November and December Happenings!

I am so sorry that I have turned into such a blog-slacker. It's on my to-do list every day, but it's the first thing to get pushed out of the schedule. To update you, though,  I've been able to settle into my new apartment here in Tampa, get to know a few more people at church, and really start to get close to my students. It takes a while to build trust, but I'm having more serious conversations now than I had even imagined back in September. God is at work!

Since my last post, many wonderful things have happened in RUF at USF. Here are a few!

 

We had a retreat at Lake Placid the second weekend of November. Notice that we are all wearing swimsuits and/or shorts. Some students swam! I'm still amazed by this. I suppose I shouldn't be shocked by the pervasive heat with a name like "South Florida," but still!

Lake placid is known for its murals all throughout town, so our weekend was not complete without a photo scavenger hunt.

We all made Tie-dyed shirts during the weekend, then sported them at the next large-group. How festive!

We had a tacky Christmas sweater party, with games, gingerbread house building, gift exchanging, caroling, Christmas story reading and...

the introducing of oranges and old-fashioned peppermint sticks. As you can see, I found at least one fan! Though the critics were many, almost everyone loved this Carroll family Christmas tradition once they tried it. :)

I also held a few focus groups just for girls to talk about relationships, dating, sex, and marriage, as that's what our topic in large group has been for the semester. I don't have any pictures of those. Suffice to say that the students were wonderfully accommodating--they all brought pillows and blankets to stay comfortable on my wood floors; I didn't have any furniture at that point! This event really showed me how much God is constantly at work. Beforehand, I was mixed between thinking no one would actually show up (because no one had completed the RSVP! Life with students!), and being absolutely terrified at the questions students might ask me. Well, show up they did. I was actually intimidated by how many girls were sitting around me waiting to hear me talk when we got started. God really does supply the words, though! We had healthy, edifying discussions each week, despite my lack of wisdom.

Monday, finals begin for the students, so beyond a few meetings with students who aren't too stressed out, I'll be baking delicious things and camping out in a central place in campus. My goal is to get these students to see the sun and take a moment to breathe and laugh in the middle of the stress. I can't believe my first semester as an RUF intern is wrapping up. It has been a joy, and I'm so glad God has placed me here.

This is not a real update.

It's fake. No, really, it's just inappropriately short. It's getting late here in Florida, and I'm about ready to call it a night. However, I don't have internet at home right now, so I'm taking advantage of it while I can. That's why I'm going to keep this short and sweet!

So much has happened since my last post!

I found a roommate, and apartment, and moved into a new place that's about 5 minutes from campus. Perfect! We're taking a trip to ikea tomorrow morning to stock up. :)

Me and my roomie, Gaby. So thankful for her!

We went on a moonlight canoeing excursion. (complete with glowsticks tied to the front of the canoe!)

We had countless other events and dinners...

A freshmen dinner--what a great crowd!

I got to see my dear friend Amanda, twice!

And we had a fantastic halloween party with an excellent turn out!

I was Mary Poppins! Such fun.

The winners of our costume contests

Some of the delicious food our creative students made!

It was a wonderful night, and a good time was had by many. It's wonderfully encouraging that new students are still turning up to RUF events even though it's November already. What's more, I'm really starting to see and get to help my students really wrestle through who Jesus is and what the gospel means for their life. A college campus is an excellent place to really dive into some deep questions--if only I could make you a fly on the wall of our freshmen bible study. Today we got into a hefty discussion of prayer and whether prayer actually changes anything. That's just a sample of what I've been up to. Hopefully it won't be another month before I post again! Until then...

Thankful Post

You read it right, folks, today it's time for a thankful post. At RUF staff training over the summer, they warn all of us newbie interns of the perils we are soon to face. They warn us that we will be shocked by the weird differences of our new campuses. That we may not get along very well with our new campus minister at first. That we might feel profoundly lonely in the beginning. That students may never respond to our attempts to befriend and invest in them. In short, they warn us that we may question this whole thing, even after sweating out an awkward, tension-filled summer of support raising with deep desires to get to campus. I can't predict the future, so I'm not going to write all of this off from here on out, but I can assure you that no such complaint is on my mind right now. Thank you, Lord. Instead, here's what's been going on.

