Last Night...

last night we had our first DIG meeting (DIG is our weekly worship service at campus house) and it went really well...

we had over 120 people and the vibe was really good. i am really excited to see where God is going to take us this year...what He has to show us....to challenge us with...

as this year begins, and as i am doing many things that i didn't think that i was quite ready for, i just realize more and more that it is not about me doing it, but Christ through me. i am also reminded that when we follow His call for our lives He truly is faithful to provide for our every need!

Welcome Week Update...

we are into the second half of welcome week....it has been a good start to the week...we had about 100 students at our event last night. it is exciting to see that many people showing up to see what is going on.

tonight i will teach my first DIG lesson...i will be introducing the ministry, staff, DIG, and where we plan to go for the year. after that, i will do a short background and intro to the book of Luke, because that is where we will be hanging out for the whole year.

i definitely feel like God has guided the whole week, which is just awesome!!

PRAISE HIM!!

The Beginning...

tonight we had our first activity of the year at campus house...

in many ways it is very exciting, but in others it is very surreal to know that things are progressing at purdue and that i am no longer there. it is pretty difficult to really let that settle in, but i know that it is part of the plan.

we have events planned each of the next 5 nights, so i will try to keep you posted on that and how those events go...

pray that we will continue to feel connected here and that we will not get frustrated with the differences between here and purdue.

A New Year and Challenges...

tonight we will begin a two day training time with our student interns...sunday evening we begin our welcome week activities (a week of nightly events and activities)...

it is crazy that another school year is upon us, but it is exciting and yet very challenging...

...there are many unknowns that lie ahead for me personally in this new place. i am finding myself feeling especially overwhelmed with the process of trying to meet students. i really feel like i need to get a feel for what type of students are here and where they stand spiritually, and at this point i just don't really know that. i am starting from scratch in that respect, and that is hard...

i am very reminded that the necessity for prayer just cannot be underestimated. He is the Leader and He will make this what He wants...

He is good....

i have been reflecting back on the month and a half that cailyn and i have lived in missouri...i remember the first week that we were here and how badly we just wanted to know people and have friends to hang out with...

my how things have changed...God has answered our prayers and blessed us richly...

this past weekend we spent friday night with one group of friends, saturday with another, and sunday with another couple that we just met...

i just cannot even accurately convey how blessed we feel. God has most definitely confirmed his call for us here in missouri...

he is a great God!!!

Back home again in Indiana...

well...not really i guess. it is not home, but this weekend i am going with 4 other staff members from the campus house here to the national student conference in evansville indiana. it should be a good bonding time for the staff and also a really good time to connect with other campus ministers.

a number of the people from purdue's staff will be there as well as a few other people that i know and love and respect greatly. so...i am absolutely not looking forward to being away from my wife for 4 plus days, but it should be a really good refreshing and growing time.

i pray that it is a time that provides rest, because things have certainly been crazy here this last month. nothing unbearable, but certainly busy...

so...here i come....back home again in indiana...

Friends and a house...a house and friends...

God has really been blessing us with some amazing friends here in Missouri. we have especially felt blessed by a couple who are in their late 40's. they seem to have kind of adopted us and we count it as a huge blessing. this past weekend we went to a farm sale with them, which was tons of fun. we also went with them to see a concrete foam form house....which brings me to our other excitement...

we are excited about the hope of building our own home. i am hoping to be able to contract the work myself, and we would like to do a good portion of the work ourselves as well. it is going to require a lot of dotting the i's and crossing the t's, but it should save a ton of money and be a lot of fun in the process.

and this foam form thing....it is really cool...you basically build your home out of these foam forms and then they fill them up with concrete...it ends up being super energy efficient...

we have been looking at some land and have found some that we are rather excited about, so we are praying and seeing where God takes us in the process...

we are most definitely thankful for "friends and a house...a house and friends"...