Affirmed Passion

Pinterest Inspiration

2012-02-04T21:52:00.001-06:00

Two Pinterest Inspiration Projects:

(1) Earlier this week I was doing laundry. As I was putting my clothes in the dryer I realized that somebody had already paid for the load (WOOHOO!) Anyway, as I was walking back to my apartment, I decided that I would pay it forward and made a couple envelopes with enough quarters to dry a load of laundry and put them on washers that had clothes in them. This isn't the best picture, but oh well. I had seen this idea on pinterest around Christmas time and then my friend Abby had done this for her birthday and asked others to consider what they could do. (Definitely check it out!)

(2) I had seen an idea for duct tape on boots. Well, I have had my rainboots a while and as much as I would love new ones, coming up with the money for them (and finding some that Nate won't make too much fun of me for) has been a problem. So--with a $5.00 of a $5.00 purchase or more coupon at Michael's today, I was able to get some of the fun duct tape for free and cover them!

The after! :) And my brother-in-law who
was over after we did this didn't even
know they weren't made this way!

Basic Instructions: Add an extra piece of duct tape to any areas that need it (I had a couple rips in mine), Carefully Cover with Duct Tape, Convince you Amazing, Loving, Husband to use his exacto knife to cut around all the edges! :) So--before and after!

The before--you can see where I previously
had them taped up. I am pretty sure they
are originally from Target.

Money Goal

2012-02-02T12:49:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I mentioned I have two main goals specific for February. Today, I am going to expand a little on one of my other goals.

Money Goal

*I know it should be "more defined" like "Get out of Debt" or "Buy a New Car" but the truth is the goal right now is to not live pay check to pay check. To actually develop a savings account and to be able to buy food and pay our bills each month.

Over the last couple months of 2011, I started tracking our spending in order to create a budget for 2012. Now, I am not a financial genius, I just know how to do basic math and use formula's in excel! So, using a monthly budget, I have been trying to track and categorize our spending. We did fairly well with staying in it for January. A few unexpected things popped up, and Emergency Room bill we weren't expecting (at all, we had been under the impression that insurance would cover it all), and a few other things out of our control. But, all in all, we still have money in our bank account and my credit card bill paid off. (For the record. I do use a credit card. It almost always is used for online purchases, and is paid off monthly.)

I have been trying to save. The best way I have figured out to do it is to automatically set up our account to transfer money to savings. Going automatic, I don't think about it, and it does it. When I set up my ongoing monthly incoming/outgoing money, the amount I see for my "paycheck" is figured with that money set aside for our savings account already. I also try to forget I have savings, therefore, it is not figured in to the money I have to spend and is therefore set aside to well...save.

I also coupon. Now, I am "extreme" to some people, but an so low on the extreme coupon scale, I probably shouldn't be included. I have a couple guidelines though:

If we don't use it, I won't buy it. For example, Nate only uses one type of soap/shampoo. It is what he has found works for him. I don't buy other stuff and make him use it because it is cheaper. Same goes for razors. [A few exceptions. If it is new and I want to try it (for example, I have a Velveeta Meal Mix that I had a couple for...it is new, so I figured I would try it to see if it was good.). Or if I can get it free (or next to free) for a donation box. (There is a group of Christian girls on campus I have connected with who are collecting feminine items, so I have a box going to give to them, etc).
Only stockpile to the next sale. I haven't been couponing long...but I know that items hit there "rock bottom prices" about once a quarter. So, I only buy about 3 months worth of stuff at a time. This (1) doesn't clutter our tiny apartment, and (2) means I don't buy things I don't need.
I give coupons away. :) One of my co-workers, who I know uses coupons when she has them, said something about getting dish washer detergent. She and her roommate use the tablets that dissolve. We don't have a dishwasher, so now when I see those coupons, I cut them out and take them to her. I also have recently decided to start leaving coupons in stores. I get excited when I see people have done that, so I decided to. After all, I don't need to stock pile things like diapers when I don't have a kid or tuna when Nate is allergic and plain don't like it.
I only buy one Sunday paper. I only print with one computer (although occasionally, I wish I could print coupons from Nate's). With just the two of us, I don't need a ton of coupons. I already said that I don't stockpile more than a couple months (if that) worth of stuff. Therefore what is the need?

I watch daily deal sites. Recently, with a new member discount (save those til you get a good deal if it doesn't expire). I was able to get Nate two boxes of contacts for $23.00. His contacts should cost about $35/box. But I shopped around, had already found this site to be one of the cheapest, found the daily deal site deal, and bought it for $2.00 of my own money (after the new member credit and a promo code). Now, my experience with that particular daily deal site was not that great or I would mention it. (I spent three months waiting for my voucher code.)

I use Swagbucks, MyPoints, InboxDollars, and InstantCashSweepstakes. (The first and last are my referral links if you would like a referral from the middle two, let me know!).

Swagbucks is a site where you get points for taking a searching the web, daily poll, watching videos, taking surveys, playing games, etc to earn giftcards or merchandise. It is by FAR the easiest one. I have gotten paid several times by them. I usually cash in for Amazon gift cards! Referral's also work. I referred my husband and got points for his searches.
MyPoints sends you emails and survey that you click through and get points for it. It is a slower process to get there, but for me I filter it into a special folder and once a day I go and click through all the emails and attempt the surveys--you get points even if you are disqualified. have not yet redeemed through them.
InboxDollars is much the same as MyPoints. You have to have $30 to redeem, which I should hit for the first time in the next week or so. Then I will be able to speak more about it as well.
InstantCashSweepstakes is that. You have about 3 minutes worth of 3-4 question surveys to answer every three hours and you earn a couple cents each time you do those. Normally I get $0.01-0.04 cents each set of questions. This one is the one I pay attention to least. They have emailed me when I haven't been on in a while saying they will suspend my account if I don't come back, and then I go back for a while. As soon as a couple special surveys I took for them clear, I will be redeeming for the first time from them too.

Besides those, I try to limit our spending on things we don't need, we rarely go out to eat, etc. Basic things that help our budget. I know this post may have been slightly boring, but maybe helpful to. Believe me, I am no expert, but hopefully, I am learning and can learn from you too.

Beginning of February

2012-02-01T11:52:00.000-06:00

I have been meaning to blog again for a while. After reading some blogs of people I know from school today, I decided to do it.

I have two main goals specific to February.

First: February Photo-A-Day Challenge. Nate has a nice DSLR camera that I am working on figuring out how to use now that I have some time. This is my picture today:

Day 1: Your View Today

It may not seem like much, but it is. As I am sitting on our futon, I get to look out at the sunny, 54 degree weather on the 1st of February. Now if you are asking why I am not outside, don't worry, have already spend an hour out there and will be sure to spend most of my afternoon out there while I am at work.

Also, I found this blog, where the author is trying to break down DSLR cameras into easy to understand--at least easy to take a good picture. So I am attempting to get caught up and follow along with her blog series. I found it on pinterest...hopefully it will be awesome and helpful! :)

Second, Fab Ab February. Especially playing with the kiddo's at work, I really need to get back in shape. The whole transition of moving, getting married, moving again, moving again, starting work, etc has not helped much. So I am starting slow...since normally I push myself too hard and end up re-injuring myself. So that mixed with some other exercise should help ward off the extra newlywed pounds.

Life is okay. Nate and I are having a hard time adjusting to life here in the St Louis Metro East. We have found a church we like--but it is a little more than a half hour away. So after church hopping in the community we live in, we have finally decided to make the drive, because we would rather have a place where we feel at home and are being challenged and where they are eagerly trying to get people involved that a place that doesn't. And we have gone out of our way to try to get involved with churches here. I was even asked at one church where my giftedness was and when I told them where I would love to get involved was told no, they didn't need anybody in that area.

Nate has decided after this semester to go to being a part-time student and then working part-time. We both decided that it fits him and his personality much better. That means that we will soon be looking to move from married student housing into an off-campus house or apartment. I will likely be applying for a master's program in higher education to start in either the summer or fall, depending on finances, to take online. I am excited about it. My heart and passion is to work with college students and I would love being a Resident Director at a college--it is my dream job, but right now, it looks like more education is the next step.

Besides that, we are looking at a couple other potential changes--no, not a baby yet--but those are just thoughts, ideas, and dreams, and we will let you know if they become more than that!

So, that is what is new in our lives...more to come in days and weeks to come.

Words for Thought

2012-01-15T08:50:00.000-06:00

From Pinterest

Words for Thought

2012-01-08T05:00:00.000-06:00

From Etsy

Words for Thought

2012-01-01T05:00:00.000-06:00

Source

Words for Thought

2011-12-25T05:00:00.000-06:00

From Pintrest

Words for Thought

2011-12-18T05:00:00.000-06:00

From Etsy

Words for Thought

2011-12-11T05:00:00.000-06:00

From Etsy

Words for Though

2011-12-04T05:00:00.000-06:00

From Etsy

Words for Thought

2011-11-27T05:00:00.000-06:00

From Pintrest

Words for Thought

2011-11-20T05:00:00.000-06:00

From Pintrest

Words for Thought

2011-11-13T05:00:00.000-06:00

From Pintrest

Words for Thought

2011-11-06T05:00:00.000-06:00

From Pintrest

Words for Thought

2011-10-30T04:00:00.000-06:00

From Pintrest

Words for Thought

2011-10-23T04:00:00.000-06:00

From Pintrest

Words for Thoughts

2011-10-16T04:00:00.000-06:00

From Pintrest

Simple Bridal Shower Ideas

2011-10-14T05:00:00.000-06:00

My Bridal Shower:

Me, My Mamma, and My Sister Emily (the MOH)

Gift Table with Simple Decorations
They put balloons with our names on them along with streamers across the front of the table cloth as decorations.

Simple Punch.
Some sort of sherbet, lemon-lime soda and I think Crystal Light.

Here is my mother-in-law and sister-in-law (the one getting married tomorrow).
But you can see the simple table decorations for the guest tables here.

The Games (not sure why I don't have pictures of those):
(1) There were brown paper bags with common household items (flashlight, fork, travel alarm clock, etc). People had to reach in and feel the item and write down their guess. The person with the most correct won a prize.
(2) Each person addressed their own thank you cards (which is highly recommended!!) and then passed their card to another person so they could write a mad lib. For example (I wish I had written it down then, instead of having to come up with an example now): "Dear _______, Thank you for the ______. We appreciate it and will use is when we ______. Thanks again!" Then, as I opened gifts, my sister filled in the blanks and we all figured out what I should say. Emily would fill in the person and item while everybody else came up with other entertaining words to fit other blanks.

Cortney's Bridal Shower:
This was mostly a Pampered Chef Party with a bridal shower added and mostly

The dessert Cortney's aunt made...Tasted GREAT!!

Family

The shower was simple at at her parents house!

Games: Didn't really do games, but did have a date jar. Pretty much a jar where people wrote down date ideas because Cortney and Jesse are super indecisive.

(And I used left over items from our wedding and my shower!)

How Weddings Relate to College Ministry

2011-10-12T19:35:00.000-06:00

A lot about our wedding had to do with people we knew in college and relationships we made...and the ministries we were doing.

This is David. He is actually one of the guys who worked with me as I was discovering my passion for college ministry. We were friends from our first semester of college all the way through.

This is Abby. I met her while I was on my internship. The first night we had our college/twentysomething small group she came and heard that I had just bought my dress and was engaged. She send me an email the next day with templates she had used for planning her wedding. We emailed REALLY long emails back and forth and became quick friends! :)

This is Kylie! She is a great friend and was my RA for a couple years. She was one of the people that helped me stay grounded as I went through college and was one of my go-to people.

On the left in Nate's brother.
Next to him is Aaron. Aaron and I met before I went to college. He was a punk! He worked at camp with me and throughout the summers we became good friends and he is now considered "best friend."
On the right is Jeremy. We went through all sorts of things in college. He started as my boss and is one of the few people at CCU that made me mad enough to cry (multiple times) but in the end we became GREAT friends, and traveled a summer on camp teams together and helped with the same youth group among other things.

