A Very Smelly Blog

Hello, friends! Be glad you can't smell me right now. I just returned from a workout at the YMCA, which was delightful... and made me very sweaty. I promise to shower soon. Anyway, allow me to tell you about my week!

Tuesday afternoon I visited with some Mormon missionaries at their church on Stadium Drive. They visited University Lutheran in return Wednesday afternoon. I gave them the tour and we played some ping-pong. Sister Iosua and Sister Miller are exceptionally friendly, and it was refreshing to be able to speak openly and honestly about our different faiths. Since we are all missionaries, we discovered that we have a good deal in common. I'm hoping that as we continue meeting together, we'll be able to have a great friendship!

On Tuesday evening, we had our first grad student/young adult gathering at Midtown Caboose. It was a great time! We had fun conversation and delicious food. I had a s'more burger. It was incredibly messy but so tasty!

Other than their visit and our staff meeting, my Wednesday was a bit off. My alarm didn't go off, so I slept through a meeting with PJ. I spent my day mostly working on Real Life College Faith, but I kept getting frustrated. Because of that, I didn't take time to prepare myself mentally for Vespers, and I feel I didn't do very well leading. After Vespers, I decided to call it a night and watched How to Train Your Dragon to cheer myself up. (It worked. Toothless is my favorite!)

Today was a better day. It started out with my one-on-one with PJ. He helped me process through my frustration from Wednesday. Again, I worked on RLCF most of the day, and I didn't get frustrated this time. I came up with a theme and wrote the Bible studies for the weekend. I then went over to the community garden. We had such a big group that we were able to weed nearly the entire garden and still have time to have fun with the kids.

Coming up is our Super Bowl party Sunday. Should be a good time! No pictures for you this week, but I'm planning to have another picture blog next week. Get excited, my dear redheaded sister-in-law!

The Weekly News

Hello, friends! So, apparently I never blogged yesterday. Who knew? Allow me to rectify that.

This week has gone by fairly quickly, because there's been a lot going on. Primarily, I've been very focused on getting Real Life College Faith together. RLCF is an event for high school students, held at a college, to teach them what being a Christian on campus is like. I've been doing a good amount of the organizing for it, and this week, I got the hotel block set up and registration sent out. Yay!

In other news, I've been meeting with students to talk about the potential revamping of our campus ministry. More on that to come, but the conversations have been very interesting. I'm really enjoying hearing everyone's unique perspectives.

We had a game night this past Monday. We played some Mario Kart, Wii Sports, Super Smash Bros., Disney Apples to Apples, and one of my favorite games, Spy Alley. If you see Zoe anytime soon, challenge her to a game of Spy Alley and prepare to be creamed!

Another fun thing this week was returning to the community garden in Frenchtown. The carrots, onions, and arugula we planted last semester are coming along nicely, while the beets and spinach totally failed. But that's okay! We did a lot of weeding and it was quite relaxing.

That's pretty much the news of the week. This Iowa girl is rather sore after joining in a fitness class yesterday at the YMCA. It was great, but exhausting! I'm excited to work out more there. I also have an interesting meeting set up for next week. Get excited to hear about something completely different! I'll definitely be getting out of my comfort zone.

Last Saturday Anna and I went to the Tallahassee Museum. They have neon dinosaurs, a cool old-time farm, and many fun animals. Here are some pictures!

Strengths and Snowballs

Hello, friends! Welcome to my first normal blog post of the new year. I'm getting back into the swing of things here in Tallahassee -- I've been meeting with students, writing devotions, bothering Matt, leading Vespers... Since not much "new" has really happened in the last week, I thought I'd take this opportunity to reflect on a few things from last semester.

Before my missionary year started, Pastor Jay had me read a book called "Strengthsfinder 2.0." This book and the survey that came with it pointed out some of my strengths. They included: Belief, Connectedness, Futuristic, Input, and Learner. (I'll explain those more in a minute.) Not long after arriving here, Pastor Jay had me read another book called "Permanent Revolution." It told me that I am a Shepherd and Teacher. (Again, more explanation to come.) As I look at the last six months, I can see where all of these characteristics have come out in my work. Here's how.

