my windy city conference pt 1.

Hello from Chicago...

I'm here at the Willow Creek Youth Ministers Conference!

Harvester had already paid for my spot before I left to go work for the college...

...updates are going to come daily...

My pad

Well, i'm moved.
Emotionally, physically, & spiritually.
...okay, so maybe 2 of the 3...
Being into my new job a full 3 weeks now...what can i say, other than that I love it. I've been so blessed! I have a job where i actually do things that I love to do! It's pretty funny when i talk to students as SLCC and they ask me what my plans are after this...as if i'm not really in a job yet...i just chuckle to myself and think, wow, i'm in a real job, there really isn't much of 'what to do after this' kind of thinking...I mean yeah, i have my life goals and dreams, and i'm not saying i'm going to be content w/ what i do...I'm very happy, and until i see myself growing out of my job or God calling me elsewhere, why should I go?

I'm in St. Louis...I have an amazing apartment, great location, an amazing job, the best friends anyone could ask for, meeting amazing new people, a great ministry going on with an amazing student ministry and a great young adults ministry....

what can i say...i've got what i've been wanting and praying for...a true blessing indeed!


apartment living story #1 "Angry Russian Dude":
So i went to the clubhouse and did laundry one night and was sitting there waiting for my stuff to be ready for the drier and this huge dude sat down in the chair next to me...we are talking huge...the dude, looked like an x-pro wrestler...anyways, we did the polite man-nod and then he answered his phone a few minutes later and just started to yell in his native tongue...we'll say it was Russian. he then just got off the phone, put it in his pocket, looked over at me, kind of smiled and walked away...
...while i was putting my clothes into the dryer, he came in there, and started to move his laundry into the dryer...as i walked past him and his laundry and noticed a bunch of skimpy ladies lingerie that i doubt he could have fit into.....i just kept walking...

My First, My Last, My Everything...

Although singing Barry White would be so appropriate with such a title as this, and now that i have that song going through your head, here is whats going on...

Feb. 1st, 2007
My First day of my new job. What can I say. I it is going to be amazing. I can definitely feel that I've chosen the right job and God has placed me here for a reason. I am very excited about growing in my knowledge of media and graphics as well as continuing to grow in my faith daily. I must say, it is one thing when fellow staff or administration come by and say 'We are glad to have you here'. But yesterday I had a student come by and tell me this. Wow, what a feeling. I HAVE AN OFFICE!!! I do share it with a few student workers, but nonetheless, I have an office! It has a nice size window too!!! that overlooks this beautiful hallway where the main entrance is to the building. I think this is a bold move on SLCC's part, because when someone walks into the building, my good lookn' face is the first thing they will see. Bold move indeed! I have enjoyed the first two days of my job. I have been blessed with an amazing atmosphere to work in and am really excited about what God will be doing for SLCC in the next few years!!!

January 31st, 2007
My Last day of my internship. This was a sad day. Not because I was done with my internship, but realizing that I was no longer an intern and was in the arena of the 'working world'. I have loved every second of my internship! I know that again I have been blessed with the opportunity to minister to the students at HSM since my job is located in St. Louis...I'm available to still serve on the weekends. I have been so blessed with this Internship. I really can't put into words the glory of God that I've seen through it all.

My Everything
With only working 2 days in the office, i've been able to share a story about 3 different times already. I have on my desk a frame. In it are 3x5 cards with writing on them. They are copies of cards that students filled out a few weeks ago in our student service. You see, we have been going through a series on Samson and one of the Sermon titles was: My Dirty Little Secret. Yes, we used the music video in the service and all. Before communion, we had a time of reflection where students would be able to write down on these cards their own personal "dirty little secret". The response we had to this was amazing. However, the writings on the cards brought me to tears and still does just thinking of them. I will not share what they said, but if you have seen this frame with duplicates of a few of them, you'd understand. Now the copies are not exact duplicates, but rather rewritten for the sake of someone recognizing another's handwriting. I tell this story and then look at the person and let them know that because of these issues that so many students are going through, that is one of the biggest reasons why i am doing what i do, because of the pain and issues others are going through. I am now recruiting for an institute that will train individuals into leaders and teachers of God's Word who will go and minister to those that are hurting. Those that wrote so many hurtful things on those cards. The point of this is that i've realized that even if i'm not the one getting to minister to others in the same way as before as continuous as before, ministry is still my everything. I have been called to ministry, no matter when or where, it is my everything.