My girls!
Cortney is Nate's sister. Besides being his best friend, we met at camp and became quick friends...even before I really knew Nate existed. Because of her, I ended up getting to know Nate, and then dating and marrying him.
Jenna was my roomie my junior year (her senior year) and did way more that I can even begin to explain in a sentence. She helped me stay grounded a lot my senior year as I was planning a wedding and everything else to graduate.
Kylie I already mentioned. Then there is Emily, who well, she is my sister and we actually became pretty good friends when she left for college a couple years before me. :)

This is Stacey. Because of him, Nate and I met. He is the children's minister at Nate's parents church and we were both working his week of camp. I actually worked his week before it was his week and have stayed at that week for a long time. He watched our relationship grow, and it was pretty neat. He also offered me an internship--but then wouldn't let me take it because he knew I wanted to do college ministry and not children's ministry. ;)

This is Amanda. She was one of my dgroup girls and is absolutely amazing! What can I say. She came to do my hair and also helped with a lot of other things the day of!

This is Lindsey. Don't ask my why I can't find a real picture of her at my wedding and just a picture of her reading the magazine the girls got me that have sex positions in it. But well...she is awesome! :)

And Bethany and Jenny.
Bethany was one of my dgroup girls as well. We all grew so much together.
Jenny was my RA for my last semester.
Both of these girls are great and had a lot to do with getting me to where I am.

Without these people...and so many more that were with me (and Nate) through college, we wouldn't be who we are. The ministry that they did for us, through us, and allowed us to do through them, as well as along side of them had a definite impact on both our wedding and our life.

So, who is in your life that helped you through college?

Words for Thought

2011-10-09T04:00:00.000-06:00

From Pintrest

Wedding Details!

2011-10-07T05:00:00.000-06:00

My lovely friend Audrey did our photography for our wedding. Here are a few of the details captured.

Our Rings

Pinwheels. I did pinwheels instead of flowers. I DIY'ed these and made them all myself.

The Guest Book Table. The one thing I was in charge of that day after delegating everything else off.

A Free Printable I found here.

Our Wedding Programs (once again DIY'ed)

My Dress! I still love the detail on it!

My shoes. We got married at a camp... I wasn't about to wear heels, especially since I never do anyway. And, I got them for free! (using my Swagbucks giftcards)

Communion was a part of our Ceremony.

Instead of a traditional guest book we used a picture frame with mat for everybody to sign. Also cool--that is my future brother-in-law...their wedding is just over a week away!

The boutioners were also DIY! The soccer ball is because Nate loves soccer. On the back were just regular pin backs.

The "Guest Book"

We got married in July...luckily it was a pretty nice day, but we made sure there was water for our guests to drink, just in case.

The Ceremony Area.

The Decorations on the Chairs--which were supposed to be different and got changed last minute, but I don't even remember why. My mamma and her bff took care of it for me!

Wedding Photos!

2011-10-06T05:00:00.000-06:00

As promised yesterday, more wedding photos!

My Dad's Side of the Family

Just the Immediate Family--My Side

My Mom's Side of the Family

Just the Immediate Family--Nate's Side

Nate's Family--we threw everybody in together!

Mamma Scudder...we worked camp a long time together and her daughters are like sisters to Emily and I

They Decorated the Car...and you can see the sweet tie tshirt I made for Nate.

Cake!

Signing the Marriage Certificate

Party Favors!

Grillin' Out!

Wedding Photos!

2011-10-05T05:00:00.000-06:00

A couple weeks ago, we got our wedding pictures back. My lovely friend Audrey took them for us! Here are some of my favorites:

Freaking out first thing in the morning and Jenna calming me down.

Explaining the flow to Jeff our minister.

Audrey our photographer! Her sister Sarah helped and I convinced Sarah to take a few pictures of Audrey! Although I think this is the only one that made it to me. Just saying...Audrey is one of those lifetime BFF's. She is one of those people that I could not talk to for months and have a bad day and call and we would pick up exactly where we left off. I looked at her multiple times our wedding day and she understood and moved people out of the room, etc. I love her!

Ah my sister...yup, totally describes her!

Nate and Jeff. Jeff played a big part in Nate's life when he was in high school and we were so glad to have him officiate...especially cool because it turns out he knew me when I was still in diapers, go figure.

Kylie...her name tag reads "Kylie. AKA Go to Girl" and she was just that!

This is Nicole. She led worship for us. We worked in camp together and she is absolutely amazing! We became friends and is a good person to keep me grounded. Sadly, I did not get a picture of our friend Erin who also worked with us!

My cousin Logan who escorted my mamma down the aisle so my daddy could walk me down!

Emily!

That water bottle was glued to me all day so I stayed hydrated.

Jake had to bring something to Cortney...ah the Burger King Hat.

My mamma doing my make-up and such.

Emily putting my necklace on me.

Nate and my mamma...love this picture!

My sister and I took some of the funniest pictures!

Nate's Dad praying for us as a new family before we were announced as husband and wife.

The Kiss...He made me laugh!

MY FAVORITE PICTURE!
This is my great-grandpa...he is 92 and he would not let ANYTHING stop him from coming to my wedding!

I was given this instead of my ring at first...we have clever family and friends.

More to come...

Honeymoon Kit

2011-10-04T19:56:00.000-06:00

Nate's sister gets married in a week and a half. Since our wedding we have been brainstorming ideas for a honeymoon kit for her and her new husband. Since we knew what questions were brought up on that night for us and know her well enough, we though this would be a cute little gift (that would probably also embarrass them a bit.)

So, the Honeymoon Kit.

The Bag!

-Cosmopolitain with 50 Sex Moves--this was given to me a couple months ago at my bachelorette party--I told my sister-in-law I would pass it on.

-John Wayne Movie with McLintock! on it with a fireplace shovel...if you don't get it, watch the movie (note: this is fully a joke!)

-Kleenex: for when Cortney cries.

-Sheet Music: a great book by Dr Keven Leman. I had been told about it...we bought it in our first week of marriage...it helped answer all the questions I didn't know I had about sex until the honeymoon...and that were hard to ask people through text messages or phone calls. Since Cortney is scared to ask a lot of questions in general, figured it might help.

-Tide: you never know when you are going to need to wash something during your honeymoon...better to be prepared.

-Condoms, Lube (Astroglide), and Pregnacy Test: You can figure that out. [Note on the pregnacy test: make sure you think about who you are putting this together for. I have some friends who wouldn't worry at all, and other that would worry if they were a couple hours late...this can be a funny gift or make somebody upset.]

-A notepad: her last name will begin with N. I know that one of the things Nate made me do was write my new name over and over again (he wouldn't let me before we were married.) It helped it sink in that I was Betsy Smith...and has helped as I have signed my new name now.

-Underwear: her favorite color is green :) and they are little thongs!

There are also a couple cards in the bag (an idea we got from our wedding).

One for after the wedding: "You Can Do IT!!" Card

One for the next morning: "You Did It!" Card

Definitely one of the funniest cards we got at our wedding, we figured we would share it!

What would you add?

Linked Up at Someday Crafts!

What's Been Happening in Our Lives

2011-10-03T20:22:00.001-06:00

Well, the seasons are changing...therefore I have been sick. Horray! (not really) and my body is still trying to get use to St Louis area allergies.

We have finally used our chalkboard paint...more on that in coming weeks.

I met with a girl about college ministry to women!! I am super excited to see how God uses her and her friends and what perspective I can help add as they reach the girls at SIUE.

Found out my mom has 6 weeks of radiation ahead...will get more information about that later this week.

That is about it for now...watch for wedding pictures and details in the next two weeks as Nate and I get ready for his sister's wedding.

Words for Thought

2011-10-02T04:00:00.000-06:00

From Pintrest

What We've Been Up To

2011-09-26T20:04:00.000-06:00

Well--I started working...it is interesting trying to get into a routine where I need to go to bed by 9pm so I can get up by 5am...meaning bed time is just around the corner.

Otherwise, we are getting settled. We should start our small group this week--now just to get the address texted to us.

And, last Saturday, Nate's parents came over and we went and skipped rocks at Chain of Rocks Canal.

I also got wedding pictures last week...get ready for some of those and details in another week or so as I give some DIY wedding advice leading up to my sister-in-law's wedding.

Words for Thought

2011-09-25T04:00:00.000-06:00

From Pintrest

What We've Been Up To

2011-09-19T20:52:00.000-06:00

Last week between almost passing out and being sick, I didn't end up posting.

So...what we have been up to.

On Thursday I got called for an interview. On Friday, I went in and was hired on the spot. Today, I started with the before and after school program at the YMCA. This afternoon, I got a call, I get a special job of keeping my eye on one particular child and making sure he stays out of trouble...without him knowing. I will find out sometime in the next couple days when I start that.

Over the weekend, Nate and I went to his parents house where I threw a bridal shower for his sister...I have a few pictures to come. I got to hang out with her future sister-in-law and mother-in-law and a few of Nate's cousins and their kids.

Nate also worked on cutting a lot of PVC pipe for a coffee table we are making (more on that to come...) and made a life size jenga that is my mom's birthday present. I can post it because she already knows it is coming and has seen pictures (she has been requesting it for a while...but she can't have it yet because we need to do some MAJOR sanding on it, and her birthday is in December).

To Make: Buy 6 2"x4"x8's and cut into 10.5" pieces.
This will be a stack of 18, so 54 pieces. :)

We also got to see my parents. It was their churches fall kick-off. We managed to give them their anniversary present (WAY EARLY...their anniversary is in January) but they have been wanting their stairs fixed on their back porch and we had decent weather to do it...much easier than doing it in January.

Words for Thought

2011-09-18T04:00:00.000-06:00

From Pintrest

Words for Thought

2011-09-11T04:00:00.000-06:00

From Pintrest

Small Group Basics

2011-09-07T06:00:00.000-06:00

This was my dgroup in college. I started with them when they were freshmen and I was a sophomore. We are still close.

Besides me. One of them is married. Two of them are seniors at CCU. And the other two are at different places in their lives.

We went through many things together. Boyfriends, engagements, two weddings, class schedules, God issues, you name it and we have probably somehow encountered it.

But, basics. This is how I started. I went in with a lesson plan in the back of my mind but up front told the girls that I wanted to be close. I said that each week, we could do what we wanted--talk or do a lesson. They opted to start with talking. I did three basic things. Each week we met (often on the elevator) and shared the highs of our week, the lows of our week, and God moments. Often times, it took hours just to get that far! By that point, we had talked about God, we had talked about the deepest struggles.

We had adventures. One night we decided to go to Wal-Mart (so on the way we talked about those questions). One time we decided to just dress up and go to Newport on the Levee and just chill.

Just some encouragement. You don't have to be the best trained or best qualified. You just need to care. To ask how their life is, and if you do that, you will know them deeper than anybody else, and the spiritual, emotional, mental, and educational aspects will all work themselves out.

What We've Been Up To

2011-09-06T20:36:00.001-06:00

This weekend I have been working on cleaning out a lot of stuff and finishing unpacking as well as starting our office. Because of this, I didn't post yesterday. Nate and I were trying to get a lot done.

Here are a few pictures of our apartment so far...very much a work in progress.

Started With This...decided I didn't like the table
there and wanted it by me (oh, and the
packages I had to mail at the time)

Changed It To This.
The Bookshelf: Games, Coloring Books, Kids Books
Top of Bookshelf: Drop Place for Change, Wallets, Etc.
Wall: Message Center, Menu Calendar
Mess in the Corner: Upcoming Project!!!

Nate's Silly Hat Wall

This is the Beginning of the Office. This weekend we moved everything and painted the crates.
We are getting an old closet door from Nate's parents to make a desk...and then the printers will not be in the middle of the room.
Also, that is our Microwave/Dr Pepper Stack/Extra Food Storage.

I think it makes the room look cleaner in black and white!
But this is our entertainment area. And all the DVD's with no dvd player. We are cool like that.

