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!