1) My campus: it's different. Very different. My students are very diverse in many ways (where they're from, economic backgrounds, religious upbringing, and personality), and the campus itself is about as opposite as it can be from my undergrad school. I mean, students use "long boards" (longer skateboards) to get around quite often. Never spotted a single one of those in bulldog territory. Yet with all of its differences, I do love it. It's an instructive, stretching difference for me, and it gives me a front row seat to see how God is working, because I'm officially 100% out of my league. God really does work through our weaknesses, and He has plenty of opportunity with me, as I am just as inexperienced at USF as the freshmen I'm meeting with.

2) My campus minister: ROCKS. Jeff and Jenny have welcomed me with open arms in more ways than I can express. It has been a joy to get to know them and their families, to work day in and day out with them, and to be encouraged by their strength and stamina in this hectic time of the semester. They know how to lean on God for strength and energy, and not a day goes by that I'm not thankful for that. That's not to mention the fact that Jenny and I love so many of the same things. It's going to be a good two years.

3) Feeling lonely: no, not really. Thank you, Reinke family. I can't say enough how grateful I am for them. They treat me like I'm one of the family, and it has made my experience completely different than it would have been. After a rocky "host family" experience in Spain, I'm floored. I was struck by the odd blessing of it all yesterday as we rode to Apopka to tube and celebrate many birthdays (Jeff and Jenny and their kids). A month later, here I am, IN TAMPA (a place that brought no mental pictures to my mind a mere month ago), piled into their family car just like that's normal for them (to have 3 girls around instead of 2, I mean). That's not to mention the roomie that I found: we're hoping to find a place together soon! I got to celebrate her birthday with her last night, and I think we will be fast friends. What's more, people have been connecting me with other folks in Tampa, and I've been able to meet people at my church and otherwise, thereby beating back loneliness almost entirely. Even though I'm in a place where I knew absolutely no one a few weeks ago. Who would have thought? God's gracious provision, to be sure.

4) My students: they respond. Well, most of the time. Which is saying a lot for college students! Again, I have to emphasize how much I can see God working in who is becoming involved in RUF at this point. It is such a blessing.

To the tune of students, fall conference was wonderful. Except for some storming, we had a great weekend of bonding, God's Word, and silly activities. More to come on that.

Last bit: I'm thankful for church. I've started a women's bible study on Tuesday mornings, and it has been a blessing so far. Many people have reached out to me, to meet me and encourage me in the past few weeks. I walked into the fellowship hall to see a large bulletin board full of RUF at USF, for goodness' sakes! (Complete with a rather large picture and explanation of me and what I do.) Yet again, my expectations were blown out of the water in regards to church life. This morning was an encouraging  picture of how heaven will be one day: all of God's people worshipping in joy together. Indeed, this will be. (Did I ever get around to explaining my blog title? It has much to do with this very sentiment!) Our hope is real and secure in Christ's return and our futures in glory with Him! So. It was a long "thankful post", and I could keep going, but I will spare you. As a congratulations for reading it all, here are some pictures. Thank you for your prayers, one and all.

Some of the girls at fall conference

Surprise celebration of Jeff's (campus minister) birthday after large group two weeks ago

Go bulls! My first USF game. What fun! Even though we lost. :( 

We had a great group of students there! Very spirited, as you can see!

More News

Eventually, I promise I'll write a blog post that's even remotely thoughtful. Eventually! For now, though, it's just more news. This week is another abnormally busy one, with all of our small group-ish sorts of activities starting up. Then on Friday, we leave for Fall Conference outside of Gainesville! It's crazy how early in the semester it is this year. It's difficult to convince people to come when they've hardly heard of RUF or been to any events yet! Nonetheless, we have around 25 students going (a record high for USF!) and many of them are freshmen. I'm so excited to get to know them all better. What a good weekend it should be.