In color...with my early birthday present...a chair!
And you can see more of the mess...I brought everything out to the living room to sort through. Most of it is done now and you can actually see most of the floor!

Then today I made cookies and rolls. I had cookie dough in the freezer from when I had intended to make them for our neighbors and made puppy chow instead. (By the way, we have met one of our neighbors by doing that and have talked a couple times). Then, I made rolls, because Nate loves bread and his family spoiled him by making him homemade rolls.

We are also working on teaching Nate's little brother to cook. He went away to school last year but lived in the dorm where he did not have to make his own food. Now he is living in a house a couple miles from us (and the school) and needs to know how to cook so that he can eat and when it is his turn he can make food for his housemates. Nate taught him how to make polish kielbasi and potatoes. Here are a few pictures--but not instructions (sorry...pretty much make potatoes, add meat).

It took A LOT for them to both look at me!

My colorful Fiestawate

YUM!! I had to leave room for my veggies!

Our milk in a glass bottle...Nate's preference.

Words for Thought

2011-09-04T04:00:00.000-06:00

From Pintrest

Connections

2011-09-02T11:58:00.001-06:00

We are finally making friends! It has been a difficult journey moving to Edwardsville, but finally, we are feeling settled. My plan today was to post wedding pictures, but I don't have those quite yet...so that will be another day. For now, go find some inspiration to do something new! :)

Home Office

2011-09-01T11:20:00.003-06:00

Earlier this week we picked up the Border's bookshelf we bought this last weekend. That means I have been going crazy coming up with ideas to "finish" our office area. It is a little hard since, well, we can't put holes in the walls or paint, but here are a few things that I have pinned. Hopefully in another couple weeks (not sure with Nate's school schedule how quickly we will knock all our projects out) I will be able to take pictures and show the final product. In the mean time, my inspiration:

Here

http://pinterest.com/pin/153827442/

Here

Neighbor Gifts: Puppy Chow

2011-08-31T04:00:00.000-06:00

We decided that we needed some way to introduce ourselves to our neighbors (although with the odd hours that we have and living in a building with other college students with odd schedules, we will be leaving the gift at the door.)

This is what we did:

I tried to make cookies...but I couldn't figure out how long to cook them in our gas oven...so that got put to the side.

So, I wrote letters to our neighbors (for the previously mentioned reason).

I used cards that we had left over from wedding shower thank you notes...and except the picture isn't the best it is an introduction of who we are, what apartment we are in, and how we are excited to get to know our neighbors.

Then I made Puppy Chow!

A double batch--so we had enough for all of our neighbors--we have 7 other families in our building. There are 9 cups in each bowl.

The directions are on the box.

The butter, peanut butter and chocolate chips ready to go into the microwave.

The cute containers I found and set out while the above were in the microwave.

Then I mixed...Nate is MUCH better at that job than I am. I had to change afterwards. Then I mixed it in plastic baggies with powdered sugar. I was making too much of mess to take pictures.

Here they are all packed up and ready to go. We took one to our banker (see previous post) because he has been awesome to us! And conveniently, we were driving by our bank to pick up our bookshelf...which hopefully will make it into a blog next week.

Banking at PNC

2011-08-30T04:00:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I went to take a check to the bank (in the drive through). I was greeted warmly and offered a jolly rancher--I even got to pick the flavor! Then when they sent the tube back out they greeted me by name and gave me a Hershey's kiss and told me to stay sweet!

I was impressed.

Then, Nate got home from class. He had missed a phone call during class...from Matt our banker. He just wanted to check on us and see how we were settling in to SIUE and Edwardsville.

Now that is service. Why don't our ministries act like that?

My Philosophy of College Ministry

2011-08-29T04:00:00.000-06:00

My Philosophy of College Ministry:

(1) College Ministry is More like Missions than a Grown Up Youth Group.
College Students live a life of their own. For example, they have their own language. If you are on the campus of Indiana University, you may hear people refer to Kirkwood, the SRSC, the HYPR or a number of other things that unless you are in Bloomington around the IU population, you may not know. If you are on the campus of Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville, it may be the MUC or the commons. Because of this, and other reasons (that I will address in a future post) college students have their own culture. One that needs to be studied so that you can properly minister to that group--just like if you were entering a new culture in another country.

(2) College Ministry Must Not Just Include Para-Church Organizations.
Para-church organizations and churches need to work hand-in-hand. Often times if a student gets involved only in a para-church organization, they will be lost after college because they do not know how to transition into the church.

(3) College Ministry is a Time of Growth and Transition.
This is the time in life when most boys and girls become men and women. They wrestle with so many major decisions and the choices they make will shape both their lives and our world as a whole. Without somebody to guide these students...they will likely become lost. And on top of that...the college years are when most people are open to changing their ideas and worldviews.

(4) College Students Need Mentors.
Mentoring (or discipleship) is HUGE. People need to know that somebody is that next step ahead of them. A student needs to be able to ask somebody about graduation, finding a job, relationships (dating, engagement, marriage, etc).

Words for Thought

2011-08-28T04:00:00.000-06:00

From Pintrest

:)

2011-08-26T16:00:00.000-06:00

Life is crazy. Here is another picture post...pictures from camp.

Who Is God?

2011-08-25T08:00:00.000-06:00

At the end of mysenior year of college, a fellow senior got up and did a skit…one that I wish Ihad seen during my first year, but I don't know if it would have stood out.

She got up and ina monologue skit, gave her testimony--knowing her, I knew it was what her reallife was--it wasn't a skit even though it was in the "skit" spot--itwas her life.

She is thedaughter of a professor, raised in a Christian home, her father was a ministerbefore he was a professor. In fact, ourparents our friends--and our stories are very similar.

You see--we bothgrew up with God…you know, the Bible stories at VBS with red kool-aid andcookies in the church basement. We knewall the hymns and praise choruses and then all that new fangled stuff whenworship music started really taking off with DCB and Tomlin and Redman. (A bet quite of few of you are shaking yourheads remembering when "I Could Sing Of Your Love Forever" and"Lord I Life Your Name on High" were hip!)

But there wassomething missing. You see growing up inthe church building (for me quite literally, it seemed at times) made me missin a way who God was. You see. God is God. But what does that really mean? Who is God? What is the nature ofGod? How can I feel God? Am I not a good Christian if God issilent? Is God punishing me and if sowhat did I do? All those questions thatjust sometimes make no sense, that you feel like you shouldn't ask.

But you see, whatthat skit--that testimony taught me--was that I am not and haven't beenalone. All those questions I fought withthrough college and continue to fight with are normal…even for people who havegrown up in the church. It is theprocess of making my relationship with God my own.

I am going towork on walking though some of the tougher questions from time to time. I hope to not provide answers--but to providequestions. After all, I left Biblecollege with more questions that answers. But, I seriously hope to look at some of the deeper questions--toexamine the character and nature of God, to look at why bad things happen, tolook at pain and ask the hard questions. I hope to ask questions like why do we go to church? And why should Itithe?

Things That Make Me Smile

2011-08-24T04:00:00.000-06:00

By Best Friend and the Tower He Made with My Husband (Nate was taking the picture...and by the way husband totally trumps best friend!)

I don't actually like coffee but enjoyed taking the picture.

Ah 6th graders at camp. "Dear Marci, Thanks for being my girlfriend. If I don't get a facebook, then I gess we can't be together." I was made to cover up his name as they both stood over me taking the picture.

What We've Been Up To

2011-08-23T04:00:00.000-06:00

We moved to Edwardsville (as I mentioned in the previous post) and besides moving in (which we are not fully unpacked yet), this is what we have been up to:

I saw this:

From Pintrest

So I made these for my future sister-in-law (who is getting married in October):

Then after seeing these two things, I made them too (but they didn't look nearly as good as these pictures, but tasted delicious):

From Pintrest

And in the mean time, Nate made these lamps (we picked up the metal things at Borders...I think they came from the coffee shop, but can't figure out their original purpose):

SIUE

2011-08-22T04:00:00.000-06:00

Today Nate starts class.

Last night, we had our first "Community Meeting." It was an interesting experience.

We moved not knowing what to expect. We still are unsure what to expect. I am sure that God has something up his sleeve. I am trying to step out in faith and just trust that God will make things appear.

In the near future, expect to hear more about our lives and what we get ourselves into here at SIUE. I hope that soon I will be involved in a campus ministry...already in the process of talking to one. :)

Words for Thought

2011-08-21T21:56:00.000-06:00

Pinned

The Power of Wording

2011-08-19T08:00:00.000-06:00

Have you everconsidered how you word things in your ministry? Wording can make a big difference in howpeople look at things.

What if…

-instead ofactivities (large groups, special teachings, service projects) you hadopportunities

-instead of smallgroups you had family groups

What other wordingcan you use to make your ministry more user friendly?

Banking

2011-08-18T09:00:00.000-06:00

When Nate and I moved, we started a new bank account at PNC. This was because our banks were not close by and well--it is easier to be at a bank close to where we were. We open the account about a month ago and a couple days ago went in to change our address and change my name (we hadn't already had our marriage license.)

The one thing that stood out to me was that the guy at the bank has helped us more than any other person in Edwardsville. Yes. Matt. The guy that works at the bank recognized us. Talked to us. Joked with us. He gave us advice about SIUE, jobs, shopping, etc. However, we haven't gotten that from anybody that we have encountered at the school or the church we have visited.

What impact could you have on your students if you gave them helpful advice on relocating...instead of making them wait to run into the guy they start their bank account with?

Stationery card

2011-08-17T20:26:00.002-06:00

Dazzle Bright Bridal Shower

Shutterfly has photo invitations for every occasion.

View the entire collection of cards.

I just made this for my sister-in-law's bridal shower! :)

The Power of Horizontal Time

2011-08-17T08:00:00.000-06:00

Rest is a veryimportant thing. At camp, we used tohave "horizontal time" after lunch. We had to (as junior highers) lay down for between 15 and 20 minutesbefore we started recreation. At thetime, I didn't get it. I liked that deepbreath (and I liked naps--always have!) but I didn't get the importance of it. As time has gone on and MANY weeks of church camp later, I get it andtry to work it in to our schedule whether it is there or not.

You see, sometimes,in the middle of the busyness that is our lives, we forget to slow down. When you are young and at camp--you go, go,go and by the end of the week can be sick (which unfortunately, I managed to doto myself for the 2nd year in a row.) But having even that little bit of time to take a deep breath, the laydown, to rest--can help you get through the rest of the day.

I looked at Psalm46:10--most of you are probably thinking, "Okay--this is where we aregoing, be still and know that I am God." But here is what hit me. I waslooking up that verse in my NASB because one of my girls had my NIV for theweek and it said "Cease strivingand know that I am God." Ceasestriving. (Side note: in case you didn'tknow the NASB is a more literal translation of the Bible.) Just looking at it like that, made adifference. A lot of times we try to bestill. But do we really STOP or do wejust pause, thinking about everything that needs to be done and forget what weare really doing?

On Wednesday nightof camp, I was getting ready to go up to the faculty party, but as I walked outof my side of the dorm and started walking across the deck, I realized howstill it was. I stopped…and apparentlystood there for about 15 minutes, but was so lost in time. I just ceased striving. I was still. I was pleading with God to get me through the hectic week. I stopped trying on my own. And in a small still moment, I saw how Godwas good. I saw his creation, eventhough there were 250 campers falling asleep and another 75 or so faculty andstaff, I saw a red fox run across the parking lot. I saw a special glimpse of God's creation.

So--as a new year isstarting, how are you taking a break? How are you being still--ceasing to strive after everything thing elseand letting God take hold of your heart? your life? your family? and your ministry?

The Power of Competition

2011-08-16T08:00:00.000-06:00

A simple idea cameto me while being a counselor at a week of camp. We had competitions. We had competitions between the boys andgirls of who could raise more missions money and we had competitions betweenrooms of who could memorize the most Bible verses.

