40,000 People Just Arrived...

That's right, friends... the school year has officially begun, and there are 40,000 some more people on campus than there were last week. You can tell from little things, like hearing the marching band from some unseen location playing the song "Happy," or you can tell from big things, like having to really focus on driving so you don't hit any of the thousands of college students who all decided to walk across the street in front of you at once. But before I get into this week, let me tell you all about last week! There is a LOT to tell!

First, I'll set the scene. Go Week is an event in which 12 different campus ministries team up to help students move in and host different events on campus. This year, there were about 250 student volunteers and quite a few stressed out but happy staff. From Wednesday-Friday, these students and staff were running around like chickens with their heads cut off, doing everything from carrying heavy boxes into dorms to playing spikeball on Landis Green to handing out free sno cones to speed-friending and bowling to making and serving literally thousands of late-night pancakes.

Pastor Jay and University Lutheran had the task of feeding these students and staff breakfast, lunch, and dinner for three days, and that's where my Go Week story begins. I was up bright and early Wednesday morning to lead the volunteers from University Lutheran to the Baptist Collegiate Ministry center, where the food was being cooked and served. After breakfast and devotions, Katie and I headed out with the two wonderful University Lutheran students, Caroline and Evan, and the students from the Reformed University Fellowship. We walked over to DeGraff hall, where we helped students move in. I really enjoyed working with the students from both ULC and RUF. We had a great partnership!

I left DeGraff a little early to run back to ULC and lead over some more volunteers. After lunch, most of our morning group went over to Jennie Murphree hall, while some split off to help with Games on the Green and student mailboxes. We helped more students move in and had a free sno cone, which I promptly accidentally spilled on a new student's pillow. Oops! (No worries, she wasn't upset, but it was certainly embarrassing.) At 4, we had our break. I led some more volunteers over to BCM and then took a shower, because after being in the hot sun all day, I was incredibly sweaty. I also had my first Florida sunburn. (On Friday, I officially finished off my first bottle of sunscreen since being in Florida. It was quite the milestone.)

After dinner and some worship/reflection time, I headed out with Evan to Seminole Sensation Week. There were a bunch of different activities. Evan and I did some blacklight sidewalk chalking and I got my face painted like a pineapple. (Yes, there are pictures below. I chose a pineapple because that's the Go Week logo.) We managed to meet a few new people before heading back to BCM. We hung out for awhile, since there were already plenty of people making pancakes, and then we helped carry things over to the Student Life Center. There was a huge crowd waiting to consume massive amounts of pancakes. We believe we made about 3,500 pancakes, and they were completely gone in half an hour. Or so we thought, until someone discovered a stray cooler full of pancakes under one of the tables. They didn't take long to disappear either, but we had fun joking about how they appeared just when we needed them, like the feeding of the 5,000. I helped dry a lot of dishes, and then I went home and collapsed into bed. Can you believe that was only one day?

I was up again Thursday morning to guide volunteers, and then I promptly went back to bed, since the ULC/RUF group ("Team W") had the morning off. I was up again by 11, when I led yet more volunteers over to BCM. (I did this a lot.) After lunch and devotions, Team W went out to (I believe?) Cawthon hall. We moved some students in, and also really enjoyed getting to know the two campus police officers stationed at the dorm. They told us about their experiences on campus, particularly relating to some buildings they're convinced are haunted. After our afternoon shower break, we assembled again for dinner. We had some worship and reflection time and then went to the Union for Seminole Sensation Week.

I was on my own Thursday evening, because Evan had opted to stay at BCM and help with pancakes. At first I was a little uncertain; I'm not the most outgoing person, so I wasn't sure how to go about meeting people. But I remembered that Wednesday night, Evan and I were able to make connections while standing in line. So I decided a henna tattoo sounded fun and got into that line, and Jesus used that! I met a really cool girl named Mel and we ended up hanging out the rest of the night. We got henna tattoos (mine was just a pretty design, while hers was her boyfriend's name in Russian), a bomb pop (or two...), airbrush tattoos (mine was a flamingo!), and paint-a-pot cups to paint later. We eventually ended up over at late-night pancakes. After exchanging numbers, Mel went home and I went back to BCM, where I washed a large amount of dishes. Then I went home and once again collapsed into bed. Day two, complete.

