miami

last week we flew down to miami 4 days of training. we spent 6 weeks during the summer of 2010 and we are very fond of the city so we were looking forward to going back...didn't hurt that their version of fall weather is anything but chilly.

can't beat being greeted by the famous doubletree warm chocolate chip cookies.

our schedule was packed but we had a great time with friends and co-workers from around the southeast. of course we found time to dine at our favorite restaurant, fratelli la bufala...amazing authentic italian pizza.

night time view from our hotel room.

we love our job with campus crusade for Christ and are thankful we have opportunities to take time and to grow in reaching this generation of students for Christ.

fall retreat

this past weekend we were so blessed to have over 250 students at our annual fall retreat. this is one of my favorite things we do: bring students away from the busyness of their semester to spend a weekend learning more about God and growing in their relationship with Him.

how beautiful is this place??

what's a saturday in the fall without a little bit of college football...

saturday night ended with a massive dance party. 

seriously so much fun even though i spent the majority of the time snapping pictures.

this weekend was such a great reminder of how God is working and changing lives. 

i am so thankful for our job with college students at alabama!

national staff conference.

the main reason we went out to colorado was our biannual staff conference with Campus Crusade for Christ.

during our trip we got to hear from our leadership on various topics, mainly CCC's name change. if you haven't heard, Campus Crusade for Christ is going to be re-named "Cru" in the US. justin and i are both truly excited about this new name as Campus Crusade had negative connotations and no longer accurately described the ministry...we have ministries for families, military, professionals and many other contexts around the nation.

as i mentioned before, we were also blessed to hear from francis chan, david platt and other Christian leaders. if you are interested you can watch some of the videos on the US Staff Conference website.
Campus Crusade celebrated it's 60th anniversary while we were out there, it was truly a blessing to see how God has used the ministry during those years.

there is something special to be surrounded by 5000 people that have the same mission as you, to bring glory to God and introduce others to Jesus in their ministry focus.

during the conference we had a few sessions with everyone who does campus ministry, including professors, college ministry [like justin and i] as well as high school ministry. one segment was dedicated to real stories, ones that were tough and hurt to tell. justin did a great job sharing about our story and what God has brought us through these past three months.

[sorry the picture isn't the best, i still haven't mastered my camera...]

we loved our time in colorado and are excited to get everything started back up in the fall!

rebuilding our library

if you know justin at all, you know that he is a reader through and through. it is one of the things that i admire so much about him. last year his entire Christmas list was books, and books only...

one tough thing about the tornado was us losing our growing library of books. we were able to save some, but many have water damage and/or ripped pages. 

a professor & his assistant at Southern Seminary [where justin is enrolled part-time] arranged a "book drive" from the fellow professors. this was all a surprise as we received 5 HUGE boxes filled with various books: varying from Christian classics, text books and soon-to-be bestsellers. we felt so loved by this generosity and caring gesture.

one great thing about the conference where we are currently is the book selection, both for sale and giveaways. we were able to pick up some really great books out here and we are excited to add these to our rebuilding library. 

[the only bad thing is that we were short on space before....these books won't help that one]

one book we are both excited to dive into is francis chan's new book, erasing hell.

 he doesn't back down, he addresses some tough questions in the book.

excited to start reading this one along with the many others we picked up during our time out here.

pikes peak or bust rodeo

we arrived in colorado on saturday for a conference with campus crusade for Christ. we flew into denver and headed down to colorado springs to visit my aunt and uncle for the night before our final destination of fort collins.

justin and i were so excited to experience our first colorado rodeo. these people were in to it! it is a completely different culture than our alabama hunting/fishing culture...but the rodeo was tons of fun.