What if competitiongave your students motivation? What ifit involved them and made them active in your ministry?

So--what could weuse some friendly competition for?

+Support Raising?

+Mission Trip Fundraisers?

+Offering?

+On Service Projects? (Who can rack the most yards? Who can wash the most cars? Etc)

The Power of Repetition

2011-08-15T08:00:00.000-06:00

Repetition can bevery important in our ministries both in people and in ideas.

At the week of campI recently did with 4-6th graders, there was something that became clear duringthe week--it was good that Nate and I were there. I have been a part of that week of camp invarious ways for 7-8 years (since before the current dean took over) and Natehas been apart of that week for 4 years. Two years ago we became friends, a year ago we were dating and almostengaged, this year we were married. Notonly have the kids been able to see a solid Christian dating relationship form,they remember us. I had kids I didn'tknow or remember coming up to me all week asking me if I was Betsy--the onemarried to Nathan. Or if Nathan and Igot married. It was cool to see the kidsgrow. Watching a junior faculty I hadlast year excited because she baptized one of her campers, watching campers Ihad become junior faculty, watching campers I have had in the past be matureand build relationships that they were scared to the year before.

Sometimes repetitionis good. For me, it was Jenn. Jenn's dad led a week of junior high churchcamp that I went to from the time I was a staff brat until I worked it. I remember as a tween (not that I was labeledas such since that is a recent term) looking up to Jenn who was in highschool. I remember when she got tocollege, and remember her marrying this other camp counselor named Shawn. I then was her junior faculty. We have become friends, and it is peoplelike Jenn that caused repetition in mylife to the point where we have been able to talk about ministry struggles andmarriage as I was preparing to get married. It is a friendship that was build one week at a time.

Another good thingis repetition of ideas. As we weregetting ready for this week of camp I found out that we were doing the Life ofDavid and we were doing the "easy" stories--you know, David andGoliath, etc. I was dreading it untilKim got up and did her message and taught the story in such a way that capturedthe attention of all the campers. [Infact, this entire series comes from ideas that hit me during her lesson.] Sometimes the basics are good toremember. There are times when we needto remember the basic stories and see if God is telling us something newthrough them.

Do you haverepetiton in your ministry? Do you usethe same leaders year after year? Do youdo some of the same stories? activities? mission trips? Why or why not?

Words for Thought

2011-08-14T08:00:00.001-06:00

From Etsy

Tips for Moving

2011-08-12T08:00:00.000-06:00

Today, Nate and Iare signing papers for our apartment at SIUE. Tomorrow we will be spending the day with friends and family moving…inlight of all that, I decided to give a few tips for moving.

(1) Gave a good teamwith you--preferably on both sides. (Iknow from moving a couple of times that there are times when it is such a greatdistance that you need people to help you pack and a different group to meetyou and help you unpack.)

(2) Clean theapartment/house before you move. It mayseem silly, but who wants to move into a dirty place.

(3) Label your boxesby room. (And mark out any oldmarkings. When we moved to Indiana whenI was in 7th grade, somehow about 1/2 of the boxes we moved ended up in myroom--which was the smallest. I wascompletely boxed in--it was kinda funny, but the thing is, most of it wasn'tmine!)

(4) Label your roomsbefore you move in. I plan on stickingpost-it notes up. The main differencewill be between bedrooms. Nate and I willhave ours and then the 2nd bedroom will be the main dropping ground until wecan get things unpacked.

(5) Set up thebathroom. You don't want to have peoplehelping you and not able to take a bathroom break.

(6) Provide food anddrinks for those that help you.

(7) Make friendswith people who have trucks or trailers who will help you move--it will likelybe cheaper than renting.

What tips do youhave?

First Impressions

2011-08-11T08:00:00.024-06:00

What is the first impression you make...specifically I am thinking churches at the moment, but the ideas can be adapted.

Entry
-Is it easy to find?
-Is there a greeter to greet you? answer questions? give you a bulletin? point you to the bathroom?
-Is it clear which way to your sanctuary (worship center, meeting area, etc)? to the bathroom?

Service
-Is your bulletin laid out well? (Personally, the first thing I do when I get to a church is read the bulletin. I look for good formatting, spelling errors, if there is a staff list, what there is for each age group, etc.)
-Especially for churches--do you tell people how to take communion? (I hate when I get to a church and have to look around to see if people are doing the "take and pass", "hold and take on your own", "hold and wait", "get up and take" or numerous other methods. So much easier if it is said or even better put on a slide or in the bulletin.)

Visitors
-Do they get a warm welcome? Do you get greeted by the congregation? (This is a biggie for me, I once went to a church and on my first time there was flipping through my Bible and had two pages stuck together, I separated them only to have the lady in front of me turn and rudely tell me to be quiet--never went back. On the other hand, my dad is "that guy" who goes and shakes hands and gets a story on everybody at their church. If you are a visitor, you are sure to meet him unless you slip in last minute, and still, there is a chance he will spot you.)
-Is there a visitor gift? What is in it? (I am always curious. I have had bags, coffee mugs (even a travel mug), pens, notepads, apple butter (YAY parents church--they have a family in the church that produces and sells it who donated it for visitor bags), flashdrives, etc.
-Is the visitor gift given well? (A lot of churches have this, "fill out a connect card and bring it to us before we give you a gift" mentality. Which, well, first of all, I think that a visitor should be able to walk up without the card, but whatever (I mean, some of them may have put it in the offering plate like everybody else because you did tell them until the end what they were supposed to do with it.) Anyway, the last time I took one up, I handed over the card and the lady looked at me funny before ever giving me the gift and in a stingy manner told me that Nate and I had to share. To me that said, "We are stingy with our visitors--just wait until you are a member." And, I didn't even want two bags.)
-Is your visitor station manned? I have been to churches where they don't put somebody there!

Environment
-Is it comfortable for newcomers?
-What is the dress code?
-Do you have free coffee? do you let it go in the worship center? (One of my biggest annoyances is when a church gives you coffee then tells you that you can't take it with you.)
-Do you have water/tea for the non-coffee drinkers?

I am sure there are many more, but those are the top of my list...what are you aware of that people look for in your church or ministry?

College Ministry Thoughts from Step Up 3

2011-08-10T08:00:00.024-06:00

From Amazon

As I was rewatching Step Up 3 the other day, multiple thoughts on college ministry pop out. In case you have never seen or heard of the movie. The basic idea is that two friends start college and one of them gets wrapped up in a dance team. I will try to keep other information limited unless you have not seen the movie and want to.

College Ministry Thoughts
(1) In the movie, one of the main characters meets up with a dance crew and spends so much time with them that he forgets to spend time with his best friend who he came to college with. He also goes to the extreme to skip out of a test early to spend time with this crew at a competition.

So the question--how do we make our ministries that appealing?

(2) Obviously it is a problem that this kid skipped out of a test.

So the question--how do we encourage college students in their academic studies while also encouraging them to have a social life?

(3) While watching this movie, it became even more clear to me why often times campus ministries have their meetings scheduled at the same time...it is hard for people to double dip, because they get so busy.

So the question--how do we help our students find a balance?

Hometown Parties

2011-08-09T08:00:00.001-06:00

As my husband is getting ready to return to school to pursue his mechanical engineering degree, we have been getting many notifications from the school. This is an idea I saw that could be have an interesting college ministry tweek.

Hometown Parties--Nate is going to a state school--they have taken their main supply towns and have gone to the bigger cities to host a party for new students and alumni that includes a dinner. What if our college ministries did that?

Ways to think through it...
(1) Is there a church that often end up sending students to our ministry (whether that be church or para-church)?
(2) Is there a locations (church, community building, etc) that would allow us to meet to host a dinner?
(3) Is there a way to advertise these event before school starts to allow momentum to gain before students ever step foot on campus?
(4) Is there a way to do this at school once students arrive--that still connects them to people in their area?

I know for me that one of my lasting friendships from my time at CCU is with a kid who during one of our classes in the Bible college meet-and-great introduction times said he was from the same town as I was. We talked and although he was only at school for a semester--he and I have stayed friends because of our hometown connections.

Camping!

2011-08-08T13:06:00.000-06:00

Last week I was at camp with these lovely ladies...

and about 250 other campers, faculty and staff.

It was a fun week. It was a tiring week. I ended up coming home and was sick. But it was great.

We saw 11 baptisms and knew of another 10 that were happening when campers when home. We had a handful of kids who wanted to rededicate their lives.

Here are a few more pictures:

Nathan and the dean's son. Nobody was hurt! :)

Worship time--I discovered how to take black and white pictures.

More worship time.

My friend Eric getting one of my girls off the zipline

Decorating bags in missions time...our missions money went to IDES.

We learned about David and Goliath and at this point were learning about the covenant made between David and Saul.

Camp Challenge Games...Nate couldn't win and I used to do that for a living, so I went up against Eric and won!

There are about 1000 more pictures, but that gives you a taste of my last week. In the upcoming weeks, have a series coming called "The Power of..." that comes from ideas and reflections from that week of camp. Look for it and for more pictures.

Words for Thought

2011-08-07T08:00:00.002-06:00

Swagbucks and Ebates

2011-08-05T08:00:00.007-06:00

In the realm of college ministry--this is an idea that will help college students. Both of these I have been using for a couple months and know that what they promise does happen. I bought my wedding shoes and a birthday present through Swagbucks and I have gotten a check through Ebates.

One of the ways I bring in extra money is by using SwagBucks.

Swagbucks pays you for what you already do--if you search through their toolbar, you will randomly get swagbucks. If you take their daily poll, you get swagbucks, you can get them for playing games, watching videos, buying things online by clicking through their site any many more things.

For the most part, I use my points for free Amazon gift cards. At 450 points, I trade in my points for a gift card that comes in my email in about 2 weeks.

What I do--I get the 4 I can get a day (click on trusted surveys, take the daily poll, and click through the NOSO's). Then I watch movies in the background while I work on other things. That is something a college student could easily do while watching tv, working on homework, or surfing the web.

Right now when you register for swagbucks, you will be awarded 30 extra swagbucks to get you started.

Ebates gives you cash back for purchases made online. So, if you are going to shop at Old Navy online, simply log into ebates--search for Old Navy, click on it and you will get a certain percent back. It also may offer coupon codes that you will only receive through ebates.

Right now if you register, you will get a free $10 giftcard if you make a $25 purchase in the next three months--which if you do any shopping online is pretty easy. Most retailers are on there (sadly, Amazon is not yet, but that is the only one I use that I have found). And registering is free.

My first check was $7.50!

Blogs in My Reader

2011-08-04T08:00:00.003-06:00

I follow a lot of blogs--at last count it was somewhere between 80-100. I also use GoogleReader...I highly suggest a reader of some form. It helps so that I don't have to go to them each day, but that it lets me know when the blog has been updated. GoogleReader is free...I even taught my mom how to use it! Here are a few of my favorites.

College Ministry
Benson Hines--one of my favorites who writes about college ministry. He has all sorts of ideas. He has written a free ebook about college ministry which helped focus my entire idea and philosophy of college ministry.
Brian Barela--he works with Cru and often has a lot of good information related to Cru and related to social media and how to use it in ministry.
Chris Bean--he works with CCO at University of Cincinnati (right down the hill from my alma mater). He talks a lot about college ministry and coffee. He also recently had great series about support raising.
Chuck Bomar--he has written books such as College Ministry 101 and is the founder of CollegeLeader.
NewChapter--they are working on student housing options...pretty neat to follow what they are doing.

Cool People I Know In Real Life
Kylie Sloop--she is a great friend and is a missionary doing youth ministry in Northern Ireland.
Abby Daniel--she is all over the place in blogging, but I love her dearly. We met on my internship and have continued to stay close--and is my go-to person when I have odd marriage questions.
Matt Preher--he blogs like I do, few and far between, but when he blogs, they are normally well worth the read!

Obviously this is not all of them, but if you would like a more complete list--just ask!

Who is on your blog reader?