• Belief: I have core values that are enduring and give my life meaning and satisfaction. This has come into play more than anything else. When I moved to Florida, I was homesick and lonely, but I couldn't wait to start my work, because I knew that I was meant to share the love of Christ with others. My Belief has also helped me to overcome my homesickness and loneliness and find my place here, because I knew that the one thing that mattered -- God -- was here, even if my friends and family weren't.
• Connectedness: I believe we are part of something larger; there is a purpose to everything that happens. This came into play particularly on November 20th, when there was a shooting on campus. Although it was horrible, it was also an opportunity for ministry. My students came together and reached out to their friends. A student who had fallen away came back to the church. We were allowed to witness in new ways on campus. Everything really is connected in God's plan.
• Futuristic: I'm a dreamer; I'm energized by visions of the future. I saw this just recently, on my first regular work day. I spent hours reflecting on what happened last semester and dreaming about what could happen this semester. I've also started thinking about the future beyond July. I hope I will have interviews coming up, and I'm getting ready for them by establishing how working in campus ministry has prepared me for youth ministry.
• Input: I'm inquisitive; I find many things interesting and exciting. I've done a good number of new things since moving here. I've visited a student in the hospital, written devotions, consoled students after a shooting, prepared Bible studies, done long-term planning, attended staff meetings, handed out sandwiches to the homeless, learned about gardening, started a blog... I love the variety, and I find all of these things fascinating and fun.
• Learner: I love and am energized by the process of learning. This is similar to Input, but I think there's a distinctive difference. Input is about doing a variety of things; Learner is about diving into them and discovering all there is to know about them. I love preparing Bible studies because it requires me to, well, study the Bible. I love staff meetings because they encourage me to think more deeply and out of my box. 
• Teacher: I'm concerned with comprehension, understanding, and wisdom. One of my favorite things this semester has been leading Vespers, but that's not the only teaching-related item on my agenda. I'm teaching my student leaders (sometimes directly, mostly indirectly) about leadership in the church. And in return, they're teaching me about leadership in the church. A teacher should always be willing to learn!
• Shepherd: I believe in the power of people in loving, healthy community. I've found my personal motto in my Shepherd identity: people matter. Numbers are not important; people are important. If we have a huge group of students, but they don't support and encourage one another, we have nothing. But if we have a small group of students who support and encourage one another, we have something amazing. And that amazing thing will naturally grow. It's not about the numbers -- it's about the people.

Okay, I'm done being deep and thoughtful now. You can relax. Here's a picture of me throwing a snowball at my mother to snap you out of it!

Taboo News

Hello, friends! I know your ears are just itching to hear about the LCMS-U conference last week, so here I am to tell you.

This was a conference packed full with college students and campus ministers. (Unfortunately, none of our students could come, because FSU started back up on Wednesday.) The topic was "Taboo" -- we talked about all those topics no one likes to talk about: specifically, sex and sexual sin. We had many good speakers, sectionals, and times of worship, and if I told you about everything that happened, my blog would become a novel. So here are some of the highlights of Taboo for me!

• I got to stay with my dear friend Megan Panurusky! It was so delightful to spend time with her and learn about her new business. She does event planning, web design, written content, and research for Christian churches and organizations, all with a ministry perspective. Check it out: http://www.bridgingthegapmss.com/
• I was an exhibitor, along with Pastor Jay. We were promoting the Lutheran Campus Initiative. I enjoyed the conversations we had, and I hope some of them will bear fruit! (You should also ask Pastor Jay to tell you the funny story about the banner stand.)
• The Concordia nerd in me was very happy to have so much worship time, especially when it involved Matins with Hymn 941. :)
• Probably my favorite sectional speakers were Rev. Dan McMiller and David Fiala, both former LCMS missionaries. They spoke about how the Word of the Cross is "taboo" in society, and the joys and difficulties of missionary work.
• Speaking of missionaries, the speaker at our banquet Tuesday night was none other than Anthony DeLiberto, who I first met in Peru two years ago! It was wonderful to reconnect with him and Jamie.
• Our plenary speakers were excellent; they included Scott Barefoot, Rev. Tom Eckstein, Rev. Dr. Peter Scaer, and Rev. Roger Sonnenberg. Scott Barefoot was particularly inspiring; I highly recommend the book he co-wrote with Rev. Richard Starr, called "Forgive Us Our Sins - Homosexuality in the Light of God's Truth."
• One interesting development happened Wednesday morning. A pro-homosexuality group heard about our event's topic and set up a table in the center where the conference was being held. This was handled in a great way by event staff: they bought the group hot chocolate and engaged them in conversation. It was a  demonstration of speaking the truth with love.

I also wrote this week's church newsletter about the conference; you can find it here: http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?ca=8dd821a3-2a82-4ffb-8943-33ebc5f7d9a8&c=c0251f40-c0ec-11e3-b8ed-d4ae5292c38a&ch=c03f5e00-c0ec-11e3-b8ee-d4ae5292c38a

I hope you enjoyed this special edition of Taboo News. Now my blog will return to its regular schedule of being published on Thursdays!

Two pictures from the conference: me with the honorary LCI representative and the real LCI representative.

Christmas Pictures... a Bit Late

Hello, friends! I know I've been slacking on my blog; the holidays and thereafter have been a bit busy. However, here I am with some Christmas pictures courtesy of my mother (thanks, Mom!). Tomorrow I plan on posting another blog to tell you all about the LCMS-U conference in St. Louis. Then I'll get back into my normal habit of blogging on Thursdays!

I love my Grandma! 

In case you can't read it, Adrian's shirt says "Don't need a permit for these guns!"

My brother Zach helping Grandma with her new iPad.

My dad now has the perfect shirt to cheer on the greatest pitcher in the universe.

The obligatory cat-by-the-tree picture. It's a must in our household!

We went skating for Haley's birthday and had a blast!

What a wonderful Christmas it was. :)