Best. Job. Ever.

Oh yes it is! I don't care what you do or how much money you make doing it; I have the absolute best job a single girl can do :)

Let's catch you up a little. Last week was BU.org, which is Belhaven's organizational fair, and the start of classes. BU.org was done carnival-style, outside, under some big, shady trees, and they had cotton candy, funnel cakes, soft pretzels, nachos, and a dunking booth, and RUF brought a giant Jenga set! Some of the students from RUF's servant team came for the RUF booth and we talked to at least 50 people about who we are and what we do! Classes started last Wednesday, and the servant team retreat was Friday afternoon through Saturday morning. It was a blast! A gentleman who lives in Madison (just north of Jackson) lent us his lake house and boat for the retreat, so we were able to go water skiing, wake boarding, and tubing all Friday afternoon before getting down to the business of the semester Saturday morning. Here's an idea of the time we had:

      

   

Chad's family got to come and join us! This is his daughter and Anna Lois,
to whom goes the credit for all these awesome photos!

Some of us were more adept...                                       

...than others ;)

But the guys figured it out eventually! Pictured here are Joanna, Ben, Thomas, and me right before Thomas jumped
on top of me, as per Chad's instructions.

We had fun times in the boat too :)

          

                      

Y'all, this servant team is a wonderful, encouraging, welcoming group of students! As I told them, I keep forgetting that I'm not with people I've known all my life because they've given me such an incredible sense of belonging! I am exceedingly grateful. 

Also, I was kidding about the adeptness. We had many guys and girls who were quite at their ease on the water. I, on the other hand, have added "attempting to water ski" to the list of things I like to do for fun because I hardly think 2 seconds out of the water qualifies as actually skiing. ;)

Lately I've been spending a lot of time in the Student Center because it's a great place to run into students, plus the Caf(eteria) is there so it's easy-peasy to find someone to sit down with for lunch! I'm also gaining a whole new appreciation for traditional-style dorms. At least 5 people stopped by while I was hanging out with one of my girls in her room the other day, and I met someone else who had decided to study in the lobby! It's amazing the things that happen when students don't have a quad with a sitting room and kitchenette!

Tuesday was the first large group meeting and it was majorly encouraging! Chad and Ben said there was more variety of students than ever, and we had 121 people show up! There was no lack of freshmen to meet, and I even remember most of their names! Unfortunately, I got very few last names...still working on that. But last names or no, I'm falling in love with my girls already :)

Lastly, tonight is the freshman dinner, hosted by a family from Pear Orchard Presbyterian Church, which is where I attend, for those who don't know. We are very thankful that the hurricane isn't making us cancel it, and ecstatic to get to know these students better and give them an avenue to learn about each other!

If you are praying for me, I would appreciate it if you would ask that I would humbly learn to do ministry from Chad and Ben and know what questions to ask them about it. Please also pray that my girls would never see me as someone who doesn't struggle the way they do, but that I would be wisely honest with them about my failings, my constant dependence on Christ, and His complete and utter worthiness of our trust. I learned a great deal about that not long ago, but I'll save the account for another post :)

85% !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My dear friends, we have reached the first goal of 85%! Thank you so much to everyone who has given to and prayed for this mission, and to all who have been so encouraging to me!

I am writing this post from my house in Jackson! The Lord has shown Himself wondrously faithful in providing a marvelous living situation fairly close to the Belhaven campus and with two fantastic roommates, Krista and Caroline! The move could scarcely have gone more smoothly, and I am now settling into life in Jackson before students arrive around August 18th.

Here are a couple of pictures of my room. You can't see everything, but shortly after taking these the camera in my laptop ceased to function properly, and I do not have a normal camera because I destroy them.

Sample of what I'm getting from my camera at this time:

That is my hair and part of the room, but I have no earthly idea what the blue thing is.

On to relevance!

This morning my family and I visited Pear Orchard Presbyterian Church before they began the return trip home to Georgia. It is a lovely church with a wide range of ages and solid preaching. Though I will likely visit some other churches in the Jackson area (there are 13 PCA churches alone), at this point I think Pear Orchard will be my home. Hopefully I will be able to be involved to some extent in their Hispanic ministry and there find some use for the Spanish major to which I devoted 4.5 years of my life.

If you intended to support me but haven't given yet, please don't change your mind! I still have 15% to raise for this year, and if it so happens that I raise more than that, it will roll over into the second year. Based on the hope that monthly pledges will continue for two years, I still have less than 20% for next year. To give online or for information on how to give, just go to http://www.ruf.org/support-us/.

I feel thoroughly privileged to be here right now. This week, I will be working on support, catching up on my study program, familiarizing myself with Jackson, and beginning preparation for students! Hooray! Please pray for a sense of purpose and diligence as these weeks will be rather unstructured, though quite full, and for humility as I strive to learn from Chad (my campus minister/boss) and Ben (my co-intern, who has already been here for two years).

To those who have given me prayer requests, know that I have been and will continue to petition and praise our loving Heavenly Father on behalf of you and your loved ones!

My posts should be more frequent from here on out. The last three weeks have been a little hectic between saying goodbye to old friends, fundraising, training in Atlanta, and moving, first to my parents' and now HERE! Also, emails will go out to those who have requested them as soon as I figure out how my account does group messages.

I bid you farewell, as Krista will soon be home and she, Caroline, and I have plans to make dinner together :)