you like you are crazy.

We are still, and continuing to, be at the OU BSU. That is a HUGE part of our life, and ministry. The biggest part in fact. But even through the big picture there are little details, circumstance, experience that truly make up the big picture. Without them the picture would be lacking.

Of course an obvious change to our BIG picture is parenthood. Wow! Will that change our lives? Truly I believe it will be only for the better. I cannot WAIT to hold my little man, my sweet Brightson James. A little guy that already amazes me and I have never even looked into his eyes. I cannot wait to look into those eye. Are they blue, brown, green, gray? I know they are beautiful.

Another change that many people don’t know about is our church. The body of saints that we are a part of. The place we go to be filled and to give equally.  God brought Britt and I to River Church when we were a little less than 2 months away from marriage. We joined right after we were married and we have loved it ever since. The people, the vision, the purpose of that church are incredible. God used River to bring us on staff at the BSU, He used River to give us dear friends for life, He used River to help us grow.

Over the past few months God has strongly laid on our heart the possibility of going somewhere else. We didn’t know why God was calling us here. In fact, we did not even anticipate it. But He was without a doubt calling and we could not ignore it. I love that we were able to leave River just as encouraged as when we came and just as much, if not more, in support of what they do. No hard feelings. No hurt. Just gratitude.

God has brought us to Western Hills Church. I grew up there. I honestly never thought I would go back. We hesitated as God was leading. Wondering if we were thinking these things just because our families go there. We were able to answer that our reason for going, although it is a perk, was not our families. Why then? Why would God lead us there?

In short, you should read the quote at the top of this page again. Over the last three years the way I see the world has changed. The way that this church, this body of beliers, sees the world has truly changed. People are coming to know the Lord, lives are forever being changed, discipleship is key.

 Those of you who are familiar with this church may know that at one time it was not always the most comfortable welcoming place. Now, I believe that anyone who walks through those doors is loved and not rejected. I brought a little girl from my neighborhood there last Sunday, she has hardly ever been in church, and she felt comfortable and loved. She was also taught truth. Truth from God’s word that I truly believe will not return void.  I anticipate what God will do in her life.

So now, we find ourselves in a place we did not think we would be, excited to be there and anticipating how God will use us. It has taught me to not quit. Don’t stop praying for the lost yes, but to not stop praying that we, the body of Christ, will truly catch the vision of disciple making and make it happen. Although in most cases it does not, it CAN happen in the local church.

River has this vision. Western Hills has this vision. I have this vision.

Do you?

Are you willing to change the way that you see the world? To see it the way that Jesus does? 

Mexican Fiesta - Denver, CO [Part 5]

 

 

We had a Mexican Fiesta with the students this past week and it was so much fun! The point of these parties is to have a wonderful time of fellowship and to have an opportunity to bring co-workers to minister to them. The party was so wonderful! We had homemade EVERYTHING! Tamales, enchiladas, salsa, queso, and sopapilla cheese cake. We also played lots of different games. We had a tortilla toss, played musical chairs and had a pinata. 

The picture to the left makes me laugh every time! This is Shaley. Her and Heather (The other older girl in the picture) provided our music for musical chairs. It was all impromptu and rather funny.  

Luau - Denver, CO [part 4]

We had a Luau Party for the students this past weekend. It was an opportunity for them to fellowship with each other as well as have an event that they could invite their coworkers to. We had several students bring guest who were lost and it was exciting to see them minister to them! It was just a really great evening with lots of fun. By the time the night was over my feet were killing me but it was totally worth it!

 Makinze and Heather.

 Collin and Crash "Ryan". 

 The guy leaders did a skip for us.  

 Lots of people and lots of food! 

 

  Phone and Josh. Their outfits were cracking me up!       

 These three should have won some kind of an award for the three craziest shirts!  

   Joe and Derek. And Derek's chicken finger.    

 

   Joe and Britt.   

   Ricky and Jessy.  

Britt and I.

One thing that I do not have pictures of is at the end all of the staff and leaders attacked everyone else with water baloons! (We had 500!) Since I was a part of the attack I decided to place my camera inside to keep it safe. :)

Playing Catch Up - Denver, CO [part 3]

Here is a little update on some things that have been going on.

   They surprised me with a birthday party the first week we were here. It was so much fun!

 The cupcakes were so cute!! 

  Job searching. Sitting in the food court at the mall filling out applications. 

  Making new friends! 

  Notice the mirror man! 

  This guy would be totally still until you put some money in his bucket and then he would dance and sing. 

  On our ladies retreat weekend we went to Pearl Street Mall in Boulder, CO. It was so much fun!

We are loving every moment here. At the moment we are a little tired but it has been so good. We have really been able to build some good relationships with students and already we have had opportunities to speak truth into their lives. God is really working!

Several students still need jobs by this Friday so please continue to pray that God will provide and that they will continue working hard. As you can imagine it is difficult for them at this point to not get discouraged but we are just trying to remind them that God is faithful to provide for our needs and he is in control.

Denver Colorado [second update]

Things that I have learned about Denver:

- It is not humid and you don't get as "sticky". PLUS!

- Most people don't put cheese on their hot dogs.

- You are a whole lot closer to the sun and you burn a lot easier.
 I think it has something to do with the thin air too.

