As you may know, Jeremiah has been planning and preparing for the San Diego Express Summer Project for months.  He and his co-director of the project have been praying and preparing each detail, asking for the Holy Spirit to guide and enliven each activity and talk.

This week we finally welcomed the students here to the hotel we are staying in for the intense two week experience. In day 5 already, it has been exciting to see how God is stretching and growing the students that have come to participate with us. They come from all over the country, including New Hampshire, South Carolina, Florida, Wisconsin, Hawaii, Arizona, and California. We brought one student with us from NAU, our dear Annie (practically part of our family), and she even joined us on our mini one day family vacation before project started.

Annie playing with Judah

The Express project is an intensive two weeks, where the students live and breathe teaching and ministry. Our focus is developing both heart and skills for life and ministry.  We are talking about deepening their walk with the Lord and dependence upon the Holy Spirit through spiritual disciplines, which serve to help us grasp and live out our new life in Christ. We are also training them in many tools for practical Evangelism and using them right away. Almost every day involves teaching, training and doing Evangelism, as well as building friendships and having fun together.  As staff, we are all very busy and engaging almost constantly. But it is so worth it to see God move in their lives and around us (we have already seen 4 people pray to receive Christ through the outreach being done by our group, including a girl from Jeremiah’s home town).

A debrief time with the students

A fun surprise too was being able to see Jeremiah’s Grandparents, who live in San Diego. They have been missionaries for about 55 years, and married for 61, and after they came to have a meal with us, we invited them to share for a few minutes with the students at the start of the evening meeting.  Many of the students were very encouraged by their faithfulness and passion for the Lord over a lifetime!

Fun with the Great Grandparents!

I have also been squeezing in some fun with the kids, enjoying the beauty of San Diego and some summer-time play.  Although travelling every summer for ministry can be stressful, we are blessed and very thankful to be able to go to beautiful places as a family! Thank you for your prayers and for enabling us to minister on this summer project!

Hanging out at Balboa Park

On The Mall, in front of the Capitol

I had the opportunity the first week of June to head out to DC to meet, on behalf of our Cru legal team, with several other nonprofit groups that share our interests in preserving religious liberties for students. It was great to meet several of the people I have been on phone calls with over the past couple years from different organizations in person, as well as meeting some new individuals who are very involved in addressing the challenges we face on college campuses where being a Bible-believing group is not popular, and some administrations would rather we not be there at all.

Our staff in Cru want to serve their communities on college campuses all around the country, and we have great records of engaging well with people who disagree with the Gospel message we proclaim and some of the Biblical values we hold to.  We want to welcome any student to attend and participate in our Chapters, and always proclaim the message of the Gospel with gentleness, grace and love.  But we desire to ensure that those leading our groups will proclaim our message of hope and love and truth that is grounded in Christ’s teaching and the Gospel message. This restriction on leadership selection has begun to conflict with administrators who wish to extend the campus nondiscrimination clauses to club leadership selection as well as membership.

Anyway, while in DC, I did have a few extra hours to see the sights, and enjoyed glancing at a couple museums and the monuments, fondly remembering my summer in DC during college long ago.

Thank you for your prayers and support that enable me to do this legal work for Cru in addition to serving at NAU.

We have been busy the last few weeks. Wrapping up the year means finishing well with students as well as reviewing the year as a staff team and looking forward to next year.

In terms of student activities, we had a fun end of the year BBQ, at a beautiful home here in Flagstaff, generously shared by a ministry partner here! What a blessing to have a comfortable place to relax and play together, celebrating the year.

We also had fun final celebrations with our small groups. Jeremiah had his guys over and they ate meat (OK, to be fair, Jeremiah says “we ate tri-tip, hon, not meat”). What more fun thing can you imagine? (OK, yes, I am a woman, so I don’t fully understand the bonding power of certain manly foods). But they also had a fun time talking and laughing about the year and looking forward to their various summer adventures. I took my girls up to an overlook on the observatory mesa that looks out over Flagstaff. We enjoyed sitting on blankets, eating cookies, and looking at the beautiful evening lights of the city. We reflected on some favorite memories from the year together and some key things we had learned, then were able to pray together. In the midst of it all, we laughed as some of the girls began to freak out about the dark and the momentary shock of lights shining on us each time a car went by on the road.  Jeremiah and I both had really fun groups of students, and we will miss them this summer. We are praying that they all stay focused on the Lord and take care of themselves both spiritually and relationally this summer.

Fun times at the Flagstaff observatory mesa

It was also fun doing our last discipleship times for the year. It is fun to share with students how we have seen them grow and challenge them to move forward passionately following the Lord. I enjoyed talking about worship as a natural part of life, looking at some Psalms together to see the picture of someone who finds his satisfaction only in the Lord and who longs for God above all else. This overflows into a passionate pursuit of God on a personal level and also in wanting others to experience it with us.  I am praying that I, along with them, continue to grow in passionately pursuing God in this way!

