Hey all!
Sorry about the radio silence on the blog. I spent the last week at Meredith's host families house and their internet was broken. Thus, blogging became a low priority. All in all, life in Manhattan is going alright. I am finally starting to have some relationships that are deepening and I am starting to get to more spiritual topics with the relationships that I have. Woo hoo! But, what I want to blog about is a funny thing that happened on Saturday.
First of all, to comment on the spiders portion of the title, I want to say that I am NOT afraid of spiders in any way shape or form but last night I got home about 11:50 to a hairy good sized spider on my doorstep. How gross! I am not afraid of spiders in general but I just get a little freaked out when they are large enough that you can see the hair they are covered in. Ick!
Enough on that, the funny story happened at Merediths house last week. Picture this, two women staying alone in a huge house for a week. Well Saturday night was the end of that week and we had just had people over and were up chatting. Well, I went downstairs at 1:30 a.m. to grab my purse and head to bed when I noticed that the door coming inside from the garage was OPEN and neither of us had opened it. I bolted upstairs and in a broken voice told Meredith that the door was open and I had no idea how it got that way and that I was freaked out. She was talking to her boyfriend on the phone and he responded to our fright by laughing. Well we were not laughing. Meredith made me baracade and shut her door while we developed a plan. Seh let Ryan (her boyfriend) go and told him that if she didn't call him back in 5 minutes to call her back and if she didn't answer to worry. Then, we proceeded to call all the guys numbers meredith had in her phone (all two of them). We couldn't get a hold of anyone so we braved it on our own.
We decided after about 5 minutes had passed that we needed to go shut the door and check the house and that we needed weapons. So we grabbed her 5 pound weights and left the room. we searched every room and every corner of the house often yelling as we opened doors to scare the intruders. We discovered nothing and decided to leave all the lights on the main level on. We went back upstairs to complete the search and call Ryan back. Well... 20 minutes had elapsed.
In the meantime Ryan (in an act of protection) had called the Manhattan police department and when he got their answering machine decided to call Jen and Joel. CRAZY!?? We felt really bad but in the end got quite the laugh out of it!:)
In other news, this weekend is K-States big evangelistic camp out. It is called Burly Girly. I can't wait!
Tuesday, September 21, 2004
Sunday, September 05, 2004
Blogging: A summer thing?
I have noticed recently that many friends of mine who blogged faithfully this summer have tapered off in their blogging. I have also noticed that I have as well. Interesting. Maybe it was a good means of communication in the summer but now that the majority of us are back in our comfort zones with our friends we don't feel the need to keep up a description of our lives. Or maybe we are just doing more productive things with our time. Hmm... Something to ponder.
To let you know why I have been slow at blogging this year, it is because of my distaste for using the dial-up internet at my host family's house. Not only do they have dial-up but they also have a limited number of hours of dial-up. Thus, I don't check my email as often or post to my blog for fear of using all their hours. So, I apologize if this has been disappointing to some.
BUT I am in Omaha this weekend so it seems a good opportunity to keep you posted. I had this whole weekend off. I spent Friday afternoon/ evening in Lincoln hanging out with friends that I miss SO much. I spent the afternoon with Tracy, ate dinner with some folks, went to Navigators and then stayed up until 5 a.m. chatting with Sonya. It was really really fun. The trip hurt my heart a bit because things are different and will continue to be and that is sad as much as it is exciting to move onto a new stage.
To update ya'll on campus life, it has been a tough week again. I am starting to understand why I find it tough though and that is helping. I find myself having a tough time with the pace that the friendships I am forming are moving at. They are moving much more slowly than I wish they would. I want to have tons of people who want to be my friend, spend time together, talk about deep stuff and Jesus - NOW. But, I am reminded that takes time to form. I see my impatience SO clearly and have been forced to ask myself if I believe in the gospel enough to perservere. It was good to go to church in Omaha this weekend and see that I am the only one who is putting that much pressure on myself. None of my suppporters I talked to back here think I should have really deep relationships yet. I seem to have the biggest expectations of anyone.