[if you know me at all, i am a sucker for animals doing human things..so this pig in a wagon was just too cute to me. i had to pose with him. a bunch of kids and i were probably the only ones that thought this was presh.]

there were like 5 or 6 different "events" with cowboys and cowgirls from around colorado and nearby states. my favorite one was when they jumped off their running horse onto a cow and wrestled it down to the ground. that takes some serious practice and talent! most of my "action" shots turned out blurry because the horses/cattle/riders were moving so fast.

i could seriously stare at this view for days. colorado is gorgeous!

our conference officially starts tomorrow, we can't wait to hear from CCC leadership and other speakers.

packing up & moving out

we have spent the past couple of days packing up our belongings....it is tough to see how little we have, but so thankful all the sentimental things we saved.

tomorrow morning we begin our journey to visit family and friends in georgia then head out to colorado for a conference with campus crusade for Christ. we are so excited for the bi-annual conference held in fort collins,co  for all the US staff. justin and i spent our first 2 months of marriage in fort collins, such a precious time for the both of us. we are pumped to be reunited with friends who are on staff across the nation and colorado is absolutely breathtaking.

here are a few pictures from summer 2009 in colorado.

view from our dorm at colorado state.

when we got our assignment to alabama.

look at us babies...

we spent a couple days in denver.

at the conference. a little bit overwhelming.

excited to hear from campus crusade leadership as well as francis chan, david platt and others.

greek summit 2011

we love our job. 

this may we spent few weeks with 80 fraternity/sorority students from around the nation to help them walk with the Lord and learn how to be a light for Him in their Greek house.

cosmic bowling.

justin & christian.

blue family group.

kailey, me and lissa handley.

alabama students at greek summit.

Greek Summit is packed with lots of teaching and training in the morning. In the afternoon students usually hang out on the beach and experience genuine Christian community. At nights we have fun things planned ranging from Bible study to bowling. 

So thankful for this trip to help take our minds off what was going on back in Tuscaloosa. 

We were so blessed to serve on this summer project. Many students started walking with the Lord during this project and it was so encouraging to hear them share their testimonies with each other of what God is doing in their life.

going away party.

last week we had a going away party for our director, christie, who is getting married, moving to atlanta and getting a new job with crusade. we are so excited for her, but sad to see her go.

[kelsey, christie & hannah]

kelsey put together a slideshow to show at our last weekly meeting. beyond precious.

[marie & christie]

allison and bekah caye made a scrapbook with notes from some of the people christie has invested in during her three plus years at alabama. 

we had a fun night eating, playing games and getting to spend some time praying for christie during her upcoming transition and marriage to d.

if you have a minute, read her letter to bama. very touching.

women's retreat

last weekend we had a women's retreat for girls involved with crusade from alabama, mississippi state and georgia. such a great weekend filled with quality time, learning, relaxing and food...what's not to love :)

this is just the bama girls!!

we were in atlanta for the weekend and two women on staff with campus crusade taught about psalm 23. there are so many analogies about the Lord being our shepherd and us being his sheep and they did a fantastic job reminding us how much we are like sheep. apparently sheep are stupid, stubborn and fearful (among other things)...yep, that sounds like me!

on saturday we had the afternoon free to do whatever we wanted. i went to little five points with these girls to shop. it was such a beautiful day...we enjoyed walking around and eating! and i got some really cute boots. score for me!

audrey, hannah, missy, abigail, marie and katie.

i hope some of my college friends see this little number.

yes, those are strawberries all over it.

and no, i didn't get it.

[my sorority's mascot is a strawberry...little bit obsessed]

here are some more pictures from the weekend

[me and brooke]

[hannah, michelle, bekah caye]

such a great weekend with these girls!

after the retreat ended on sunday, i went to lunch and did a little bit more shopping with my parents. always refreshing and fun to see them!

atlanta christmas conference

yesterday, we reported to a conference that the southeast region puts on every year for college students from georgia, florida, alabama and mississippi. we absolutely love this conference, justin and i both came multiple times as students and this is our second time working the conference as staff.

i would love for you to join us in praying for the 2010 atlanta christmas conference.

the theme of the conference is light of the world. pray that we would be the light of Christ during and after this conference.

another staff, hannah and i, are in charge of women's time. please pray for our speaker as she shares about the idols we worship and settle for instead of the Lord.

i will be in and out over the next couple of days. ...we have a big birthday tomorrow!! justin is turning 24. woo-hoo!!

i'm a proud wife :)

Justin got his first opportunity to teach at Bama Crusade's weekly meeting. He did such a fantastic job and I am so proud of him!!

We were going through a series on the book of Hosea. This was the 3rd (of 4 messages) on the book...so we are flying through the book.

The Lord has really used this series in my life, as well as in the students' lives. I encourage you to listen to Justin's message on the Bama Crusade podcast!!