Why Affirmed Passion

2011-08-03T08:00:00.003-06:00

This is what I wrote when I first started this blog

"Why Affirmed Passion for a title? Well, I felt my call to ministry the summer before my seventh grade year...but it wasn't until last spring and this summer--eight years later--that my passion was defined as college ministry. As I have prayed and struggled with where my heart is and if college ministry is really my passion, time after time, I have been encouraged to follow my heart into this adventure. Therefore, Affirmed Passion just seemed to fit."

This is still true two years later. Every time I try to do something else, my path seems pushed toward college students.

I am excited for you to join me on this journey.

Why I Blog

2011-08-02T08:00:00.001-06:00

Most simply...I blog to network. I blog for ideas.

Not only do I write a blog, but I follow quite a few (as my husband would say--too many!)

Blogging is a great way for me to write. But even more, I am able to network with people around the country--and even the world.

It is a way for me to stay connected. I currently have a friend in Northern Ireland who follows my blog to keep updated on my life, one who is traveling with her husband while he finishes his schooling, a friend in Germany, family in Indiana, and many other places.

I blog for ideas. There are times when I have an idea and I blog about it...then other people comment and the idea gets better--gets more focused. It is also a way for me to see what other people are doing--in the arts and crafts world, in the couponing world--and in the college ministry world (by far the majority of the blogs I follow).

Feel free to comment and follow my blog. I welcome you here!

Back to the Blog

2011-08-01T08:00:00.000-06:00

As I have been transitioning a lot this summer, I have taken a break from blogging for the most part.

But--now I am back and hopefully posting on a regular basis. This week I am hanging out with 4-6th graders at a week of church camp at Camp Illiana--where I got married a couple weeks ago (pictures coming when I get them from our photographer). I am excited what God is going to do with them and through them and this is going to be an exciting week. We are talking about the Life of David with a Medieval theme.

This blog is going to take a slightly altered approach.

In just under 3 weeks, Nate and I will be moving into married student housing on the campus of Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville. He will be returning to attain a mechanical engineering degree and I will be finding a job. Not only do I want this to be a blog about college ministry but with ideas for college ministry and college students. Along the way there will be college ministry ideas, thoughts on theology, crafty/thrifty ideas, maybe an occasional recipe and from time to time money saving posts. This week I will focus on the why's of my blogging and next week ideas will be flowing.

I hope you join and/or continue this journey with me.

Words for Thought

2011-07-31T08:00:00.005-06:00

Lost

2011-04-26T20:34:00.000-06:00

I've felt lost most of the semester. Without my strong support system or the system I built on my internship, I felt like I was grasping to hold on to something while I finished school.

I felt tonight like I am finally able to breath again. Last night I turned in my last assignment for the semester (a week early at that!) So, at the moment, I only have finishing the last week and a half of class and 3 finals left until graduation. I have gone through the alumni meetings (to get free food and stuff), the graduation exams, the meetings, the financial aid interview and have even figured out that if I wanted to take a hit on my GPA, I could skip my finals (no worries, I won't do that!)

So, it is interesting. My love for college students seems to have been on hold (odd as I am living on a floor with 15 or so). Not that I don't love them, but I feel as if there is a big difference in ministering while living 10 feet from a person and ministering from the outside. So many times, I feel like I can speak into the lives of these girls, and they just don't see that because I am one of them. When I was on my internship, I was an outsider looking in and was allowed to speak into their lives. It is an interesting thing to see--how to be an insider and an outsider all at the same time.

In 74 days I am getting married. I have no job. We have no house. I have no idea what is coming up. But, I know that God is going to pave the way and that somehow my love and passion for college students is going to be able to shine through.

I have been sporadic in my posting...coming this fall I will post much more regularly. I am coming up with how I am going to structure my blog. There will still be mainly a focus on college ministry, but the aspects of being a young wife, transitioning into life (from college) and into marriage, making a home, etc will probably also be mixed in.

Thank you for the 3 people that actually follow my blog for your patience in my sporadic and unpredictable posts. Coming soon--it will be better, until then--just wait with me!

The Home I Soon Leave

2011-04-12T09:58:00.000-06:00

Soon, I leave this place I have called home for the last four years. I have just over a month left of this view from the window in my dorm room.

Thinking over the last couple years:

Freshman Year:

This was my first roommate Katie--we raided my toy box and played dress up one night and acted like princesses.

I ran collegiate cross country. This is a picture of me with my sister who ran for our big competition. She was the best coach--she even yelled at me during the race as she was FAR ahead of me.

We all went out to Olive Garden one night--these are only a few of the girls that I lived with for my first year of college.

Sophomore Year:

This was my third roomie Maddie! It was Halloween and she was dressed up at Peter Pan.

This is my friend Jess on our way to church--we had started to get close at the end of the previous year and she has proved to be a great friend.

We were bored one Thursday night--so we dressed up and went out and wandered campus.

Random dance party--those happened quite often.

Junior Year:

This was after a long night of "Midnight Breakfast" during Fall Finals week.

I had my first date with the man I am going to marry (in less than 3 months)

I led a great Outreach Team--which happened to be two teams on multiple occasion--like in this picture

My sister graduated from KCU!

Freshman Orientation that I helped with!

Two great ladies, Jenna my roomie and Kylie my RA. They are both great friends and we grew much closer!

Senior Year:

Engaged!

Small Group of Girls during my internship! :) I love them!

Another one!

This is where I spent a lot of time working, in meetings, and in small groups.

Chapel

2011-04-05T09:40:00.000-06:00

I sat in chapel this morning, and was in awe at the worship I saw from people I have seen grow. There is something in seeing people authentically worship God. I stood and watched, in awe of the change that I have seen God make in the lives of other students. Being a senior, I have an interesting perspective, having remember when most students (except for some of those super seniors and grad students) came to school. Remembering first meeting them, to seeing where they now are, amazes me sometimes.

It helps with the transition. Seeing the leadership potential on this camp. Seeing that these men and women are already stepping up not only to leadership on their campus, but to leadership in the communities, in their churches, in any situation they are in, is just awesome.

This is why I want to do college ministry, I love watching the growth. I love seeing people step up into something more. I am ready to leave, because I know that I have grown, and the leadership positions I have held have been replaced with other qualified people.

Tradition

2011-04-04T20:00:00.000-06:00

I happened upon tradition. Recently, my friend Amanda got a chair. She did not have space in her dorm room for the couch she had, so she passed it on to me--at least for the rest of the semester. As we moved it, I noticed that it was signed. Everybody that has had this couch on campus has signed it. Most of them I know, but it goes back to before my time and the people that I haven't heard about. It is an interesting thing to stumble upon. It will be interesting to see who I pass it on to after this semester is over.

English Revisions

2011-03-31T18:14:00.000-06:00

I just got out of a meeting with my multi-cultural lit teacher. We got way side-tracked and talked about college ministry for a while--which was awesome (even though in the end, he made me revise my paper). But, here are some of the ideas that I brought up that we talked about:

Youth Ministers should not just take their students to tour Bible colleges but to the secular colleges to tour churches and campus ministries to be involved with.
College Minister (and youth ministers too) should connect students with the larger body of Christ so that they know how to operate in a church if/when they move away and/or attend a different church.
Ministry Leaders should make sure that they are not connecting people just to them but to the larger church body and to Christ. If a ministry leader connects people just to them, it will be hard to maintain when they move away (often seen if a youth minister is dynamic and a student goes to college and doesn't have that; the youth minister though thinks that somebody is taking care of that student and moves on while the student is having a faith crisis they don't know how to handle). This however, can also be helped with mentors, especially if a mentoring relationship can be handled over long distances.

What College Students Need (from the perspective of a senior)

2011-03-16T20:11:00.000-06:00

This will most likely become a series of reflections as I get closer to graduation.

In 8 weeks and 3 days, I will be graduating with a Batchelors of Science in Bible and General Ministry from Cincinnati Bible College, one of the schools of Cincinnati Christian University. I will have spent countless hours in classes, writing papers, and studying for youth ministry classes, missions classes, Bible classes, and other ministry and general classes I have taken. But, there are a few things that I have learned college students need.

(1) Somebody that will help then transition into college. For me, I had all those other freshman that I quickly became friends with, but I also had an upperclassmen named Joel. He was the one who I asked all my hard questions about God (and Greek when I couldn't understand it). He helped me get past church wounds back home and learn that I could move on. For me, starting my sophomore year, I started the same journey with a small group of 4 freshmen girls. Today, we continue that journey.

(2) A Support System. I had a great support system. I had key people that I came to school with--some who are still here and will be graduating with me and some who have moved on. But, the two people who kept me going even when I didn't think I could go any further were Kylie and Jenna. The hard part was that they were a year ahead of me. I came back to school after an intenship for my final semester--and it isn't the same without them. It helps me to remember how much of a impact they had on my day-to-day life. [Yes, they are still support, just in a different way. I see Jenna once or twice a week. Kylie is in Northern Ireland doing amazing work there: http://kyliesloop.blogspot.com]

(3) An adult. For me, this took time. I just didn't "fit" into a church here, and although I attended one regularly for my freshman and sophomore years, I took an opportunity to travel for the school and was gone most weekends during my junior year traveling to other churches. The person who started to invest in my is my boss...and she acts very motherly. For some she is more motherly to others, but she loves students. The one thing that I appreciate is that she takes the time to talk to me. She knew that I was going with my fiancé to talk to admission people about transferring more of his credits during spring break--and she asked me how that went. Little things that show me that I am loved and cared for.

(4) Somebody that makes you do your homework. This is very important. And over the years, I have had different people. I had Monica, Kylie, Jenna, and now have Nate, who at times have just had to sit in the same room as me (or in Nate's case on the phone 4 hours away) to make sure I am getting done what needs to be done (instead of procrastinating and writing blogs like I am doing now--no worries, my 3 page paper will easily get done). There are just some times that motivation is nowhere to be found. And, in turn I have spent many sleepless nights sitting in hallways doing the same for other people--keeping them awake so they finish work by deadlines.

But there are things that I wish I had:
(1) Somebody to help me navigate this transition from college. It is scary to know that I am getting married and need to get a job--even scarier to know that I will be living six hours away. It is difficult trying to not only find a job but a place to live from so far away and at the same time.

(2) A mentor. I would have loved a mentor and have seen how others on campus, especially males, have grown so much through mentor relationships. [Primarily males because I am on a Bible college campus and there are mainly male faculty.] I had Claudia while I was on my internship--but I have longed for a mentor, but haven't had that person in my life.

(3) A family to go home to. This is something I have had off an on but not consistently. Just being invited over for dinner and being able to lounge on a couch, do free laundry, play with little kids, and watch tv shows on a dvr instead of hulu is just an amazing thing sometimes.

Emerging Adults and Spirituality

2011-02-23T20:38:00.000-06:00

I am in the process of writing a 12-15 page paper on Emerging Adults and Spirituality for my New Testament Seminar class. In another month or so, I will teach a class of my peers on this topic.

Among the books at my disposal (that I own myself) are The Slow Fade (Joiner, Bomar, and Smith), College Ministry 101 (Bomar), God on Campus (Sheppard), and Shaping the Spiritual Life of Students (Dunn), and probably others that are not currently in a circle around me. That does not include the multiple scholarly journal articles that are bookmarked on my computer and printed out, the ebooks I have and the blogs I follow.

But today--I went and explored our library (which claims to be one of the best around for Bible College libraries). And by explore I mean--I looked on like and went armed with my list of books to look for. I was pleasantly surprised to find the variety I did. However, my list was too long and I needed to narrow it down--so I went with my exact subject and ones written within the last 10 years.

Among my finds (that were in a form I could check out and weren't on a course reserve):

The Millennials (Rainer and Rainer)--it is a newer book that has come out. It is a LifeWay book and seem like it is going to shed a lot of light on what I am looking for.
They Like Jesus But not the Church (Kimball)--seems interesting. I have only flipped through it, but it looks like it is more of a personal view of it with people's stories rather than statistics.
A Masters Thesis!! (I got really excited about this one!) Integrating Men's and Women's Ministies into a Ministry to Emerging Adults. Now, the focus of this was The Post at Southeast Christian Church. The neat part for me is not only do I personally know people there, but it is from 2-3 years ago (when this guy started the project). And this last fall I was able to spend time at a leadership conference hearing about what they are doing now--it is like watching the follow-up to his thesis!