The other stuff God has been doing in my personal life is in the form of teaching me deep things about trials. If you check out 1 Peter 1, it discusses how trials come so that our faith may be proved genuine and result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus is revealed. Later in the passage it goes on to tell us to set our hope FULLY on the grace that we will be given when Christ is revealed. As I have been facing various trials and insecurities related to ministry, I have been forced to set my hope fully on Christ. In and of itself, moving to Manhattan has forced me to set my hope on Christ and not on my friends, people who "need" me, people who enjoy me, my family, knowing the campus, having plans on the weekend, etc.
SOOOOOOOOOOO.... that's the news. I have been meeting lots of folks and trying to be patient to watch the relationships form that God wants to work in.
Have a beautiful Sunday.
To let you know why I have been slow at blogging this year, it is because of my distaste for using the dial-up internet at my host family's house. Not only do they have dial-up but they also have a limited number of hours of dial-up. Thus, I don't check my email as often or post to my blog for fear of using all their hours. So, I apologize if this has been disappointing to some.
BUT I am in Omaha this weekend so it seems a good opportunity to keep you posted. I had this whole weekend off. I spent Friday afternoon/ evening in Lincoln hanging out with friends that I miss SO much. I spent the afternoon with Tracy, ate dinner with some folks, went to Navigators and then stayed up until 5 a.m. chatting with Sonya. It was really really fun. The trip hurt my heart a bit because things are different and will continue to be and that is sad as much as it is exciting to move onto a new stage.
To update ya'll on campus life, it has been a tough week again. I am starting to understand why I find it tough though and that is helping. I find myself having a tough time with the pace that the friendships I am forming are moving at. They are moving much more slowly than I wish they would. I want to have tons of people who want to be my friend, spend time together, talk about deep stuff and Jesus - NOW. But, I am reminded that takes time to form. I see my impatience SO clearly and have been forced to ask myself if I believe in the gospel enough to perservere. It was good to go to church in Omaha this weekend and see that I am the only one who is putting that much pressure on myself. None of my suppporters I talked to back here think I should have really deep relationships yet. I seem to have the biggest expectations of anyone.
The other stuff God has been doing in my personal life is in the form of teaching me deep things about trials. If you check out 1 Peter 1, it discusses how trials come so that our faith may be proved genuine and result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus is revealed. Later in the passage it goes on to tell us to set our hope FULLY on the grace that we will be given when Christ is revealed. As I have been facing various trials and insecurities related to ministry, I have been forced to set my hope fully on Christ. In and of itself, moving to Manhattan has forced me to set my hope on Christ and not on my friends, people who "need" me, people who enjoy me, my family, knowing the campus, having plans on the weekend, etc.
SOOOOOOOOOOO.... that's the news. I have been meeting lots of folks and trying to be patient to watch the relationships form that God wants to work in.
Have a beautiful Sunday.
Tuesday, August 31, 2004
Week 2
It has been a long time since I posted. Sorry! Life is different when you have a full time job- it's kinda busy. I am getting used to it though so yay for that.
This last weekend was our student leaders retreat. That was a really good and challenging time for me. Most of the curriculum was centered on the Great Commission and laying your life down for non-believers to know Jesus. It really got to my heart and made me want to go back to the dorms and love students and push past my own fears. The retreat itself was also fun. On Friday night, they always do something crazy. Last year, some students went fountain jumping but this year it was raining and lightning. So, Jen Johnson in all her wisdom suggested that they shouldn't go play in the water during a thunderstorm. The students of course saw this as a challenge to come up with something else crazy to do. They decided to go mud sliding. They found a little hill that they could play King of the Hill on in the mud. Then they were going to go to the fountain and clean off. They almost talked me into going. Can you believe that? I didn't because of the storm.