Friday morning, I was up and at the BCM early as normal. After breakfast and devotion time, Team W went out to Smith hall, where we helped a total of two students move in. (And they really only count as one, because they were cousins living in the same room.) But the slow morning was okay, because 1) we were all exhausted, and 2) it gave us time to bond. I left a little early because my good friend Ruth from ULC had invited me to the Seminole Kick-Off Luncheon. I got to see all the football players and cheerleaders and band and meet some of Ruth's Rotary Club friends! It was a great time. I will say it got me more psyched up for Seminole football!

After I returned, I had a break, since Team W had the afternoon off. Then, after guiding the last of the volunteers over to BCM, we had our last dinner together and headed out to set up for the FSU Luau! The FSU Luau is the pinnacle of Go Week. It's the main event, the biggest free party on campus all year, and it is a blast. There's a band, food trucks, inflatables, lazer tag, a rock wall... It all culminated in a huge glow-in-the-dark Zumba party with a cameo from the Garnet and Gold Guys. Each campus ministry participating in Go Week had a table set up. At ours, we were handing out magnets with the football schedule and our information on them. We handed out many, many magnets, and we were able to connect a good number of people with ULC. The RUF table, across the sidewalk from us, had giant Jenga blocks, and I enjoyed watching people play. I also sat at the waiver table for awhile and helped people sign up to do inflatables and the rock wall.

When the FSU Luau ended, it felt like everyone wearing a blue or green Luau shirt stopped and took a deep breath. It was over. Everything we'd worked for all week was done, and it had gone incredibly smoothly. I am so grateful to the Go Week leaders who made this all possible. This has been in the works since last November, and so much time and energy and effort went into planning each and every event that took place. It was truly amazing how well everything went, from the move-ins to the meals (thanks, PJ!) to the different activities to the Luau itself. We cleaned up the area around the Union, had a final large group prayer, and then we all trickled away, going our separate ways. I was so impressed by this amount of cooperation between the campus ministries. Although I have never attended a public university, I would not have expected to find this level of collaboration and unity. It is amazing, and it is only possible by the grace of God.

On Saturday, I slept in. I was tired for some reason. I did my best to spend most of the day relaxing and recovering. I contacted the students who gave us their information at the Luau. For dinner, I attended the Taste of Tallahassee event with my new student friends Mel, Elisabeth, Dominic, and Pepsi. I discovered there is a restaurant entirely centered on fondue. I don't know how I've survived this long without the Melting Pot in my life. Mel and I also went through the ice cream line three times. What can I say? It was really good ice cream.

Sunday, of course, I went to Bible study and worship. There were a lot of students there, which made me quite excited. After worship, Sarah, Chris and I organized all of the items for the flood relief buckets and figured out what we still needed to get. Some people gave me monetary donations to buy the rest of the items. I then joined in with the student leadership meeting, where we discussed the new freshman group that it starting up, TrueLife. We went out to lunch, and then I spent more time organizing the flood relief buckets and hanging out with Liz.

On Monday, I had lunch with Lyla, a cool student I met. I volunteered at the Children's Home Society. I also spent some time reading "Building a Discipleship Culture," which is an excellent book about intentional discipleship. Yesterday, Tuesday, Pastor Jay, Katie and I met in the morning for prayer and devotion, a morning ritual I missed last week. We had a group meeting to discuss what's coming up. I spent time contacting student visitors from this Sunday, and I was also present on campus. Non-work-related, I went to the Regal Governor's Square theater and saw "The Giver." I highly enjoyed the movie, I would recommend it.

Finally, we're to the present day. This morning, we again met for prayer and devotion and a group meeting. I read further in "Building a Disciple Culture." We had an all-staff meeting this afternoon, with Matt the church administrator joined in. I enjoyed learning about the annual focus for this upcoming year. Matt and I went out to Dollar Tree/General to purchase the rest of the items for the flood relief buckets. I also went to Walgreens and picked up my prayer cards, which will be going out with my newsletter soon. After my shopping trips, I packed each bucket full of cleaning supplies and closed them, which I discovered requires a lot of brute strength. (Thanks for helping me with that, Liz... I might never have figured it out!) I'm excited to hand off the buckets to John Elliot from the Florida-Georgia district tomorrow.