Tonight is freshman bible study (as is tomorrow night), and tomorrow night is also a girls' bible study that I'm leading. Last night at large group, we had a good crowd and we got to know quite a few new people while we all ate banana pudding. I fed at least 4 people their first banana pudding ever! Isn't that just delightful? I had lots of fun making enough banana pudding to feed a small army yesterday afternoon. I love that my job includes things like that occasionally!

In other news, I had a fantastic break-day on Saturday. I went to the beach with Amy, one of the wonderful people I'm living with right now. I felt so floridian! Later that night, I went out for dinner and ice cream with both Amy and her older sister, Sara, and it was just delightful. I'm so thankful to be living with Amy and her family and getting to know everyone. It has made all the difference in the world to have built-in friends when I got here. So. Here's my shout-out to the Reinkes--thank you so much for hosting me, welcoming me, and befriending me! Here are some pics of me, Amy, and Sara. :)

With Amy, at a pizza place. What could be better? I get to live with this awesome girl right now. 

Me and Sara (who might actually, it turns out, get me a t-shirt with a squirrel on it from her school. I'm so excited.)

WOW!

Well, USF's "Week of Welcome," aka, WOW, is coming to a close. Sort of. (There will be extra things going on till mid September, I'd wager!) It has been a packed week for me, and one thing I can say for certain: I love my job. Here's a slice of what I've been up to.

Helping freshmen move in (and meeting Rocky the Bull, of course!)

 This year, since the Lees already met quite a few freshmen through summer RUF, we got to help students we already knew move in, rather than just adding to the jumble of strangers that offer to help. Apart from the driving rain that persisted most of the day, it was a great success. I'm afraid I moved just as much rainwater into the dorms as I did room stuffs! Oops.

Two days later, on Friday, we had a welcome back pancake party at the Lee's house, in Mr. Alan T's honor. ;) We had a great crowd and I got to meet and talk to many current and new students.

Sunday after a refreshing morning at church, I went out to lunch with a few students (to cracker barrel), several of whom had never experienced the most wide-spread chain of southern food restaurants. It was  so fantastic to explain to a Japanese exchange student what a "dumplin" was and then watch her try one. :) Sunday was also our welcome back BBQ.

Playing giant Jenga at our welcome week BBQ

Here's the story of the BBQ: I decided to make banana pudding in honor of Nicole and her wonderful family. (All of this goes to show how much I appreciate all the wonderful things and ideas you've shared with me over the years, friends!) Great idea. Until I realized that I didn't have nearly enough time to do so and to actually be on time. I barely snuck in before the event got started, in the end, and even then with FAR too little banana pudding. It was gone in 20 minutes! I'm making it for after large group next week, and I'm tripling that recipe!

But I digress. The interesting part of the story is this: yet again, it was raining. And when Jeff went to pick up the BBQ (40 lbs of it!), they had no record of our order. And thus no BBQ for us. Panic set in. We considered getting a bajillion tacos from taco bell or ordering a truckload of pizza, but mostly we just hoped that the BBQ folks would be able to keep their promise to have it ready by 6 (the beginning time of the BBQ). We called several current students to be there early so we could run and fetch the food while they appeased the hungry masses, but lo and behold. They delivered at least 80 lbs of BBQ by 5:45. Can you believe that? In the end, we served over 250 BBQ sandwiches, even in the rain. What a great turn out!

One, two skip a few, and it was Tuesday: time for our first large group. I'm sad to say that we don't meet in the manatee room. We're next door. (In the "oak room." How can that even compare? Not cool.) I'm working on moving us to the manatee room. But luckily, that's not relevant at all. Here's the "Katie goes to her first RUF at USF" picture, taken by one of my lovely hosts here in Tampa:

Making yummy treats and sporting my RUF T on the way to the first large group of the semester

We had a great turn out, including lots of folks who seemed to be new to the whole concept of worship and bible study. That's always encouraging! I'm praying that God opened their hearts to be intrigued by what they saw and heard. We played games and ate snowflakes (aka "puppy chow," to some, yuck) afterwards until quite late.