Other than that, I met some neat women and had some fun conversations with some men in the ministry too. It was really refreshing.
Last week, I had to wrestle with a lot of homesickness and bad attitude. I had a really rough day on Wednesday but after I decided that God is sovereign, loves me and intends good for me I accepted that I am here in Manhattan purposefully and can trust God in that. It also helped me to wrestle with the idea that he works all trials in life so that I bring him glory and honor.
I also want to update you all on the girl we shared the Bridge with. It was really neat. She is open to the gospel and not churched at all. You can pray for Sarah. She would have such a neat untainted veiw of Christianity if she came to know Jesus.
That is all I have for now.
This last weekend was our student leaders retreat. That was a really good and challenging time for me. Most of the curriculum was centered on the Great Commission and laying your life down for non-believers to know Jesus. It really got to my heart and made me want to go back to the dorms and love students and push past my own fears. The retreat itself was also fun. On Friday night, they always do something crazy. Last year, some students went fountain jumping but this year it was raining and lightning. So, Jen Johnson in all her wisdom suggested that they shouldn't go play in the water during a thunderstorm. The students of course saw this as a challenge to come up with something else crazy to do. They decided to go mud sliding. They found a little hill that they could play King of the Hill on in the mud. Then they were going to go to the fountain and clean off. They almost talked me into going. Can you believe that? I didn't because of the storm.
Other than that, I met some neat women and had some fun conversations with some men in the ministry too. It was really refreshing.
Last week, I had to wrestle with a lot of homesickness and bad attitude. I had a really rough day on Wednesday but after I decided that God is sovereign, loves me and intends good for me I accepted that I am here in Manhattan purposefully and can trust God in that. It also helped me to wrestle with the idea that he works all trials in life so that I bring him glory and honor.
I also want to update you all on the girl we shared the Bridge with. It was really neat. She is open to the gospel and not churched at all. You can pray for Sarah. She would have such a neat untainted veiw of Christianity if she came to know Jesus.
That is all I have for now.
Monday, August 23, 2004
lessons
Well, this week has been one of many lessons. As though this is news to anyone, full time ministry is HARD work. There is a lot of spiritual battle going on as well as it is just exhausting. All of my job is to initiate with people. So, on Monday and Tuesday we helped students move in in the afternoon and then Tuesday night we had a party. On Wednesday we set up a survey booth from 8 a.m.- 2p.m. Now imagine with me for a second... spending six hours in the sun stopping students on their way to class and repeating "Would you like to fill out a survey for a chance to win a free bike?" It was tiring but so worth it. Here we don't have a Big Red Welcome so that is partially how we make contacts for the school year. Then Wednesday night we went in pairs to the dorms and visited to people who marked a box saying that they would be interested in discussing the topics on the survey with someone. I went with Allie Sqyres and boy is she cool. The whole goal of this outing was to share the gospel. We got to spend about an hour with two girls and I got to share my testimony. It was exciting. They didn't exactly respond in repentance but I think I may have some new friends!:)
The following night was Nav night and about 400 students came. This night was the best of them all for me. I really connected with God during the actually Nav night and was really able to just plead at God's feet for him to glorify himself. It was really neat what happenned that night. That night the third person I talked to after navs was a freshman who was having some doubts in her walk with God. She cried with me, I got to pray with her and take her to scripture. It was an amazing time of living by the spirit for me because I was SO tired that only one verse came to mind. It was Psalm 73. When we got done reading it, she said that it was exactly what she was feeling. Anyway, very cool. And in the mean time a student leader asked me if I could teach them how to share the bridge. Well, if you know me, you know I LOVE the bridge. So, I am going to go with her sometime this week and share the Bridge with a girl on her floor (who by "Coincidence" I connected with at a party earlier in the week).
This week is going to be a lot more free in my scheduling. Joel and Jen have really given us permission to start to form our own schedules. So I am taking this afternoon off and spending the evenings in the dorms. Good times.