But there were two books that I found that weren't on my list--I consider them treasures!

Handbook of Young Adult Religious Education (Adkinson)--this is a book from 1995. It is a lot about the last generation and the beginning of this. A lot of the research that people like to quote now comes from this time frame. Things like--young adults that leave church during college return when they start a family (which is no longer true according to LifeWay research--more about that in coming posts) was true then.
Campus Ministry (Douglas A Dickey)--this is a book that I have been dreaming about writing myself (in a way). There were so many things such as history of campus ministry that I have wanted to research because I could never find it. And--at least according to the table of contents--it is in this book! It makes me so excited.

So--progress on the paper--hasn't been started. But I put in a good 5-7 hours of research today EASILY...now if only I would have taken study notes for my Paul class or studied for my Human Development test.

Graduation: 78 Days!

Marriage: 135 Days!

Life

2011-02-22T08:32:00.000-06:00

It's been a hard semester. Trying to stay on top of my class load--part of which is so easy that I am bored and the other part so much work (reading and notes that I get graded on) that I get buried under it. Trying to plan a wedding. Trying to plan a future--figure out my job and where to live after Nate and I get married while living 5 hours away from there. Trying to stay involved in college ministry to a certain extend. Trying to make new friends while knowing I am only going to be around a little while.

It has been hard.

But, there have been a few verses that God keeps bringing up.

(1) Lamentations 3:21-23
This I recall to my mind,
Therefore I have hope.
The LORD's lovingkindness indeed never cease,
For His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning.
Great is your faithfulness.

(2) Exodus 14:14
The LORD will fight for you while you keep silent.

(3) Deuteronomy 31:8
The LORD is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.

These have been encouraging. They remind me that God is with me. He will fight for me. He will not fail me. His compassion never fails. Each day is a new day. So, in the face of my difficult semester, I have a companion that I know will walk beside me and never fail me. And that is a great feeling to have.

Just One

2011-02-09T08:18:00.000-06:00

I feel like it is so hard to write sometimes. Life finds its way to get in the way, and although I have so many stories and ideas in my head, I don't have time to take advantage of this outlet and to share what is going on--which is why it has been almost two months since my last post. In short, I have finished my internship with Sherwood Oaks Christian Church in Bloomington, Indiana and have started my last semester at Cincinnati Christian University--graduating in MAY! After four years here, I am ready to move on, and hopefully, in the coming weeks, amidst my 18 credit hours of classes I am taking packed with required reading and papers and tests, and my job, I will have a chance to write about transitioning, especially, because I feel like there is little helping me make my transition. However, this post has a different nature.

One of the things that I do that helps me keep my sanity and continually reaffirm my passion for college students is attend Campus Crusades (Cru) down at Northern Kentucky University (NKU). I love it. I went because I have a couple friends involved--all whose lives intertwined at NKU even though I met them (at different camps) while traveling for CCU on a Summer Outreach team a couple years ago.

One of these people told me exciting news last night. Although I am unsure when he made this decision, last night, one of my friends told me he wanted to go into college ministry and is doing and internship with Cru next year. Now, as a little background. I met him at a week of camp for 6th graders. Yes, just 6th graders, about 200 of them. It was a crazy fun week, so organized, yet so different from any other week of camp. But, I saw in this guy a heart for ministry and oddly enough, a heart for college students. Since June 2009, I have been praying that God opens his heart, eyes, and opportunities for him to serve in college ministry. We have kept in touch off and on over the last couple years and I have continued to pray for him. So, last night, when he told me, it was all I could do to not jump up and down in excitement.

Things like that are exciting to me. They reveal God's faithfulness to me. They help me to see God in new and radical ways. I don't know where I am going to be next fall. My future is up in the air, besides graduating (in May) and getting married (in July) and moving to Edwardsville, Illinois (where my then husband will be attending school), I don't know how I will be ministering, where I will be working, what I will be doing, but I know that God will use me--like he is going to be using my friend Matt.

Barna

2010-12-13T08:00:00.000-06:00

Barna just released a new article Six Megathemes Emerge from Barna Group Research in 2010.
In it, it had quite a few things that could impact college ministry and shows the impart the culture has had to Christianity.

The Christian Church is becoming less theologically correct.
Christians are becoming more ingrown and less outreach-oriented.
Growing numbers of people are less interested in spiritual principles and more desirous of learning pragmatic solutions for life.
Among Christians, interest in participating in community action is escalating.
The postmodern insistence on tolerance is winning over the Christian church.
The influence of Christianity on culture and individual lives is largely invisible.

The article goes more in-depth on each of these topics. As I was reading it, I was nodding in agreement to these statements, having seen it in churches. How can we use these to strengthen our ministries? What needs to change? How do we change it?

Ordinary

2010-12-12T23:39:00.000-06:00

Sometimes, I just feel like my life is so ordinary. Like I am just living life. Going through the motions. Doing what I am supposed to do. Going where I feel a leading. This week I am finishing my 7 month internship. In 4 weeks I will beginning my last semester in college. I will be graduating on time too! In July, I will be getting married. After that, I don't know what my life will hold. I will be in Edwardsville, Illinois--somehow getting involved with the college ministry at Southern Illinois University--Edwardsville (SIUe) while I support my fiancé (then husband) through the remainder of his career.

I will move on. I will make new friends. I will continue friendships. I will leave some behind. I will impact others lives. They will have an impact on me.

As I was saying goodbye's today--I realized. Nobody is really ordinary. I have touched the lives of twentysomethings these 28 weeks in Bloomington, Indiana. I have friendships that will stay here. I have served my purpose in the lives of these people by being here for a season and now gone. And I have friendships that will go with me and grow. No matter what though--those relationships have impacted my life. I have impacted the lives of those around me.

A few of them:
-I have a new friend who is a stage ahead of me in life...she is my token married friend here and has helped me not be nervous about what lies ahead.
-I have seen a spark ignite in a thirtysomething mom who has discovered her passion with twentysomething females and have been able to help equip her with starting materials to do just that.
-I reconnected with a high school friend in the coffee shop I have been working at--in fact, I learned how to work in a coffee shop and make cool drinks like latte's and expresso's and have been able to be a light to those I work with--and have helped to be a guide and a listening ear to those I am around.
-I have been able to encourage a baby Christian to pursue grad school for Christian counseling.
-I have prayed for a heart and passion of ministry to fester and burn inside of people so that can no longer avoid it.
-I have loved people and I have been loved.

Is that an ordinary life? I think not.

Friendships Among Staff

2010-10-28T08:15:00.000-06:00

One of my favorite quotes at the Southeast Leadership Conference was during the pre-conference when one of The Post staff said “It helps to be friends!” It was in response to a question about how they work together as a team. I think that idea is so important. As I have been thinking about my future ministry and about a dream that my fiancé and I have about college ministry, I have tried to think about the people I am networked with who would be able to work alongside me—and a lot of them are friends and people I have build relationships with.

It is fun to think about working alongside friends. Hard? Probably. But enjoyable? Definitely. Wouldn’t that be great to be friends with those you work with? I have been fortunate to have worked with amazing people I have been friends with in every job I have worked—I hope and pray that continues to happen as I really step into the “real world” after graduation.

Women in Ministry

2010-10-27T08:15:00.000-06:00

This last weekend, I helped teach high school students on the idea of Women in Ministry. This is an interesting topic and one that I have not chimed in too much about even though it has surrounded me many times this year. This is what I have figured out—which may change, but this is where I stand now.

I am probably between a complementarian and an egalitarian. I believe that women can be in ministry but cannot hold the senior minister position or job of elder. (I see the senior minister as having the same qualifications as an elder.)

However, here is more of a breakdown. I believe (after much study) that the passages that discuss the idea of women being silent were cultural. I have come to this conclusion because there are many places where women are mentioned in ministry where they are not meant to be silent. However, with the fact that I am not a Greek scholar and there is so much debate on whether women can be elders based on the translation, for now, I am staying with the tradition.

But, the real question I have is why is this debate necessary? I don’t understand why it is such a big deal. Women are given so many rights and abilities and freedom in ministry and are being enabled to use the gifts God has given them. I am not out to cause a debate--just to write about my ideas since I have been asked by many people what they are.

If you would like to look further into this, below are the major views, (some) women mentioned in the Bible, and general texts used.

Three Major Views of Women in Ministry

1. Traditionalist

Basic Idea—the women does not have a ministry role
Scriptural Support—1 Corinthians 14:34-37, 1 Timothy 2:8-15, Ephesians 5:22-23

2. Complementarian

Basic Idea—women complement the men in ministry
Scriptural Support—1 Corinthians 11:2-16, 1 Timothy 2:11-15
Major Advocates (found on Wikipedia): Mark Driscoll, C.S. Lewis, John Piper, Elisabeth Elliot, Beth Moore

3. Egalitarian

Basic Idea—men and women are equal and can do the same things in ministry
Scriptural Support—Galatians 3:28, Matthew 28:16-20, Ephesians 4:11-16
Major Advocates (found on Wikipedia)—Shane Claiborne, Gordon Fee, N.T. Wright, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Bill Hybels, John Ortberg

Major Women Mentioned in the Bible

Anna (Luke 2:36-38)
Apphia (Philemon 2)
Deborah (Judges 4:4-5)—prophetess who lead Israel
Esther (Esther)
Euodia (Philippians 4:2-3)—helped Paul
Huldah (2 Kings 22:14)—prophetess who heard from God
Junia (Romans 16:7)
Lydia (Acts 16:13-40)
Mary (Romans 16:16)
Miriam (Exodus 15:20, Numbers 12:1, Micah 6:4)—prophetess, helped lead Israel out of Egypt with Moses and Aaron
Nympha (Colossians 4:15)—house meeting in her house
Persis (Romans 16:12)
Phoebe (Romans 16:1-2)
Priscilla (Acts 18:1-28, Romans 16:3, 1 Corinthians 16:19, 2 Timothy 4:19)—taught Apollos with her husband Aquilla; here name is mentioned first—normally indicating significance
Ruth (Ruth)
Syntyche (Philippians 4:2-3)
Tryphena (Romans 16:12)
Tryphosa (Romans 16:12 )

General Texts Used

Genesis 1-3
Galatians 3:25-29
1 Timothy 2:9-15
1 Corinthians 14
1 Timothy 2:8-3:13
Titus 1:5-2:5
Romans 16:1-16
1 Corinthians 11:1-16
2 John
Joel 2:28//Acts 2:17

Get Off the Island!

2010-10-26T20:14:00.000-06:00

As I was sitting through discussions with The Post leaders, they said that the thing that they said time and time again this year was “Get off the island!” One of their major aims this year was to build bridges both with the staff and to others and to remember that their ministry was a ministry of a larger ministry.

Southeast did a lot of things to try to build bridges. They used a men’s retreat where they brought elders and ministers and tried to connect the college age and twentysomething men to the men’s ministry and to mentors. They moved the night of their big gathering to Saturday evening when they could connect better with the rest of the community and also brought better outreach oportunies.

I liked that idea a lot. It hit me. So many times we do operate in silos. Where it is in a church ministry where we forget that we are a ministry of a larger ministry and have other people to connect with or if it in a para-church organization and we do not reach out to other. Imagine if we were all to “get off our island” and partner with others—imagine the ministries, the networking we would do.

Not Having it All Figured Out

2010-10-23T08:49:00.001-06:00

At the Southeast Leadership Conference pre-conference on college ministry and twentysomethings, the staff of “The Post”, Southeast’s ministry to this group addressed a lot of issues. They talked about how they have changed the direction of their ministry in the last year and how they do not have it all figured out. Over and over they talked about not having it figured out—they do have core things figured out though.

