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.