For all you Lincolnites- I miss Lincoln and you all and I hope that you enjoyed your first day of school!
The following night was Nav night and about 400 students came. This night was the best of them all for me. I really connected with God during the actually Nav night and was really able to just plead at God's feet for him to glorify himself. It was really neat what happenned that night. That night the third person I talked to after navs was a freshman who was having some doubts in her walk with God. She cried with me, I got to pray with her and take her to scripture. It was an amazing time of living by the spirit for me because I was SO tired that only one verse came to mind. It was Psalm 73. When we got done reading it, she said that it was exactly what she was feeling. Anyway, very cool. And in the mean time a student leader asked me if I could teach them how to share the bridge. Well, if you know me, you know I LOVE the bridge. So, I am going to go with her sometime this week and share the Bridge with a girl on her floor (who by "Coincidence" I connected with at a party earlier in the week).
This week is going to be a lot more free in my scheduling. Joel and Jen have really given us permission to start to form our own schedules. So I am taking this afternoon off and spending the evenings in the dorms. Good times.
For all you Lincolnites- I miss Lincoln and you all and I hope that you enjoyed your first day of school!
Tuesday, August 17, 2004
1st and 2nd Days on Campus
Yesterday (Monday) was my first day on campus. And it was HARD. I have never done ministry where I have not lived or inherently belonged. I spent the morning at Ford hall walking up to people and asking if I could help them move in. That was pretty enjoyable but in the morning there were a lot of farmhouse guys out front helping the girls move in. You see, Ford is an all girls dorm (mostly sorority girls) and when I would ask if I could help them and then a big fraternity boy would ask if I could help them: I didn't get to help girls. Thus, I didn't get to meet nearly as many people as I wanted to. Then, I had to deal with all my feelings of inadequacy about living in a strange town, being on staff and not knowing how to meet people. The dorms I am in are suite style and after the altracation in the morning I did meet a lot of people. I am really excited to develop those relationships. I met both believers and non-believers (assumably from what they told me). Tonight we have a party at the Rec center where we will play volleyball and have snacks. There will be no formal gospel sharing or anything so it is going to be a good time to form relationships. I am pretty excited. On that note, I need to go get ready for the day!
Friday, August 13, 2004
Manhattan
Hey friends,
I wanted to write and let you know that Manhattan is awesome! I love my host family. I love me house. I love my staff. I am even warming up to the small town. The only sad thing is that the reality that I live here is sitting in. And that means that I don't live in Omaha or Lincoln. That I am not around my friends and family. I am honestly getting a little lonely for a familiar face. I have plenty of friendly ones though.
I have seen my brother, Lara Pickel and my team. It has been a blast. We are dreaming about how God would use us on campus this year. I will be going after Ford hall (more than likely) and possibly Kappa Delta. I am so excited. Well, I have staff at 12 so I must be off! I will write more later.:)
Oh, I got a new cell phone number. If you want it give my old one a call. The message has it on it.
I wanted to write and let you know that Manhattan is awesome! I love my host family. I love me house. I love my staff. I am even warming up to the small town. The only sad thing is that the reality that I live here is sitting in. And that means that I don't live in Omaha or Lincoln. That I am not around my friends and family. I am honestly getting a little lonely for a familiar face. I have plenty of friendly ones though.
I have seen my brother, Lara Pickel and my team. It has been a blast. We are dreaming about how God would use us on campus this year. I will be going after Ford hall (more than likely) and possibly Kappa Delta. I am so excited. Well, I have staff at 12 so I must be off! I will write more later.:)
Oh, I got a new cell phone number. If you want it give my old one a call. The message has it on it.
Tuesday, August 10, 2004
leaving in a Grand Am
Hey. I just wanted to write and let you all know that I am leaving in t minus 5 minutes for Manhattan. I will write more when I have a chance. In you want to call, it would be very encouraging to hear from you and my cell number will be good through the weekend!
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