The Post is “a community in motion stirred by God to change the world.” WOAH! If that is their mission statement, you can imagine what they are striving to do.

They have Five Commitments:

Be a Community that Stands Upon the Name and Hope of Jesus Christ
Committed to be a Praying Community
Committed to be a Community that Worships and Studies God’s Word Together
Committed to be a Community that Reaches Out with the Love of Christ
Committed to be a Community of Authentic Relationships

They have just implemented House Groups—that consist of about 30 people (that break down into 3 groups for studies). They are implementing outreach—in the church, community, and world. They see themselves as a ministry within a ministry and not their own entity. They are doing a lot of good things—and I think it is even cooler that they admit that they don’t have it all figured out—that they wanted to hear from us—that they wanted our ideas and not just to offer us idea.

They may not have it figured out…but that is okay, because they are excited about trying to figure it out.

For more information on The Post go to www.thepostcommunity.com, you should also be able to see their vision casting night for the changing of their ministry if you look for their video-cast from sometime this summer--June, I think.

[And I am in no way associated with Southeast Christian Church or The Post Ministry there.]

Southeast Leadership Conference

2010-10-22T20:37:00.003-06:00

The weekend I am attending the Southeast Leadership Conference in Louisville, Kentucky. I attended a pre-conference this afternoon about college ministry—that was amazing! In the next few days I will be posting on ideas that were discussed. Tomorrow I attend a college ministry roundtable workshop, a youth ministry workshop and a small group workshop. Look for coming blogs on:

Missional Focused Ministry

Not Having it All Figured Out

Getting Off the Island

Friendships Among Staff

…and probably Women in Ministry—but that is just something that I have been working with in my internship—and not this weekend.

Southeast Leadership Conference

2010-10-22T20:37:00.001-06:00

Missional Focused Ministry

Not Having it All Figured Out

Getting Off the Island

Friendships Among Staff

…and probably Women in Ministry—but that is just something that I have been working with in my internship—and not this weekend.

10.10.10

2010-10-10T19:31:00.000-06:00

HAPPY 21st Birthday to ME!!!

I have had an amazing day!

Today, I got to hang with amazing college students and twentysomethings all day! :)

I got to church for Sunday School and was greeted with singing and cupcakes (that we saved for a potluck we had after church)...then I went to church were multiple people told me Happy Birthday.

We had a potluck for college/twentysomething ministry (where we were supposed to talk about ideas for the fall) but got sidetracked eating and just being with each other--I don't think anybody minded.

Then, I went home and took my afternoon nap! :)

I taught at the PourHouse tonight to the girls! We were talking about character and social media--but when I walked in I was greeted with flowers and a lovely note from one of the girls AND then brownies (even with candles!) Then I got to spend a great day hour or so with AMAZING small group girls!

On top of that I got to go to dinner and a movie with a fiance last night. :) It was a good day--and filled with college students!

AND--I get to get a new license on Tuesday (because the BMV isn't open tomorrow) and it finally is the right way again, yay for my 6th license (and permit) since I started driving!

The PourHouse Cafe

2010-10-07T12:11:00.000-06:00

As part of my internship, I get to work at The Pourhouse Cafe!

I realized as I was working the other day, how much it excites me to go to work! I walk in on Wednesday mornings (the day I work) and see all the regulars. There is something about building connections with people and being able to pour into their lives or have them pour into mine.

Like:

-Talking to the professor who teaches online classes for a school near D.C

-Talking to the couple (and seeing them interact) that just got engaged

-Seeing all the students from the Christian Student Fellowship come in for different things

-Seeing the staff from SOCC come in

-Working with the girl that I always work with--who is amazing and taught me a lot

-Knowing the employee's from the ban and what they order

-Seeing the group of youth ministers (and other youth directors, such as the area young life director) meet for lunch

It warms my heart. When The Pourhouse aims to pour goodness--they really do, not just by donating their tips and profits, but by loving on the people it serves everyday.

And that is why I love ministry--it is the relationships. It is doing life. It is loving others. It is being like Jesus.

Nugget...

2010-09-09T19:34:00.000-06:00

So, I will admit, I may be a little crazy to be doing a full-time (unpaid) internship, working a part-time job, taking 2 online classes, and planning a wedding, but I still found a little nugget of information while reading.

I have been attempting to find time to read The Slow Fade (Reggie Joiner, Chuck Bomar, & Abbie Smith) for a while now. I had gotten a chance to get through almost all of the first chapter a month or so ago and have marked up my book--A LOT so far. But, there was one point in that chapter that stopped me and make me think (which is why I never finished the chapter)...and it stopped me again.

So--my little college ministry nugget of the night:
"Intentional time invested in someone during this critical transition period could make a significant difference in the direction of that person's life" (29).

There are so many little parts of that that get me:
(1) Intentional Time
(2) Invested
(3) Critical Transition Period
(4) Significant Difference
(5) Direction of [a] Person's Life

Imagine casting a vision for college ministry by asking adults to do that--to intentionally invest in someone's life. If they do that, they can change the world! How cool is that!?!

[Most likely, there will be many more blogs about this book because I am in the middle of conversing with a woman who has discovered her passion for twentysomethings and has been asked to start a team in our women's ministry geared toward twentysomethings. She has read the book and wants to know, from a twentysomethings opinion, how to view the information.]

Engaged!

2010-09-04T23:23:00.000-06:00

That is right--I am engaged!!!

We went to Giant City State Park near Carbondale, Illinois. We went on a trail that we got "off the beaten path" for about an hour and a half (after following the trail a 1/2 hr) before we managed to find our way out to the road. After that we had lunch and went on another trail that led around and up a rock plateau called the Devil's Table. About 50 feet in the air there is a split that is about the width of my stride that people like to jump out on. Nate jumped out on it and then asked me to come join him.

After that, as I was looking around, Nate got down on one knee and said,

"Elizabeth Joy Prosise. I asked you to trust me and come out here with me, will you trust me for the rest of your life. Will you marry me?"

Of course I said "Yes!" and shook my head.

And he put the ring on my finger!

And of course--before all of this happened, we did some other exploring too (a little more my style than the woods--but I am always up for an adventure):

What can I say? I found a guy who is my best friend, loves me and wants to spend the rest of his life with me and understand, loves, and even shares my passion for college ministry--how great is that!?!

2010-08-08T10:43:00.000-06:00

A year ago I was talking to a mom about how I would watch out and take care of her daughter at school...today, I found out that her mom committed suicide last night.

Words cannot even describe the pain I feel for this family--our church family feels for this family.

Pray for God to work through this situation in ways we cannot currently imagine.

Just One

2010-07-31T11:15:00.000-06:00

I love this ATT advertisement.

Think about the applications of it. It is saying that one moment can change the world. Just one person can change the world. This is a theme that has come up a lot in our world--and especially in ministry recently.

I am working on a retreat called the "One Girl Retreat" based on the book, "One Girl Can Change the World" by authors Claudia Mitchell and Kim Goad. [For more information go to www.onegirlretreat.com.]. We are trying to encourage girls that it takes just one person to change the world.

But also, there is a campaign among Christian colleges--the Just One Challenge (www.justonechallenge.org).

The Just One Challenge is a partnership is praying for just one more worker in the harvest field.

Did you know that:
...there are 3 billion unreached people worldwide.
...it would take each current U.S. Bible college student would need to tell 1 million people so that all could hear the gospel.
...every month, 1500 pastors leave the ministry.
...every year 3500 churches in America close their doors.
...there are only enough church plants to keep up with 1/8 of the U.S population growth.

Just One Moment...Just One Person Can Make a Difference:
-Roy Weece, longtime campus minister at the University of Missouri baptized over 10,000 people in his life time.
-Gwen Stone, with her husband Sam, raised Jeff and Dave to love God, and now both lead strong evangelistic churches.
-Throughout her 30 years in Christian higher education, Eleanor Daniel helped design VBS curriculum, teaching countless children across the nation about Jesus.

We are just one person and we can make a great impact on our ministries--but what about the people we are ministering to? Are we praying that they become ministers themselves? How much of a difference would a godly teacher who cares about her students make in her lifetime? How much of a difference would an accountant major make when he is able to volunteer his time to make sure that our ministries are running financially how they are? What about that journalism major who has the resources to promote our big events? The graphic designer who would love to make signs and posters? The engineering major (like my boyfriend) who has a great desire to build an apartment building that is really a Christian community rented at a low cost to college students?

Let's pray for Just One Person to be a worker for God's kingdom.

Five Minute Update

2010-07-25T18:57:00.000-06:00

I just put my dinner in the microwave--and am going to write my post in the time it takes to cook.

The last couple weeks have been a whirlwind.

I attended the North American Christian Convention. My favorite part of it--besides hearing Francis Chan was that I attended an amazing workshop on mentoring 18-25 year old women. It was led by Brenda Lang, a professor at Cincinnati Christian University. I also was able to while sitting through a student session able to hear a call to ministry for the junior high and high school students while sitting about 100 feet from one of the guys I had as a camper and then as a fellow junior faculty at camp with me who accepted his call to ministry. It was one of those memories that came flooding back to me suddenly and I was excited to remember it while he was working for the school he is attending, going for a degree in youth ministry.

I also attended the American Heritage Girls. They are an amazing organization and take on a lot of the same form of the Boy Scouts. I got to dress like a girl from 1882 for a skit as well as run around trying to run the technology and playing with a baby at one point too.

I have been doing a great deal with my internship that excites me. We are working on putting together a goal setting class for the women's ministry that talks about purpose and the mentoring booklet I made for the mentoring class we put together earlier this summer we can't keep in the office because there is a lot of interest in mentoring at our church right now.

Our twentysomething ministry is starting to come up with exciting ideas to reach the Indiana University campus and I can't wait to see what is going to happen in the next week.

Also, I am working (volunteering) at the PourHouse cafe--which is a change of pace and a lot of fun.

In another week I am going to spend a week of camp with 4-6th graders and then it is into full swing of the fall semester of my internship.

The Local Church

2010-06-29T21:14:00.000-06:00

More and more students and young adults are becoming disconnected with the church. If they don't feel like the local church is offering them anything--which honestly between graduation and marriage most aren't, they look for that community elsewhere. A Barna study, "Most Twentysomethings Put Christianity on the Shelf Follows Spiritually Active Teen Year" says "Loyalty to congregations is one of the casualties of young adulthood: twentysomethings were nearly 70% more likely than older adults to strongly assert that if they 'cannot find a local church that will help them become more like Christ, then they will find people and groups that will, and connect with them instead of a local church.' They are also significantly less likely to believe that 'a person’s faith in God is meant to be developed by involvement in a local church'." Not that these communities that form aren't important and maybe even essential to deep spiritual growth (after all look how well small groups do) but
is it possible to truly love the Savior without loving her bride--the church?

If we are completely honest--most of want to argue that the church is not a building. That is an accurate statement after all. But the real issue is connecting people with the local church--a place to fellowship, corporately worship, serve, grow, and give.

So...as people in college/twentysomething ministry, how do we do this?
As a local church...
(1) Connect--through various means we need to connect this group to the church
(2) Grow--as soon as we get twentysomethings into our church we need to actively grow them in Christ.
(3) Serve--oce we get them in, we need to gift these people with a place to serve. Not only will it continue to connect and grow them, but allow them to give back. But, remember to use the work to get the people done and not the people to get the work done.

An example of my brainstorming for the ministry I am interning in is show below. (I used bubbl.us--which is a pretty cool brainstorming tool--and even lets you export your brainstorming as a .jpeg and collaborate with other people.)

As a campus-based ministry...
(1) Partner with the local church(es)
(2) Be aware and encourage connection opportunities.
(3) Support the ministry of the local church(es)

Update...

2010-06-23T20:56:00.000-06:00

Well--it seems that things have gotten so busy that I haven't updated very well. So, what has been happening...