Yesterday I went to the first "Bull Market," where organizations and businesses set up a tables and hope to talk to some of the interested students perusing about. Tonight I have a similar event known as "Roundup." I could tell you so much more, but this is already quite a bit longer than I ever intended it to be, so I'll leave it for another day. I'll leave you with this video of the welcome back bash last Wednesday: fun stuff.

Refreshed

Freshmen moved in yesterday. We baked 4 batches of cookies and handed them out over the past few days. I've been ridiculously outgoing, meeting and speaking to almost everyone who comes my way. What an epic week! It's been busy, though, and sadly, the first thing to go in a busy week is time set apart to invest in God, who is the refresher of our souls. Today as I sat down to read a bit, I confessed that I didn't really think it would matter that I was about to read the bible. I assumed it would roll right over me like it's prone to do some days. But after asking God to refresh my faith in the power and goodness of His Word, He did just that. Here's some of the beautiful passages I read today out of 1 Timothy.

"Godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come." (Chapter 4, verse 8)

I've seen students around me over the past few days searching for what holds promise for today and for the future. There are a million organizations vying for their time, there are friends to be made, and patterns to be set. It's all still being formed right now, like jello that hasn't quite solidified yet. In the midst of that, it's good for me to be reminded that there is one thing that these students need right now and in the future. (Both during college and beyond.) They need their Father. They need a love that loves even the deepest, darkest part of them. They need to grow to be more like Him every day--to be godly. That is so much more important than which BBQ to attend and whether to go kayaking with student Rec or not. I'm praying that God would keep this imprinted in my heart so that I am always looking to spread that to my students. As I read on, this verse was also encouraging as I start my ministry here at USF.

"Persist in this (reading of Scriptures and teaching), for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers." (verse 16)

What a beautiful truth. By continuing to show Christ to my students, Christ in us will not only save them, but me as I work.

I hope this is encouraging to you today! I have a week of welcome update post in the works, too, so look back for that soon. Thanks for reading!

First Days in Tampa

I'll let the pictures do most of the talking. :)

My parents got to come down for the weekend. Here's us with an impressive bush bull!

Ybor city downtown--a long history of cultural mixture and cigar making. Spanish people were here! Made me happy. 

Me with the wonderful folks I'm working with: Jeff, the campus minister, and his wife Jenny. They are the best. Really.

Me and Mom with some true Florida behind us. :)

This week is a wonderful busy. I'll be baking cookies to pass out tomorrow with Jenny, as well as wandering around campus to see if I can get my barings. This place is BIG! Wednesday we'll be helping freshmen move in, Friday we have a pancake party for current RUF students, and Sunday we have a cookout in a quad near freshmen dorms. In between it all, I'll be passing out lots of postcards on campus, meeting tons of students, and trying to remember (at least most) of their names! I appreciate your prayers and hope you're doing well!

THE DAY WE’VE BEEN WAITING FOR!

It’s finally here: the day we’ve been waiting for. I was approved to move to campus this past Tuesday, and I’m on my way to Tampa even now. Do you know what that means? That means that God provided 85% of my budget already. I simply did not think it was possible. I have learned, yet again, that with God all things are possible. (Matthew 19:26) I am such a strange cocktail of emotion right now: I’m amazed, humbled, excited, and nervous. As any of you would be, too, I should say. Thank you so much for all of your prayers, support and encouragement. Stay tuned: the adventure has already begun. 

GIAW

That's right, folks, two week-long trainings in Atlanta have come and gone, and I am blogging now as a much more trained intern. Whatever that means. ;) Here are some reflections post that wonderful week of all things RUF.

• Session after session, a campus minister from somewhere (most of them I had never met or heard speak before) would come up and remind us of the gospel. The topic of the seminar, yes, was important, but they all led to the same place. And though the sessions were literally back to back, I needed reminding of the gospel desperately even in the second session after being floored by it in the first. That shows how beautiful that truth is, and how forgetful we are. It makes me want to modify my mantra, "preach the gospel to yourself everyday" into "preach the gospel to yourself moment by moment." It was a blessing to have the staff of RUF do that for us last week.
• Helpful advice about ministry abounded. Tops on my list included GIAW: God is at work. We were reminded that God cares WAY MORE about building His Kingdom than we do, and that He will have His way! He doesn't need me at USF in 3 weeks. (A huge weight lifts from my shoulders.) Yet He will be pleased to work through me!
• It's not about me: it will never be about me. When folks don't call me back, or when I don't know what step to take next, I've got to remember: it's not about me. The best thing I can do for my ministry is to stay close to Jesus. This point reminded me of the Not-cho party (Nacho party!) my friend and I threw back in high school to help ourselves and fellow students see how life should be about GOD, not about us. So good to be reminded of this.

