small things: August 25, 2007

Last night I got together with the kids who lived on my floor last year–we went to Steak n’ Shake (like always) and then a few of us headed to Esther’s (one of my old suitemates) apartment to play Apples to Apples. It was so great to see all of them again and hear about how their summers went. When it came to living in a dorm, I seriously got the best floor in the whole world. Awesome RA’s (yes, there were two. the first was fired near the end of first semester), awesome people, and I’m so happy that we’re all still keeping in touch and keeping up our late night steak n’ shake runs.

CRU on Thursday night was incredible–we didn’t fit in the building! There were more people than their were chairs, so students lined the isles and stood in the back. It was so exciting to see how many people God brought, and even though I’m sure not everyone will return (maybe they’re just checking out different campus ministries, maybe they didn’t like it, maybe they’ll end up with lab Thursday nights), it was an awesome way to kick off the year. Clark told me last night that he, Jacob and Andrew went to the house party, which I was not expecting at all–I sort of though Clark blew me off when I told him to check out the calendar, but I’m so excited he went. He said, “I met a lot of interesting people. CRU kids seem to run pretty interesting lives,” whatever that means. Last year, he was always so hostile and opposed to anything at all having to do with Christianity–you could hardly talk to him about it–so I’m excited he went.

My mom’s coming into town today with my grandma so Nanny can see the apartment, which will be nice. That being said, I need to go finish cleaning haha

so much for “jumping in” on july 17 August 23, 2007

Ok, let’s have another go at this.

Today was Day One of Year Two here at the lovely University of Florida. I’m beginning with a new home, new roommate, new major. More than that, I am thrilled to see all the amazing things God is going to do on this campus this year. You can already feel it beginning.

Walking around campus today, I was hot and sweaty and disgusting. It was the kind of weather that usually makes me want to do nothing but get home into the AC, drink a cold glass of water and take a nap–so humid and sticky you can hardly catch a breath of fresh air–but I was so excited to be there it didn’t matter. Besides the general excitement the first day of classes usually brings, I felt like everywhere I turned there were people proclaiming Christ. Everywhere I turned, there were people not ashamed.

RUF in Turlington Plaza, another group on the Colonnade, Gator Christian Life handing out free cold drinks all over the place, and Crusade in Plaza of the Americas. In my Teaching Diverse Populations class, a few people included what campus ministry their involved with as part of their “interesting things you should know about me.”

In between my two classes today I spent maybe 45 minutes out there with other people from CRU handing out our schedule of events and info about our first meeting (which is tonight! I’m so excited!) , and I wasn’t expecting so many people to be as enthusiastic as they were or as willing to listen to someone talk about our events and what we’re seeing God do on campus.

Most of the time, all you can really do is say, “Would you like some info about Campus Crusade for Christ?”. Usually, you get someone who politely shakes their head. Maybe someone who takes your flier, but they usually just shove it in their pocket. But God was really faithful about providing opportunities to go beyond that: to give a freshman directions to class, have someone fill out a card requesting more info, talk to someone about how awesome and important it is to have a group of Christian friends.

I can’t wait to see who God brings to our meeting and after-party tonight and who He continues to bring to the rest of the events this week. He’s doing such amazing things on this campus. I’m having trouble expressing how incredible it is to be a part of it.