Each Wednesday we do hour-long prayer walks around campus, and this week we walked through this beautiful row of blooming trees while we prayed! It was a taste of heaven! So I went back the next day and had my time in the Word, laying in the grass under these trees! How cool that God creates such beauty simply for us to enjoy...and to point to Himself as glorious!
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I realized how behind I am in posting photos! Here are some photos from the Valentine's Day Banquet, put on by the UNM Nav men! It was a treat for us to be served by the men! This is my Bible study group, minus Jalene and So Yeon! The guys wrote and sang a silly song to us! I woke up this morning to a very strange sound. I heard some sort of odd tapping above my head. I opened my blinds, and to my disbelief, it was raining!! Caleb, a Navigator staff who had spent a couple years in Indonesia, led some of our missions trip orientation. He shared a story of a couple with a young girl who joined him in Indonesia for missions. He and the husband became very close friends, as they shared their lives as missionaries together. His friend suddenly got a severe infection, and passed away the next day. It was quite the story. A man who literally gave his life away for the sake of the gospel. Caleb read to us something profound his friend had written in his journal a couple months before he passed away. I wish I had time to write it all down as he was reading it. His friend was pondering the question, "What is God concerned with?", and this was his response: (after each one, he mentioned a character from the Bible whom God had allowed to experience different challenges in their lifetimes) Hello! I am here in the Denver airport, longing to be back in Albuquerque after a long day of traveling! This weekend Kim and I travelled to Omaha for our summer mission trip orientation. Our sessions were over today at noon, but I won't get back to ABQ until 11:15! Whew! Thank gooness for a laptop to keep me occupied during this 6-hour layover! Hello! I have so much I would love to share with you all...but no time for that this week! The Rocky Mountain Region Collegiate staff are arriving in ABQ this morning, and we will be with them through Wednesday. I am looking forward to this time with them - such a great group of people! Then on Friday, Kim and I fly out to Omaha for our summer missions trip orientation! Phew! We have had a great start to the semester! Our Nav Nights are in full-swing now, and we've had about 30-35 students attend each week! Each week I have met new students at our events, which is a huge answer to prayer! We had a superbowl party yesterday, and had over 40 students join us for the big game. It was a real hit! It's so exciting to see students interacting with each other more and more! As you may know, one thing we have been praying for is housing for my teammates, Clint and Leigh Ann. When we got back from break, they still did not have a place to live for the semester. God brought them housing...in an unexpected way! They will be living in the home Kim and I live in for the semester! There is a large master bedroom that they will section off to create a bedroom, office and living room! It has a huge bathroom, walk in closet, and a separate entrance to the house. It's very sound-proof as well. It's like they have their own studio apartment! Kim and I are excited to have rich community with them this semester! Thank you for all your prayers over the past month. Once again, God proved himself faithful!! Now, the long days of unpacking for them are ahead! I have been back in ABQ for a week now, and we're ready to get into the swing of the semester! This past weekend, we had a retreat at a really neat retreat center south of ABQ. The first 2 days my staff team and I brainstormed and planned for the semester. We also got to spend 4 hours alone with God! This was my favorite part of the weekend! The retreat center is on many acres of beautiful land, with the mountains in the distance and a little pond. It was about 60 degrees, and in those 4 hours my face got sunburnt! A sunburn in January?! Whoa! During my time with the Lord, I realized how sweet it is to simply be with Him, resting in His presence, and adoring Him for all that He is...rather than always coming to Him with my requests and concerns. He showed me that all my questions and request of Him are answered when I dwell on who He is. Rather than each day asking Him to reveal His plan for my future, I need to immerse myself in who He is, and it will be there that He reveals to me His plan. Does that make sense?! This is our Nav Night theme for the semester (although this is just my creation of the words, not the actual logo)! We will be studying James in our Bible studies, and going over specific topics regarding faith and life during Nav Night. For example, some of the messages will be titled, "where faith and future collide", "where faith and finances collide", ect. I'm really looking forward to it; I think it's a great idea! We will be having various speakers come in throughout the semester, which will be a treat - for both myself and the students! These 2 photos were taken at the retreat center. There were thousands of snow geese that kept us company!! What an amazing sight this was, to see them all arrive and then fly away together! The sound they make when they all fly together is so loud...and it is a bit dangerous to be outside when they arrive...because you know what birds do, right?! I was sitting out there during my time alone with God, when they all flew in, and all around me I heard huge plops on the ground, while I prayed and prayed that I wouldn't get hit! =o) How funny! Kim's favorite spot! A taste of heaven! We spent an evening at a place called Bosque del Apache, which is a large open-space park where hundreds of thousands of geese and various birds migrate. It was a beautiful place, and it was so refreshing to see water!! Greetings from the very chilly Iowa!! I can't believe it's already been over a month since I last posted a blog! A lot has happened since then! |