I could keep going, but I don't know about you, I get a little fatigued when a thoughtful blog-post goes really long. So for all of our sakes, that's all folks. Thank you for your prayers! 

One More Update...

Hi, folks!

Look for a more substantial post and update later, (I am thinking about more than my new support update!), but for now, here it is:

So far I have 70% of my support!

WOAH!

That is so incredible. I'm hoping to move to Tampa on August 18th, so join me in prayer that I would gain an additional 15% so I can move to campus!

Thank you for all of your help and prayers, friends.

Support Update

I’m so thankful to have received 40% of my support so far!

Thank you so much to everyone who has prayed for me, encouraged me, and supported me thus far!

Here are some ways you can help:

1) Pray!

2) Give to support my ministry. My financial goal: 85% by August 10th. (http://www.ruf.org/support-us/) 

3) Pass on my information to people who might be interested! (That would be a HUGE help!)

4) Sign up for email updates right over there [--->] and contact me if there is any question I can answer for you!

"Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of men! For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things." Psalm 107:9

Good to be back...

Though I've been back for about a month now, there are still things that pop up for the first time in a long time and make me glad to be back. Going to see my family in Shreveport, LA was like a giant instance of that. It was so wonderful to see Warren, Abbey, Baxter (4), Boyd (2) and baby number 3 (due in August!) after so long. If only Shreveport wasn't 7 hours away...

Jeffrey, Baxter, and Boyd enjoy an obviously riveting book. 

The farmer's market in downtown Shreveport: how I love the south. Blueberries, Okra, and tomatoes in all their glory!

Another thing that's great is being able to actually call friends on the phone and have a maximum time difference of 1 hour. That still hasn't gotten old.

Then there's the restaurant experience. If you read my older blog, you probably remember my humorous musing about how you have to stalk waitstaff with your eyes in order to get anything at any point during your meal. Including the check. I still find myself doing this here when any of my party needs anything. (Which is only slightly inappropriate. Oops.) On the whole, though, it's fantastic to know that the staff will come back to check on you at some point without your asking! What a deal!

Also there is the sweet tea thing. YUM.

Lastly, there is the friendliness factor. People talk to you voluntarily in your very own language! Wow! Anyhow, that's a good enough random post for now. Maybe later this week I'll post about the things I miss about Spain, because those certainly exist too. Thanks for reading! RUF update to come soon.

Tampa Update

This morning I got to talk to Jeff Lee, the campus minister I'll be working with at USF. It was so good to be able to call on a normal phone with no 7 hour time difference to wrestle! As a result, I have an update on USF life: there are already freshmen on campus! That's right! Can you believe it? Jeff said that they have about half of the freshmen class come and live on campus during the "Summer B" term, and that's when lots of students make friends, get plugged in to activities if they can find them, and learn their way around the campus. Summer B started yesterday, and all of the participating students live in the same dorm on campus to foster some good community building. This year, Jeff and some current students are out meeting students and welcoming them to Tampa, though I can't say that the weather is doing the same. Here's a pretty current picture of a roadway that's right over the water (pretty far from the USF campus, but still in Tampa!)

