Recap of the last couple of weeks

So I started this blog because I found myself wanting to keep people updated on what I was up to, but overwhelmed when I sat down to write an email here and there because so much happens all the time. I thought if I could blog every couple of days, then they would be short updates and I wouldn't get overwhelmed. It works when I blog every couple of days, but after about a week, the process starts to loom over me, and I get overwhelmed. Still, I want to let you all in on what's been up the last couple of weeks.

The Good News conference was such a good time, and it seems that God deeply connected with many of the students as well as the staff. With close to 40 students coming from the U of A, it was so fun to really represent our campus. The first regional conference I ever went to as a student, I was one of two students from the UA. At the first meeting, each campus was called out, and the students all cheered for their campus. "UCLA" - huge screams; "UC Irvine" - loud cheers; "Cal State Long Beach" - totally represented; "U of A" - me clapping. It was a bit awkward. Well, five short years later, and our campus was the largest campus there, and we definitely made the noise to show it. It's so fun to see how things have changed.

During the conference, I got some good time to connect with a few of the students. Here are Alicia, Sarah, Christy and I on the last night, taken as we were discussing what God had done over the weekend.


And these are our amazing emcees, Alice and Dustin, who added a ton of life to the meetings, and got the crowd into it like no conference I've been to before.


After the conference was over, the students left and the staff stayed for regional staff meetings. It was a great time to be in the Word together, and to enjoy each other, and to talk through logistical stuff in the region. I'm so blessed to be part of a region full of people who love each other. I always look forward to our staff meetings, which I know is not true of everyone in collegiate ministry, so I count myself fortunate.

We drove back as a staff on Tuesday night, and then I drove up to Gilbert on Wednesday morning to be with my family before Heidi's memorial. My sister flew in from Seattle, and my brother flew in from Atlanta, so we were all able to be together for several days. It was good to have each other to grieve with, and I'm always encouraged when I'm with my family. I count myself fortunate there as well.

Heidi's memorial was incredible. I really felt like Heidi was honored and God was glorified. With around 900 guests, it was so clear that Heidi loved people with a supernatural love. Each of the speakers had a different story to share about how Heidi was able to make everyone feel like they were the most important person on earth to her. She had an amazing ability to make you feel special just being in her presence. I'll definitely miss her. If you want to see a couple pictures of her, read some articles she wrote, or watch the video played at the memorial, you can go to www.heidimemorial.com.

This week, after returning to Tucson, I've been focusing on bridesmaid's dress shopping with my friend for her wedding in May, and getting ready for our spring break trip next week. We actually leave tomorrow for Nogales, Mexico, where we will be helping to work on building a church. It's always a fun time to serve and bond with the students, and we make sure we plan plenty of chill time at the end. We'll be gone through next week, so I won't be posting again for some time.

Well, that wasn't too bad after all...