For a good update, that is. I know, I know, I've been promising updates on things going all the way back to MLK weekend, and haven't been faithful to follow through. Well, here I am, ready to be faithful.
Going all the way back to MLK weekend. The first weekend of the semester ended up being a wonderful time. We had 75 people go up to Gilbert to crash at my parents' house and hang out in my hometown. Mike Jordahl came and shared with us, and I have to say he was the perfect person to come. He is easy-going, which is essential for the weekend, since it's a pretty easy-going weekend, but he has so much to offer from life, that you definitely want to hear what he has to say. I have been hearing for weeks things like, "That thing that Mike said about Lamentations meant a lot to me" or, "I was thinking the other day about what Mike said about God being our Father" from the students. I also benefitted from some time with him, as we talked about my future and how to live life for Jesus. The weekend included our typical night out at Joe's BBQ and a trip to the dairy to see the cows and play in the cotton. This year the women organized a surprise photo scavenger hunt in order to get to know the guys better and honor them as the men in our lives. It was a great time!
Shortly after MLK came the unfortunate break-in incident, and then the regional women's conference. The week after the conference was taken up with the aftermath of the break-in, all of which I have recounted in previous posts, and therefore I will not bore you by repeating myself.
Last weekend, I took a trip with some of the women from my Bible study up to my aunt and uncle's house in Pinetop. It was an absolutely fabulous getaway. We played in the snow, watched movies, played games, and shared life. Here we are on a dock, overlooking the frozen lake:
Trekking through the snow:
Sarah rolled the head of our snowman:
We adored him:
Every proper snowman must have a name, but choosing one is not always easy:
I suppose it helps when you decide on his nationality being French:
The girls won out and we ended up naming him Jean Claude Bouffam (or Buff-arms - you may notice he has some impressive biceps). We also made snow angels:
After a long (lazy) day (couple of hours) of working hard (playing) in the snow, we returned home to make a hearty (tasty) meal.
Alicia was pretty excited about the salad:
Denai headed up making a delicious BBQ chicken pizza:
I was so grateful to get some sweet time away with these sweet women. It was such a treat!
And that brings us to this weekend, and the 12 hours of prayer. It's amazing how easy it is to pray for 12 hours when you view it as engaging with God for 12 hours. The idea of sitting still with your head bowed and eyes closed for 12 hours is enough to do anyone in, but that is not at all what our time looked like yesterday. We sang, we read the Bible, we sat in silence, we talked about who God is, we cried over what God has done, we walked around the campus, we stood up, we sat down, we ate meals, we drank coffee, we journaled, we laughed, and basically it was like we decided to hang out with God for the day. It was so neat to focus on Him and who He is as the Grace-Giver, and that He is Love. And, I loved doing it with students and staff who have become such dear friends on this journey of moving toward Jesus. It was a great way to kick off a time of praying for the campus and students for 40 days. I trust that He is going to use it to do immeasurably more than we could ask or imagine on the U of A campus.
So there is your nice long update. This is my life. This is my God. Is He incredible or what?
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