Watership Down

Okay, this isn't Christian nonfiction, or a book on how to do your job better, or anything like that. But I just finished Watership Down by Richard Adams, and it was delightful! I had to share.

I grew to love the bunnies in this book, and I miss being in the world of Hazel and Fiver, Bigwig and Pipkin. The book follows the adventures of a band of rabbits who manage to escape the destruction of their home, only to face many more obstacles trying to find a safe place for themselves. The rabbits have their own language, they do some un-rabbit-like things, and some have the gift of foreknowledge. But other than that, it's set in the real world. Adams did a great job of immersing you into the life of rabbits, even making up rabbit legends. It's filled with suspense and adventure, but also joy and goodness. If you enjoy children's lit at all, you should read this.

New Year's Resolutions Lead to Suffering

Last week was intense, filled with conversations and events, but it was so good to talk about Jesus!

I just ate lunch with a guy I met at our New Year's Resolution proxe station. Last week, we spoke about changes he wanted to make in his life (like deeper connections with his friends) and how God wanted to help him with his resolutions, but also wanted much bigger change in his life: reconciliation with God and others. He shared that he grew up Catholic, but his family had drifted away, and only in the last few years had he re-examined religion. He felt like you couldn't be sure of things; there is a God, but faith in the Christian God wasn't something he was ready to jump onto.

I invited him to continue the conversation, he said yes, and we met today. I showed him Psalm 88 and Romans 8:18-39. It was challenging and enjoyable to talk about how our God responds to suffering. Of course, I still struggle with those same questions, and it's always good to talk to someone honestly dealing with them. We'll continue to meet this semester to look at Jesus in the book of John. Please pray he chooses faith over fear, and finds in God the truth, grace, and comfort he desperately needs.

This week, I'm meeting with several others I had conversations with. Keep praying students do the same - this isn't their full time job, and they don't have a lot of experience doing it, so it's easier for them to find less scary things to fill their time with, like work and studying!

January Prayer Requests

I completely forgot to post these!

• Pray for our events.
  
  • gospel conversations at our New Year's Resolutions table
    
  • big missional prayers and community at Coffee House
    
  • a smooth and worshipful Large Group meeting (tonight!) where I'll speak on Jesus healing a leper and our calling to live into a new identity as the church
    
  • community, outreach, and the Ephesians study in our Small Groups
    
  • fun activities this weekend and next that students actually invite their friends to
• Pray for great follow up - that students actually do it, and make connections that last.
  
• Pray that through all this, members grow more as the family of God, setting the table together and inviting others to join in the feast, and that some may take them up on the invitation and be saved through our efforts.
  
• Pray for good recruitment to our next big things. We're hoping for 18 students at Breakthrough, a training retreat February 10-12. We're hoping 8 students use their Spring Break in March to go on a mission trip to Mexico (sign-up deadline 1/27).

A Few Christmas Memories

I still haven't downloaded Washington, D.C. pictures from our camera. Hopefully I will soon...

Here are some other pics from Christmas, though! The first three are from our Christmas prom party at InterVarsity's Regional Staff Conference, taken by Mike Karim. The first is most of the folks on my Area Team, staff from Houston and College Station.

Here are some of my lovely staff friends.

And in this one, my area team has just finished a speed puzzle challenge, one of 3 challenges to prove who is the best area and win a dinner out during our 2 week end-of-year regional camp, RecWeek.

Finally, here are a few shots of my family after the tradition we call Grab Bag. Fun, random toys are stuffed in a garbage bag, then we go around the circle, each drawing something out (no peeking!) until the bag is empty. And then madness ensues.

It's 2012 Already!

It's been a month and a half since I wrote anything - eek! Here's the rundown of what I've been up to:

We wrapped up the year with a fabulous Christmas party. We celebrated Jesus' birth, some students and I were in an evangelistic skit (no pictures of that, sorry!), and we said goodbye to Hannah (graduated in December) and Rodrigo (returning to Mexico after a semester studying abroad).

I went to our Regional Staff Conference. We got training in Bible study skills and had a Christmas prom party.

I spent a week focused on fundraising. I'm up to 92% of my budget! And I'm still waiting to hear back from some folks. Unfortunately, giving to our alumni account decreased. If you could pray for me and other staff to faithfully ask, and alumni to follow God's lead in giving, I'd appreciate it.

Kyle and I traveled to Prosper, TX to see my family, then flew up to Washington, D.C. to visit Kyle's sister and brother-in-law. So much sightseeing! I'll post a link to pics once we get them online.

We got back this weekend for a short breather, and I'm off again tomorrow for Area Team meetings, with the staff from College Station and Houston.

I read a lot over break, and I'll write some reviews of those. I'll also update y'all on prayer requests before school starts in a week. Thanks for your partnership in the gospel!