Going in to the Freshman Move-in day I was not sure we were ready for that day to be there, but there was no turning back. At this point Clark was in the Dean of Student position and the Campus Minister was yet to be announced. There were moments when it didn’t seem to matter that there wasn’t anyone in that position and then at other times I was frustrated to be carrying the weight on my shoulders. As of last Thursday, it was officially announced that Jon is the new Campus Minister.

Here is the best part of this… DESPITE US…yes, DESPITE us…God showed up and showed out! We had three nights of Grace Awakening. During that time we had 4 salvations, 20+ rededication’s, and 40+ cards from people. We had the opportunity to baptize over 45 people in the CSU Pool. The first week at Elevate we had about 300 people and they were all pumped about worshiping Jesus and Serving in the name of Jesus Christ. Jon shared a message about how we are the Body of Christ must leave each other and serve each other right at our dinner table before we can go outside to the non-believers. The important part is that we MUST get outside of our walls.

Summer is gone and the Fall semester is here…

Day 1 …and it begins…

I think when you function on an academic schedule especially for so many years you come to appreciate the summer time even more because that is the time you get to rejuvenate and think and play and relax and catch up with old friends and plan and the list could go on. After this year a summer break is highly anticipated. Knowing that the work load may lighten a bit, I think the thought load might increase!

I have a feeling one of the upcoming Top Ten list will be favorite things to do during the summer or 10 places I plan to go this summer or maybe 10 people I hope to reconnect with this summer.

What about you? What is about summer that tends to spark your energy or excitement? Does the summer time help you to get back on your feet and refocus? What will you be doing this summer?

The title tells of three things added to the summer routine. My roommates are highly frustrated that I will not slack off from winning at rummikub. Aside from the smell of victory…it is a highly addictive game that you should definitely play. It is mixture of uno, phase 10 and rummy (three of the best games).

We’ve been at the pool scoping out the scenery…along with getting some sun and exercise too! It isn’t so much fun to people watch? Because I don’t get to go during the sunlight hours we try to go down and swim some at night time before they close at 10 p.m. I might be a fish before the end of the summer.

And of course, summertime brings about a movie marathon ever so often. Not so much a movie marathon right now but rather I got hooked watching Friday Night Lights TV series. I’ve watched season 1, 2 and 3 in a matter of two weeks. This whole netflix thing is a pretty cool idea especially now that they will send you a CD to view “streaming” movies and tv shows on your Wii system.

What else can I tell you about the summer?

We’re planning a cosmic Wii bowling party in a couple of weeks… oh that’s right…blacklights, glowsticks, techno music and wii bowling. Should be slammin’!

We’re watching the Bachelorette with Ali. Who will be the last guy standing? I am trying to refrain from reading the rumor blogs to blow the surprise. Funny how people really think that what we see on TV is the realistic and consistent view of LOVE. phishhhhhh! Right!

I am heading to Orlando next week for the Southern Baptist Convention. Looking forward to seeing Dustin. We’ll see about the rest of it!

And it wouldn’t be truthful if I told you that summer was just the best time and that everything was just perfect. I find that for me the summer time brings a lot more time to reflect and dwell on things. For someone like me who is very analytical that can be very draining and crippling. The last couple of days I have been feeling distant from people, from God, from structure, from my convictions. How do I overcome this distance? What can I do to help me stay close to the Lord? What do I need to talk about with my mentor concerning this? Know that this is normal for someone to go through these emotions and thoughts, but it is not normal to allow them to pass by without acknowledgment.

So that’s summer time for me. What are you doing this summer?

This summer I will try to catch you up on my life, devotional thoughts, photo galleries, and references to some great things. I was going to try to find themes, but I am going to go completely spontaneous!

Happy reading…

What has happened in the past two weeks:

• Meet some new friends who will be working at CSU this year with me.
• Worked a lot!
• Went shopping for some new clothes with my birthday money!
• Definitely saw GI Joe with Lee and Clint…ooooohhh Channing Tatum!
• Did a couple of photoshoots (two previous posts) for Kait & Justin and Baxley.
• Had lunch with my mentor, Lynette! (That’s a rare occasion for us!)
• Got to spend some time with Savannah after she returned from Honduras.
• Spoke to all of the Rez Life staff about PLACE
• Went on the Charleston Thriller boat ride today with Katie and Savvy. You gotta check it out some time!
• My roommate, PT (aka Party Time), is back in the APT with me!
• Survived Orientation!

Sounds like a lot of fun, huh? Well, for the most part it has been! These are the times when someone wired like me can get bogged down in life. You want to make sure that you have everything done just perfectly so you over exert yourself to the point of exhaustion and in-effectiveness. You also tend to dwell on things that aren’t reality or possibly exaggerate the things that are somewhat real. What does this mean?

First thing that comes to mind would be this guy who I recently tried befriend. At the beginning it seemed to be a fun time to have a guy to hang out with. Quickly it turned to a microscopic crush, but knowing that my heart could not handle any more games like I had been through in the past I decided I was going to slowly approach it. After inviting him to come along to some of the events that I was attending and being shut down I decided to back away again. Mind you I had like four people who were reminding me to be careful and a couple of them just didn’t have a good feeling about this guy from the get-go! I did heed their advice, but I was in a weird place where I still wanted to play the game. Turns out the game was just dumb. After inviting him to an event on-campus where we both work I got a response from this guy telling me I acted better than him because I went out and did things, and that I was too intent on changing him. So needless to say… I am done with that one. I don’t have any fight in me to try to rekindle anything there. Is this wrong? I choose to think that I am not giving up on him as a person, but it is my responsibility to guard my heart from any discouragement or evil doing because it is the well-spring of life. If I would continue on fighting that lost cause I would become even more drained and would walk into the wilderness. Do you think this is one of those cases where I might have exaggerated the situation?

I have also been a little overwhelmed with the fact that so often I apologize or become a wimp when it comes to boldly proclaiming that I am called to do ministry for the Lord and that I am happy with doing that! I find myself tip-toeing around the TRUTH. But WHY? Is it because I don’t want to be confronted with conflict of beliefs? Is it because I am lazy? Do I just want to be accepted by all people? Do I really understand why I am doing it? What did I think it was going to be like? These are some of the questions that pass through my head as I am talking to people that don’t know me and I am trying to make a lasting impression. Don’t they know who I am? I love the serve and to give and to organize and to shoot pictures and to influence people and to love and to help and….well you get the point, right? I am hoping to find some more community with some of the people I am now working with because I want to walk boldly on and off-campus to tell people I am called to be a servant of the Lord. I believe this community will answer what Hebrews 10:24 says, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.”

Any who – that’s been some of the major things running through my head these past couple of weeks. I’m trying to get my life back into the daily routine of writing. I will try to post a Top Ten Thursday later today.

Salty air, sun-kissed hair

That endless summer

take me there…