Then, we had our first Vespers of the school year! There were about 15 people present, mostly students, with a few adults from the congregation mixed in. We enjoyed tasty BBQ prepared by PJ and Liz and had some really delightful conversation. More than anything else, Vespers has gotten me extremely excited for this school year. I can tell already that these students are awesome and I cannot wait to get to know them more.

Now, I am here, writing this incredibly lengthy blog. If you've gotten to this point, thank you very much for not giving up. There was just so much to tell, and I didn't want to leave out a single detail. Here are some pictures as a reward! First, Evan next to his beautiful sidewalk chalk Yoshi; second, me as a pineapple; third, Ruth and I at the Seminole Kick-Off Luncheon; fourth, me with the completed flood relief buckets! Thanks for reading, everybody!

Go, Go, Go Week!

Hello, dear friends. It's another Tuesday and another blog but definitely NOT just another week here in Tallahassee. It's GO WEEK! Therefore, this blog will be short and sweet because I need to get to bed before chaos breaks out on campus tomorrow morning.

Last Wednesday, Katie and I drove to Orlando to meet up with the campus ministers from the University of Central Florida. We got there around 4:30 PM and they immediately took us out on a tour of their campus, which is basically a city in itself. UCF has 60,000 students, and the Lutheran campus ministry there (LiveUCF, unless you're an official university employee, in which case it's referred to as "Live@UCF") just had some great news. They're officially a recognized student organization and they even have their own room on campus to hold their events! Woohoo! We really enjoyed getting to know the ministry leaders there (Billy, Laura, Megan, Tyler) and sharing some ideas with them. UCF is unique in that there are no churches within walking distance, so LiveUCF is going to hold church services on campus on Wednesday nights, complete with communion, which is a somewhat controversial practice due to the use of alcohol. They had to get special permission from the school to serve communion.

Although it was a work trip, they decided to let us have some fun as well... so they surprised us with a trip to Disney World! It was quite delightful. Thanks, everyone, for that wonderful surprise!

Friday I managed to get into a very minor car accident in Orlando. No worries, no one was hurt and my car is fine, but it was a little stressful. After we drove back to Tallahassee, it was time to relax for the weekend. I did my best to avoid work because I know Go Week is going to wear me out like nothing else ever has. I made some smoothies, read some books, went for a few walks, went to Liz's super fun baby shower, and generally just chilled. I did do a few work-y things, like writing my newsletter and reading the first part of the newest book we're going through, but other than that, I purposely did nothing.

On Monday, I went to the Children's Home Society again. This time, I was calling parents whose children have received services through the center to take a survey on those services. This is important because it can help improve the services offered to families through the center. Per the usual of calling people, as I have discovered previously with the cold calls to churches, I got a lot of voicemails and a few disconnected numbers. However, I did have the opportunity to conduct three surveys, and I hope that what I discovered will help CHS in the long run.

I also got to Skype with my best friend Jessie from back home in good ol' Iowa. I will admit I've been feeling a little homesick recently, but talking to her made me feel better. She's pretty good at that.

From the moment I got up today, there was no relaxing to be had. It started off with devotions with Pastor Jay and a meeting to discuss the craziness of this week. I then made edits to my newsletter and wrote out a list of people to send the newsletter to. Pastor Jay and I went to Sam's Club and got an obnoxious amount of food. University Lutheran is in charge of food for Go Week, and we expect to feed at least 250 people each meal for the next 3 days. As PJ says, it really gives you a perspective on the feeding of the 5,000. If we need two full flatbed carts at Sam's to feed 250, how much would you need for 5,000, plus women and children?

I had a short break after we unloaded Pastor Jay's truck bed full of food supplies, and then we headed out for the kick-off to Go Week at First Baptist Church downtown. First on the agenda was a leaders' meeting. Katie and I enjoyed meeting the other campus ministry leaders; I particularly enjoyed meeting Ria, a Chi Alpha International leader who happens to hail from Perry, Iowa. We bonded. Enough said.