In terms of college ministry:
-I am trying to recondition myself to say "20-somethings" rather than college ministry because of the church that I am at.
-We are going through a series on the fruit of the Spirit. It is VERY loosely based on a Beth Moore study--but has also included a Rob Bell Nooma video. Interesting...
-We had a tornado and people still showed up!!
-We have a large group of grad students (from Indiana University) in all different fields, which is interesting.
-I am bouncing around the concept of mentoring and how to make sure that college ministry is not just a grown-up youth group, but rather a place to connect students to Christ and the Church (big C church because it may not be that individual church that is the best fit--and college students move on quite often.)

Women's Ministry:
-I don't stop moving...ever.
-I helped put together a mentoring training and packet (that is 31-pages--currently).
-I am attempting to research "Tweens" in the Bible.
-I have gone through a Team Building Class.
-I am helping to put together a goal-setting class.
-I was supposed to start a Bible Study and we quickly realized that I will be much better with 20-somethings. So now I am supposed to be somewhat working with the 20-somethings leadership team and the Social Networking leadership team.
-I have been helping put together a workshop for 12-13 year old girls for the American Heritage Girls Conference. The basic topic is beauty and purity.

Just exciting:
-I was volunteering at The Pourhouse Cafe and managed to burn myself by dumping a cup of coffee on myself...no worries, I also learned how to make a vanilla latte.
-My sister got hired as a high school cross country coach for the Christian school in town and we went and were checking out a few trails.
-I am excited about the North American Christian Convention in Indy in a few weeks! :)
-MY ROOMMATE IS GETTING MARRIED ON FRIDAY!!!!!!!! (She is awesome--and so is her soon-to-be hubby!)

20-somethings

2010-06-04T09:15:00.000-06:00

Recently, I went to the "20-somethings" Bible Study at the church that I am interning at. We started by discussing Deuteronomy 29:29, "The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the worlds of this law."

The lesson would focus on the Holy Spirit. However, we had a discussion before we started talking about the Holy Spirit that has stuck with me.

We were asked: If you could ask God anything, what would you ask him?
(Now, before I say their answers, let me give you a little background. The church is firmly in the Bible Belt. I think that maybe 2 of the the students their did not bring a Bible with them, many had downloaded a Bible app to their iPhone/iPod so they could use other translations as well. The conversation indicated that not only did most of the students grow up in the church--but in this specific church. Which honestly can be a little intimidating to a visitor--or brand new intern that doesn't know anybody.)

Their Answers:
(1) Purpose--What Should I Do?
We had broken up into 3 groups. Two of the groups this was their sole answer.
(2) Theology--especially Calvinistic vs Armenian ideas (freewill, predestination, etc.)
(3) Why/What If Questions--Why did this happen? What if I had chosen a different passage?
(4) Others--How Did Jesus Walk On Water?

Then we talked about how God reveals himself through General Revelation and Special Revelation.

All of these thought made me start taking notes. Throughout the summer we are going through the fruit of the spirit--but what about the other ideas--the hard theology topics? How do we handle those? At the same time I realize that I find it hard to study the Bible unless I have a certain topic in mind. So, I am going to start studying in depth some of the harder theology topics and how to deal with the questions of identity and purpose and try to put together Bible studies. As I get them done, I will probably end up posting them. We'll see how it goes.

Week 1

2010-06-02T08:49:00.000-06:00

My first week was a whirl-wind adventure.

It included:

A quick trip to a middle school (my middle school) for a One Girl signing with Claudia
A Women's Ministry Core Leadership Meeting casting the vision for next year
Not having to provide my own lunch
A staff meeting (and a groups meeting following)
Putting together a blog for One Girl Stories: http://getyourshoeson.blogspot.com/
Taking over most of the social networking for One Girl--due to complications, FaceBook is still not yet mine--but FaceBook is working on it.
A shopping trip
Meeting lots of people
Putting together multiple PowerPoint presentations
Putting together booklets for the leadership training
Stumping the tech guys

God is teaching me a lot about being transparent--it is not just desired, it is expected. It is interesting working around/with a lot of women because most of my closest friends are guys--but it is just part of the adventure and getting me out of my comfort zone right?

Week 1, Day 1

2010-05-24T20:09:00.000-06:00

I will probably not manage to always update daily--but, my first day/week I think is a good time to blog.

As I mentioned yesterday, I am starting an internship at Sherwood Oaks Christian Church in Bloomington, Indiana--Indiana University country! (And although I am not a Hoosier by any means--claim UK, it is still exciting to be in a college town.) We also have a branch of Ivy Tech Community College in town. [For those not familiar with the Indiana community college system--there is one major community college with multiple branches.]

So far I have learned a lot about what I am going to be doing in the women's ministry and connection/involvement ministry. I will be doing a lot with the One Girl Retreat at the end of August. I will also be doing a lot of learning team building, mentoring, leading a small group, putting PowerPoint presentations together, traveling with Claudia to different events, etc. In the way of connection/involvement, I am in the process of learning the new database system that the church is using. I will also be making follow-up phone calls to member who have not been to church in a quarter. This will definitely get me out of my comfort zone.

Tomorrow I am talking to John, the college minister to see what I will be doing. There has been mention of me working on creating a college-age website. It looks like I would probably use wix, because that is what other departments use. It looks pretty straight forward, but I have never done web design, so that could be interesting. I will probably also get to spend time at The Pour House Cafe. They donate 100% of their profits and tips to a mission which changes.

This is also a big step in trust. I am doing this as an unpaid internship and although I will have a credit on my school account when I get all my scholarships, this summer could be tight--especially as I am paying for car insurance and everything else right now. I am just trusting that God will provide all my needs and help me keep supporting the missionaries I support through New Mission Systems International.

Wow--now that I have used more links in this post that I have I think in the rest of my blogging combined...I will leave you with a picture of my "office"--which is really the prayer room, so all of my stuff gets to be portable and hidden in a closet on weekends. And--there will eventually be pictures to put on my desk--but it was my first day, what did you expect? (There are those blue chairs lining either side of the wall.)

My Internship

2010-05-23T18:20:00.000-06:00

Tomorrow I start my internship with Sherwood Oaks Christian Church in Bloomington, Indiana.

I am excited--it is a mix of women's ministry and college ministry--with a little bit of other things thrown in which I will find out as time goes on! It is exciting and test trusting in God.

Please pray for me. As the next seven months pan out I will be tested beyond what I think my limits are, once again live under the same roof as my parents and sister, and trust God to provide for all of my needs.

I debated whether or not to make a separate blog and in the end decided on to--I will try to do a good job labeling thing so that you can focus on reading the parts that interest you. I will be blogging along the journey. I have certain requirements to meet for my internship including keeping a weekly log--so I will probably be better at blogging than I have been in the past.

Hard Stuff: Homosexuality

2010-05-12T23:24:00.000-06:00

I think I will start an occasional series about hard stuff.

I found out today that yesterday one of my small group girls officially "came out" via facebook.

Her status says: "opening up that closet door and kicking it closed. :D yep. i'm out! the rumors are true. if ya wanna talk to me about it, do it. but the closet is no more, kids. NO MORE!!!! :DDDD"

Now, I knew this was coming. She had told those close to her over the summer and the first part of the school year. But, after seeking counseling and having meetings with those in leadership at the school it was advised that she consider not returning to school. (Note: she was not told she couldn't come back to school--but asked to consider it. So please do not comment on my school or our policies.) She decided not to come back to school for various reasons. And now that she is done with school except for moving out--she has "come out of the closet" to the whole world.

I am at an interesting spot. She knows what I think. I do not agree with that lifestyle but I love her regardless. Right now, it is hard. I am uncertain of what to do. How to love her through this--when I know her well enough to know she is trying to push people away to make the leaving easier. Obviously I am praying non-stop like I have since September. I just pray that God does something beyond even my imagination through this situation.

I am sure there will be more on this later--but for now, I am still in a little bit of shock and just need to write.

Top 10 Camp Team Memories

2010-05-06T18:55:00.000-06:00

Last summer I traveled for Cincinnati Christian University on an Outreach Team. I went to camps all summer and worked with Junior High and High School Students. My plan was to do that again this summer--but then an amazing internship opportunity came my way. Well, today after months of waiting, I got a DVD from one of the weeks of camp I worked--after spending a couple hours looking though pictures and movies, reading old journals and blogs--I have made my Top 10 Camp Team Memories (in no particular order).

(1) The authenticity and community of Prairie States Christian Camp. It was a small week, it was an interesting week, it was an emotionally hard week--but the high school students were so real and open with their lives! It was amazing.
(2) "KELLY GREEN! Do WORK!" The way that high school students at Camp Calvary laid everything down. I was looking back through pictures of the prayer room. We had a room completely covered in butcher that we were to create to God our prayers to with paper and markers, crayons, magazines, glue, and many other crafty type things. I zoomed in to reread some of those prayers. Those students (and faculty and staff) laid everything out--the one thing that I saw that broke my heart, but probably took a lot for one of the students to write was "I will no longer be a sex toy." Those decisions were real.
(3) Getting to go back to Rock River Christian Camp--the camp where my parents grew up and I went to back in the days of "Teddy Bear" Camp (a little kids overnighter). That week we were with an AMAZING!! team from Ozark Christian College. I also had a few great late night conversations with my camp team members that week.
(4) Going home to Camp Illiana. The camp that I think I literally grew up at. So many memories are at that camp--but this year I was with an amazing group of junior high girls who made me smile no matter and were beyond amazing. And I got to chill with my best friend Aaron!
(5) Having a camp team air guitar music video to Downfall of Us All by Day to Remember at Happy Hills Christian Service Camp.
(6) Having Journey's "Just A Small Town Girl" somehow make its way into every week of camp.
(7) Having a girl have a panic attack from seeing lighting and seizing in my arms. (Yes, I know I shouldn't hold a girl who is seizing--but she was fine and then started seizing again.)
(8) Meeting my cool friend Matt at Country Lake--who, I still talk to--AND who loves college ministry!!!
(9) Getting double blobbed at Country Lake and going so high that all the lifeguards were staring to make sure that I came back up out of the water--apparently, they were almost positive I was going to land wrong and be injured. I was a hero to some 6th grader for the rest of the week.
(10) Getting to love on students and faculty all over the midwest.

I will miss camp. This summer I am going to be working 1 week of church camp. It has been over 8 years since I have spent less than half of my summer at church camp (and the last 5 years I have spent no less than 8 weeks at camp). It will be a shock to me. But, God is taking me directions that I am excited about. I am getting ready to start an internship where I work with women's ministry, involvement, and college ministry. More on that to come in a few weeks when I know for sure what is going on.

As I finish the last week of my 3rd year of college, I am ready for a change--uncertain of where that change is going to take me--but ready to let God take me where he can use me.

Spiritual Formation

2010-05-04T17:28:00.002-06:00

Recently, my school decided to work on spiritual formation. I agree with most--if not everything they are doing. I will blog more about it later--but here is the basics: http://www.ccuniversity.edu/about/welcome-to-the-college-of-adult-learning/spiritual-development-plan-2010-2011/

Price Hill

2010-05-03T10:55:00.000-06:00

So, I just spend the weekend at a Junior High Retreat. We had a couple guys from a band called Price Hill (who I also go to school with) lead worship. They are awesome guys and they are genuine about life and their relationship with God and it comes out through their songs--that are largely written as worship songs. They are based out of Texas, however, two of the guys go to school in Cincinnati. Check them out: http://www.pricehillmusic.com/.

Youth Ministry

2010-04-28T21:08:00.000-06:00

So tonight I went to a Youth Ministry Society Meeting. We had an unofficial meeting after the meeting about our annual youth ministry summit. We were brainstorming--which I LOVE to do.

So--what would you like to see if you were one of these ministry leaders? Part of our conference this year involved students--what could we do for them to prepare them for college? Who would be good speakers or workshop leaders? What type of workshops should be offered?

How could other things like a children's ministry track and college ministry track be included?

If you have any ideas--I will sure to add them to my brainstorm list.