"Coping Out"...

i got a call here at campus house this morning and the conversation went something like this:

me: christian campus house, this is brad...

female voice: do you help people?

me: you are going to have to explain to me what you mean...

female voice: well, my family and i have to move back to new mexico and we really don't have any money

me: well, we are just a student organization and so we really don't have money. we usually send people to ____. (and i gave a name of another organization in town)

female voice: okay, thanks...bye

me: bye



and as i got off of the phone, i started to think about the conversation that i had just had. i realized that when i said that we really didn't have any money, that it was really my way of coping out and of not having to really care for this lady and to at least take the time to better understand her need.

i realize that as an organization, we do have a limited amount of funds available, but that certainly doesn't mean that i can't find out more about this ladies situation and see what i/we might be able to do. i know for sure that Jesus wouldn't just cop out on the situation, that is for sure.

i am not completely sure what the right approach is, but i am positive that my approach was not it.

Reflection...

i have been reminded much today of the trip that i took with students to Uganda two years ago...

i got an email from Adam Hunt this morning and he said that he and his wife Beth had arrived at NMSI and were about to start their 8-week missionary training.

and then i got pcch's most recent newsletter that talked about Tim and Nicki Six who are hoping to be able to return to africa and to the full-time mission field.

all four of these individuals were on that trip to uganda and it is just so cool to me to see the way that God used that trip to work in students lives. and then i think back to just the way He orchestrated that trip and the way it even happened. God was totally working some amazing things. He does work in mysterious ways.

A Precursor to the Transamerica...

as you may know, in the summer of 2010, cailyn and i plan to bike across the country on the transamerica trail...so this summer we are dedicating quite a bit of time to training, practicing, and preparing.

we have been doing quite a bit of riding, but this weekend we will get our first real adventure cycling test...

missouri lays claim to the longest rails-to-trails route in the US...the katy trail...

we will be riding saturday, sunday, and monday with our great friends justin and tracy schroeder, hoping to make it from st. charles to sedelia...totaling roughly 240 miles. it is exciting to just have a chance to get out in God's beautiful creation and to be able to share it will friends.

it will also be really good to test where we stand in preparation for next summer. what it feels like to pull a fully loaded trailer, what it is like to ride major miles on consecutive days, how many calories we need to take in and in what intervals...

there is so much fun stuff to begin to learn. i am excited...it should be a great time.