Finishing well as a staff team is also important and fun. We just returned from the Regional staff retreat in CA, where we were refreshed by hearing some National Cru leaders encouraging us to examine our own hearts to ensure that we are fully submitted to the Lord and experiencing His joy and strength.  We also enjoyed hearing from staff at other campuses about what God is doing there.

Now we turn our focus to our little team.  We have had one semester with Drew and Leah on our team, and it has been great getting to know them and both learning and relying on one another’s strengths. This week we are meeting to look ahead to next year, and we are excited for what God is going to do next year.  God is good, and He is worthy of our praise, our trust and our hope!

Thank you for being part of this year through your prayers and partnership!

We had an outreach in late March in which we saw great things from within and outside our movement.  Read about it at http://us2.campaign-archive1.com/?u=239f6dfcb4e9b401a5b650c83&id=203d9303ac&e=

Lori and Jeremiah enjoying a warm afternoon in Northern California

This week, as our students arrived back from Spring Break, we dove right into an outreach week on campus. Nothing elaborate, but driven by a desire for our involved students to continue to grow in overcoming their fear of talking to people about spiritual things and giving them the chance to practice doing so.  It has been really fun so far–we all have been wearing T-shirts that say “Think” on the front and “What’s your perspective?” on the back. Then we have had a table in the Union Building where we asked people walking by “Can we get your perspective?” and inviting them to participate in a discussion where they get to select cards that represent how they think about spiritual truths in topics like “Meaning and purpose of live” and “the Nature of God” and “Who is Jesus?”  The cards are called Perspective Cards.  It has been so fun engaging with a diverse group of NAU students and seeing how they view the world and spirituality.  We have found many are open to hearing the Biblical perspective after they share theirs.  While many reject it for a variety of reasons, we are excited that we are able to listen first, engage respecfully, and then encourage them to consider the Christian worldview (some hearing it for the first time).

Both Jeremiah and I enjoy talking to people about spiritual topics, and find that doing so only makes us more passionate to share about Jesus with people. This is because we see all the more clearly how so many worldviews don’t lead to hope and joy, and that only in the person of Christ do we find acceptance and love and hope that is not based on whether we measure up or on the ultimately illogical and dissatisfying concept that it doesn’t matter what you believe, as long as you believe it passionately.

It is fun also to see many of our students growing and taking steps of faith, realizing for the first time that it doesn’t have to be scary and can in fact be life-giving to engage with people in a real way about topics that really matter and that most people do want to think about, but maybe are afraid to vocalize until someone brings it up and asks.

Every now and then, I like to do a post about our precious children. They are growing up so fast, it is exciting, and yet a little sad for me as a mother because I know the time is slipping by, and often too fast for me to truly treasure all these memories and experiences in my heart.

I sometimes wonder if I don’t have too much on my plate, causing me to miss little moments here or there. But recently I have been reflecting on the blessings in my life, and I believe that all the opportunities I have to serve (as a wife, mother, church member, campus minister, lawyer, and friend) are all gifts from the Lord. I want to be able to confidently say, along with Paul, that “I have leaned in whatever situation I am to be content.” (Phil 4:11). In thinking and praying about contentment, I have been able to see the Lord’s hand at work in and through me even more. I am able to enjoy the time I get to have with my kids at home, as well as the joys of the work I get to do.

I was reading the book Calm my Anxious Heart by Linda Dillow, and 2 of the things listed in a prescription for contentment really struck me: 1) Never allow yourself to complain about anything; and 2) Never compare your lot with another’s.  I have sought to apply them and I already see the fruit. Unfortunately, I participated in complaining (mostly to Jeremiah, about various circumstances) last semester, and I found that it resulted in a subtle poison that, if allowed to simmer long enough, leads to bitterness and cynicism.  Thankfully, the Lord gave me eyes to see my sin, and confess it both to Him and others, instead turning to “Rejoice in the Lord always!”  And I do have so much to rejoice and give thanks for – principally that God has shown me so much mercy and given me His spiritual blessings (Eph 1).  So I see very clearly that choosing to not complain is a wonderful prescription indeed, allowing me to see what is actually true in God’s sovereign goodness (amazingly, I am also seeing this truth and hope in God displayed with amazing beauty and grace by some friends who are choosing to cling to God and not complain in the midst of great sorrow at loosing children and being diagnosed with cancer. I am humbled, encouraged, and inspired by their steadfastness in the midst of brokenness).

So with that little backdrop.  let me share some of the fun, precious things I have been able to do with my three gifts from God–Isaiah, Bethany and Judah.

Isaiah is doing very well in 1st Grade, and has a wonderful teacher at the local public school. He comes home from school happy, and dives right into playing with Bethany and Judah. They are so fun to watch laughing and making up crazy stories and worlds together. I love to join in too, though they often have to correct me because I just don’t know all the details of their imaginary realms quite right. But they are usually pretty patient.

Isaiah is still my little policeman. He wants everyone to follow the rules, though he himself does not always do so. But I am seeing growing maturity in him–he is internalizing so much of what we say, and has become a big helper. He does not usually complain when I ask him to help me with various tasks, and I see him trying to help the other two learn and obey too.