We then had a catered meal from Chik Fil A as students volunteering for Go Week filed in. I was the "guardian of the salads" because they were only for those with food allergies or who are vegetarian, so we wanted to make sure no one else took them. After dinner, we had an inspiring worship service that really got us pepped up and ready to go. It was emphasized, as it should be, that Go Week is not about us. We're not on campus just to hang out. We're there to share the love of Christ and to be His hands and feet. We'll do that in many different ways -- helping students move in, showing them around the school, feeding them, playing games with them, partying with them at the FSU Luau Friday night -- but those ways all lead to the same goal: Jesus. It's important that we don't lose sight of our goal when we're weeping inside because it's 137 degrees out and we're carrying a bean bag chair up 3 flights of stairs. There is no complaining allowed, because this is not about us, it's about Him. (Although if it's 137 degrees outside, please drink some water before you die.)

After the worship service, we filed up to the front for a group picture, and then we went our separate ways, eager to see each other bright and early tomorrow morning to start spreading the love of Jesus. And this is where I'm going to go my separate way from you so I can get some sleep before that happens! (Looking at this post, I'm thinking I have a strange idea of "short and sweet." Hm.)

Here is the jackpot of pictures from the last 7 days. Disney, baby shower, flatbed cart and truck bed full of food. See you all later! Don't have high hopes if you need to contact me in the next few days!

A Tuesday Blog... What's Going On?!

Hello, friends! I know, I know, you're thinking, "Mary, it's Tuesday. What are you doing posting a blog today instead of Wednesday?" Rest assured, friends, the world is not going to chaos. I have an excellent reason for blogging a day early. Tomorrow, Katie and I are leaving for a three-day work trip to Orlando. We're meeting up with Pastor Billy Brath and exchanging campus ministry ideas... and having some fun in the process! So I'm putting this up a day early so that it won't be late. Isn't that nice?

(Fair warning, this will happen next week too... more on that later!)

There is much to talk about from this week. Here we go!

LCI/Church Business:

• Katie and I have begun work on a campus ministry presentation. Once we have it to our (and Pastor Jay's) satisfaction, we will start reaching out to area churches and asking if they'd be interested in hearing about campus ministry. We're having a lot of fun exchanging ideas and working together on this project!
• We are also in the beginning stages of our newsletters. I had hoped to have mine out by the first week of August, but unfortunately, we're a tad behind. However, you can look forward to some fancy pictures Katie and I took together! Thanks for your help with that, Austin!
• This Sunday marked the first time I've done the readings during a worship service, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. On Saturday, I set aside some time to look over the passages. Not only did I read them through out loud several times, I also made sure I understood what they were saying, so I could communicate them accurately.
• I'm continuing to work on the Flood Relief buckets project. We've made quite a bit of headway already, and I am so excited to see how it all comes together! We hope to have all 10 buckets filled and ready to send out by the end of August.
• Tonight, there was a really delightful LWML event at University Lutheran. The wonderful Donna Pyle (author of "Quenched: Christ's Living Water for a Thirsty Soul") came to have dinner and share the Word with us. It was an evening of delicious food (courtesy of our lovely LWML ladies), enlightening and inspiring conversation, and pure fun.
• My blog will be early again next week because next Wednesday marks the beginning of "Go Week" here at Florida State! All the students start moving in, and 11 different campus ministries band together to help them move in and get acquainted to campus -- and to us! There will be thousands of pancakes served and, hopefully, thousands of students who get connected to campus ministry. I anticipate being busy from 8 AM  to midnight Wednesday through Friday, and I'm so excited! Bring on the students!

 I've also managed to have fun in and amongst all that work (although my work is usually fun). For example, this past Thursday, Katie and I went out to Food Truck Thursday. We had what's called a "stuffed snowball," which is apparently shaved ice with soft serve ice cream in the middle. Delicious! I also met up with a new friend, Ashley, on Monday night. We bonded over our mutual love of card and board games and fantasy books. She taught me how to play cribbage and gave me the names of some new books to try!

Last but certainly not least, I went to the Children's Home Society yesterday and helped volunteer coordinator Meg organize an incredible amount of school supplies. I say certainly not least because I've never seen so many school supplies in my life. Oh, my goodness! I'll include a picture at the end, but it doesn't do the amount justice. I'm so glad I got connected to CHS; I'm volunteering for a great cause and enjoying myself at the same time!

That's all from the Iowa Girls Meets World today. I'm looking forward to our trip tomorrow, Go Week starting next Wednesday, and also to a very special baby shower that's occurring this Saturday! :) Pictures this week include my fancy Flood Relief buckets poster, me posing with my signed copy of "Quenched," the school supplies I helped organize at CHS, and Katie and I enjoying our snowballs.