Yikes! This is a land where umbrellas are completely useless. Anyway, you can join me in praying that Jeff and the other RUF students are able to really meet and encourage some new students over the next few weeks (as well as that the weather stays tame.) They will be having a large group meeting tomorrow night as well, and since this is the first summer to try this, there's no telling what the turn out will be! It's wonderful to hear about USF and how things are already picking up, and it makes me all the more eager to get down there and start meeting some students. So here we go! Join me in praying that RUF will get off to a good start to the coming school year, even in June. :)

Back in Bama

Well, I made it home, and it has been truly wonderful to see so many of my family and friends these past two weeks. It's really neat to come back after such a long time, because every little thing is exciting again, just because it's been so long. Like how they refill(!) my drink at a restaurant--all the time--without my even asking them! [Feel free to ask me for more details later, but basically, in Spain, you normally have to FIGHT for the attention of the waiter or waitress. It's as if you're not even there! I find myself reverting to my "subtle eye contact and wave" method here in the states more often than I'd like to admit; sorry if you get caught there with me in the next few weeks. ;)] I also do miss Spain, though (mostly the people, I will say), and I realized how much I'd bit off the second I got back to the states. Though I was expecting a crazy transition, I didn't expect it to be quite so overwhelming. So, if you're still interested, there are 3 things you can do for me. One would be to pray for me as I trust in God's goodness and control and really dig into support raising (my favorite!), two would be to email me if you want to hear more about Spain or the years to come in Tampa, and three would be to drink a glass of good southern sweet tea today, just because you can. :) Enjoy this summer day!

Where I'm Headed

...Tampa!

I'll be working with campus minister Jeff Lee at the University of South Florida.

The University of South Florida (USF) has over 29,000 undergraduate students and its main branch in tampa is the 8th largest single campus public university in the nation. IT SOUNDS SO HUGE! Another interesting fact: not many students live on campus currently. Though the university is now making it mandatory for new freshmen to live on campus if they're not living at home. So most students either live just outside of campus or commute in everyday; some students have quite a lengthy commute. For my fellow Birminghamians, it sounds a bit like a slightly bigger UAB. In fact, they have a big emphasis on research as well.

There's lots of opportunities for RUF at USF, because students are looking for something more than the typical commuter experience in college. Like students at any university, students are looking for friends, community, and to have fun when they're not busy studying! It can be harder to find that, though, on a campus where many people come in only for class and then head back home. RUF is a great place to meet friends, form community, get plugged in, and serve, so I'm wonderfully excited to head on down to Tampa.

I wonder if I'll find anyone who will use the word "y'all" quite as much as I do? In all seriousness, I've always heard that Florida is not the south, so I'm interested to discover just what that means.

Check out RUF at USF's website here: http://www.usf.ruf.org/

As I learn more about Tampa and USF, I'll keep you updated. For now, go Bulls!

Why I want to be an RUF Intern

While at Samford, I loved RUF for too many reasons to name. My top two, though, would have to be 1) RUF’s consistent focus on the gospel, and 2) the fact that RUF was a group that would reject no one. I heard from many friends that RUF was the place that they finally found people who would love them with all of their faults. They could drop the excruciating chameleon game of trying to fit in and know that they would have someone to sit next to at large group.  

College is a hard time, when you’re starting from square one again. On one hand, it's kind of exciting--you've got a fresh start, and you can be anyone you want to be. You’re probably hoping to find a fabulous friend group, you might be rushing to join a greek organization, and you’re really shaping yourself whether you know it or not. Students are making decisions about what they’re going to value in their life—answering questions like: what’s going to be my main purpose when I wake up each morning? Is my ultimate goal just that I’ll be as happy and comfortable as I can be? Do I really believe all that stuff my parents taught me? Is going to church really important? RUF is a place in the middle of all of those questions of insecurity, looking for community, and finding meaning where the gospel comes first and foremost. Week after week, I would wander in stressed, lonely, frustrated, ecstatic…fill in the blank, and be reminded that Jesus is enough. And that my life has meaning because I’m living it for Him.

As an intern with RUF, I’m hoping to help students find community as they start this transitional stage of life. I’m hoping to point them to Christ, time and time again, as the only and perfect solution to the struggles we all face. In essence, I’ll get to do what I loved to do while I was studying at Samford, except this time I won’t be getting a biology degree in the meantime. I can focus all of my efforts into loving and reaching students for Christ. What a fantastic opportunity! I can’t imagine a job I’d rather apply for. 

This Will Be...my new blog. :)