- The air is thin and even when you think you are used to it you may not be.

These are just a few of my lessons here in Denver.

As far as student work things are going great! 22 of the 44 students have jobs which is great considering the fact that they have only been job hunting 3 days so far. Please pray that the other 22 will find jobs soon!

We are starting to kick off the teaching a evening events. A big part of my "job" this week will be planning a ladies retreat for all of the girls this weekend. It should be a great time of fun and fellowship as well as digging in the word together.

This last Saturday was a "free" day in a sense. All of the students had things planned so Britt and I went to downtown Denver with one of the staff families. We were searching out free things to do. I am SOOO sad I forgot my camera but I snagged a few pictures off of the Internet.

 

This is a park in downtown Denver. You can get in this River and ride the rapids down on a tube or something like that. We did that and it was a blast! Freezing, but a blast! Britt was commenting on how we sure don't have anything like this in Oklahoma. That would be true.

We also went to 16th street mall. It is SO much fun and a really cool experience. It is literally on 16th street in Denver but it is blocked off so that only the tram (that you see in the picture) can drive and the rest is just shopping, dinning and entertainment.


We are loving it in Denver but most of all we are truly loving the opportunity to spend everyday with these students that we are growing to love more and more. It is a wonderful experience to do life-on-life with them in a setting like this. We appreciate all of your support and prayers more than you will ever know. God is so faithful to meet all of our needs and we truly feel the support of the body of Christ around us as we serve these college students and work to make an investment in their lives that will cause them to serve Christ more fully. We are so thankful that the Lord has given us this opportunity and we know apart from Him we can do nothing. Please continue to pray for us!

We Made It!

We made it to Beautiful Colorado and we are so glad to be here! So far 10 student leaders have joined us and tomorrow the other 34 students will be here. We are so excited! Here are a few pictures of our journey so far!

The car! 

     Totally not edited!!

Our front door.

 Our living room 

  Dining room and kitchen. 

   Office area in living room.

 

  Bedroom 

  What the outside of the door looks like. Every dorm is named and ours is the "Ghetto".

It is so fun to be here and to start settling in. Please pray for us as the summer starts off and the students arrive. Also please pray that all of the students find jobs soon.



Celebrating a Great Year!

This past Friday night we had the BSU end of the year Spring Banquet. It was a great time to celebrate the end of the year and to honor all of the seniors that have served in the ministry.

These are the four guys that Britt meets with. They are crazy, goofy guys and we love them. Despite their goofiness they all four are really godly men who love the Lord and desire to make His name known. They have committed their college years and life to making disciples of Jesus Christ and to be a part of that process and watching them grow as been an amazing privilege. We will have the opportunity to work with a few of them next year but some of them are moving on and we will miss them so much but it is exciting to send them out knowing the impact they will have in their work places and one day with a family. 

 These are the girls that I was able to meet with this last year. It was an honor to get to know each of them better. All four of these girls are so different and I love them each for their unique qualities and abilities. Despite their difference we all share a common love for the Lord and to watch that love and relationship unfold in their lives has been incredible. I have seen each one of them grow in ways that have molded them more into the image of our Lord and I know they love Him dearly. They love the younger girls on our campus and they are committed to making disciples. It has been amazing meeting with them and watching them grow! Two of them will be moving on and I will miss them so, so, so much!

This past year at the BSU has been one of the most difficult and challenging years of Britt and my life. From work and the crazy schedule of college ministry to personal life, family and marriage it has been a whirlwind. We are tired but it is a really good tired! We have loved this year and all that it has brought, even the challenges, because despite whatever has come the Lord has allowed us to be a part of investing in the lives of these students and others and we wouldn't trade it for anything.

We are looking forward to the opportunity to invest in students this summer and the school year to come. God has lots in store and we know He has big plans for our ministry at OU and we can't wait!

End of the year picnic

We love, love, love the students that we work with! We have several different areas that we lead in at the Baptist Student Union and one of those is Leadership Team (LT). These are Juniors and Seniors who are leaders in our ministry. I meet with 4 of the girls (One missing from the pictures) and Britt meets with 4 of the guys (A few missing from the picture) on a weekly basis. We also have these students in our home every Wednesday night for team meeting.

This last Wednesday was out last LT meeting of the year. We celebrated by going to the park and cooking hot dogs, having a watermelon spitting contest, and just spending some quality time together since some are graduating and our team will be new next year.

The girls!

Me, Gaby, Mary, Stephanie, Susie and Alia.

We were missing Amanda that night. 

Love, love, love these girls! 

The guys!

Bryan, Luke, Shane (staff), Aaron, Britt, Trevor, Trey and Jessy.

Tom and Barrett were missing that night.

We are SO thankful for this past year and we can hardly believe that it is here and gone. We have out final event for the school year tomorrow and Britt will have state meetings all week next week and then we will be done in Norman until August. However we are far from done because from May 27 to August 2 we will be in Denver, CO working with 19 students from OU and about 30 other students from 5 different universities around the nation. We are so excited about the opportunity and can't wait to keep you updated on all that God is doing!

A goal of mine is to get back into the blogging grove again and I think that I am off to a good start. Two post in one day! :)