Bears, Buckets, and BBQs

Hello, friends! It's been a busy week here in Tallahassee, partly because of my Lutheran Campus Initiative work and partly because of some other fun things I've been up to.

However, before I go any further, I feel that I have to mention the theology of Bear-a-cuda. Yes, you read that correctly, Bear-a-cuda. Bear is Pastor Jay's absolutely adorable dog, and she gets really excited about thanking the Lord! You see, Pastor Jay and Liz always end their meals at home with a prayer from Psalm 136:1 -- "Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever." Bear has figured out that this means the meal is over and she can get some table scraps, so whenever she hears this, she barks along with them and wags her tail like crazy. Our devotion this morning was based off of Psalm 136, so Pastor Jay told this story and pointed out that we should have this reaction too. It is really exciting that God's steadfast love endures forever, and we should joyfully give thanks! (But if you start barking and wagging your tail, you might want to get that checked out.)

Anyway, back to LCI. The BBQ on Sunday night was a grand old time. Three grad students made an appearance, along with Katie, Pastor Jay, Liz, and me. We had barbeque chicken pizza, watermelon sangria, and good conversation! It was great to socialize with some students and get to know them better. After the students left, the four of us realized that Katie had brought up her cornhole game, but we hadn't gotten around to playing it, so of course we ended the night with a fierce competition. And when I say fierce competition, I mean none of us were very good. Sadly, despite a valiant effort at the end, Katie and I lost to Pastor Jay and Liz.

Also this week, we have been discussing the second part of Permanent Revolution, which focuses on the importance of apostolic ministry. Apostles are those who break new ground and plant churches. They create the environment in which the other ministries can emerge. There are two different types of apostles seen in the Bible: the Pauline and Petrine. Pauline apostles are cross-cultural, while Petrine apostles are intracultural. Pastor Jay, being our high A, leans towards the Petrine side. It was interesting to discuss how the five ministry types play into each other. It really is necessary for them all to be present in order for effective ministry to happen.

Another item on our agenda for the week has been discussing Vespers, our Wednesday night dinner/Bible study. It's still in the works, but we have some great ideas and we can't wait to implement them! Stay tuned for updates in the weeks to come. :)

Finally, I've been working on a district-wide initiative for each congregation to fill ten Flood Relief Buckets. These buckets are to be filled with cleaning supplies and sent to a central location; they will be deployed in the case of a flood-related disaster, so clean-up can be quicker and smoother. I went out and got the buckets on Friday so I could have them in the sanctuary on Sunday. I wanted to raise interest in the buckets, so I made a pyramid out of them! It really got people curious and talking, so they were interested to hear my announcement after the service. On Tuesday, I went around to some local businesses to see if they might be able to donate some items... and got shut down. However, I have faith in the University Lutheran community! We will fill the buckets by the end of August and they will be sent off to the district. Some people have already signed up to bring items, and I feel confident more will this coming week as well.

That's it in terms of LCI business... but I wanted to mention some fun things I've done in the past week!

• Food Truck Thursday -- basically, a bunch of food trucks gather at Lake Ella, along with a band. Sarah and I met up and had a great time!
• First Friday Gallery Hop -- there are several art galleries and shops at Railroad Square, and they all open their doors on the first Friday of the month. Also, more food trucks. Once again, Sarah and I went together and really enjoyed our random finds! My favorite was a Doctor Seuss dictionary.
• Children's Home Society -- there are actually two events in one here. I'm going to start volunteering at CHS once a week. They do a lot with foster homes, adoptions, and counseling. Monday was my first volunteer day, and I really enjoyed all the people I met! And tonight, I brought some school supplies to Madison Social for their school supply drive. I enjoyed a free glass of wine while talking with Sarah and others from CHS.
• Museum of Florida History -- I've been there before while my mom was here, but on Monday I was able to get a personalized tour. Thanks, Gary!

All in all, a pretty successful week. I haven't heard back for sure yet about my part-time job, but they assured me they're just waiting to hear back from the owner about hiring me. In the meantime, here are some pictures, as promised last week! The first is my pyramid of orange buckets; the second is during our cornhole game Sunday night; and the third is the brilliantly designed school supply drive box. Have a good week, everyone! Don't forget to give thanks to the Lord! :)