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.