Isaiah also just did a science project for school, and it was fun to walk with him through the whole process. I was so proud of him for working hard and finishing well.Bethany started preschool this semester, and is doing really well there. She picks things up so quickly, and is having fun making new friends.  We try to have special times together when she gets home after lunch; I get to hear all about her morning, read books with her, do some crafts together, or go play outside. She also loves to get in some time playing with Pippin, our dog. She likes to “train” him, and puts on her best commanding voice to do so.Bethany also displays such a soft heart for people and a trust in the Lord. I love that her first thought when she hears of anyone hurting is to suggest we pray for them. She has such childlike faith and wants to know God more–sometimes I hear her humming worship songs that Jeremiah and I play or sing.

Then there is my little Judah. He is so fun and so funny, despite his determination to assert his opinionated 2 year old will. I am enjoying some time with just him in the mornings when Bethany is at school (even though he gets his backpack ready every morning and insists that he is going to school too).  He is learning so much, and has left behind the 2 word sentences for 10 word ones. He loves to read, dance, play “swords,” do exercises with mommy, and build duplos.  He loves football and baseball and soccer too, and can kick and throw for long periods of time.  I can’t help but smile when he throws a ball and then yells out “Oh no, you missed it.” when I don’t catch it.  Most of all, he wants to be like his brother and sister. If I tell him he is 2, he insists that he is either 4 or 6. And he has so much fun with them. 

Finally, something fun we are doing all together several mornings a week is to go over the New City Catechism, which was developed out of Tim Keller’s Redeemer church in NYC. It is an app that has been a great resource, helping us to train the kids in some of the basics of the gospel and God’s word that we have talked about since they were tiny, but that they are now able to articulate more.  It is fun to hear even Judah repeating the phrases we are memorizing, and then to talk to all of them about what those words mean and what stories in the Bible might illustrate the truths. We recommend it!

I have also started reading the Narnia books with the kids (something I fondly remember my parents doing with me), and it has been fun to talk about the worlds CS Lewis created as well as the Biblical analogies that come with them. The kids are so interested in figuring out all the details and implications, though the tension is a bit much for them sometimes. I can feel their nervousness as they sit tensely on my lap…

Our students at the Beach in San Diego

So we had our annual Winter Conference in San Diego and ended up taking 8 of our NAU students with us. They road tripped out there together and bonded over adventures such as a flat tire, etc. The conference was a great experience for them though, and it was exciting to see the ways God worked in them.  The theme of the conference was “Undone,” and there were some amazing speakers who challenged the students to focus on God instead of themselves, to really see Him in all his power and glory, and yet his role as loving, personal, Father as well.  They were encouraged to rely on the power of the Holy Spirit to live daily life, and experience the joy of God’s presence that we can experience because of the work of Christ and the Holy Spirit in our lives.  Then the last speaker, Michael Oh, challenged them to live as a “normal” radical Christian, because it should be what is natural for us if we are truly following Christ!

Mikayla, one of our students, decided she did not want to wait any longer to get baptized, so we went down to the COLD beach one evening and she and Jeremiah went into the ocean and she took that step of obedience in being baptized. She was so excited, and it was great to pray together as a group for her, huddled on the sand.

God is so good, and I love to see His love and His purposes transform people right in front of us.

It has been really fun to see our students growing lately.  It is encouraging to see them enjoying one another while they grow in their walk with God and are beginning to live with a common purpose in mind. We desire to be a safe, authentic, fun community where people can laugh together while learning about God and what it means to follow Christ. But we also want to be more than that – we want to be about what God is about. We are seeing our community move in this direction and we praise God!

We had 6 Juniors and Seniors come with us to the Crossroads conference for that age group. They heard talks on keeping an eternal perspective and remembering Jesus is king as they look to their future and make life choices. The main speaker talked specifically about things like Surrender and Decision making, and it was fun to see our students soak it in and struggle with what implications those thoughts have for their lives.

The week before that conference, we did an outreach on campus here at NAU. We called it “Think: What’s Your Perspective” and, as a community, we sought to respectfully ask students about their perspectives on spiritual things and, if they were willing to hear, share the Biblical perspective. The most exciting thing about it was seeing almost all of our students participate. Our student leaders did a great job training the other students in how to engage with their fellow students. We all wore T-shirts, responded to questions from friends and classmates about the shirts, and came out to the tables in the Union to invite students to stop and share their views with us there. I saw our students praying for each other and encouraging one another, as well as taking steps of faith to share their perspective after listening and dialoguing with students about those students’ views.

The week before that, my Small Group of girls went to a local Rescue Mission to help out during a meal. It was fun to see some of them step out of their comfort zone and serve. Many of us enjoyed talking to the guests there (people from the community facing hard times and from around the country passing through Flagstaff). I heard a few crazy stories and interesting spiritual perspectives. One man, from the East Coast, shared about some of his religious experiences as he has explored various religions, but said only recently he was open to hearing about Jesus again because he met a deep-thinking, authentic Christian who made him re-think some of the reasons he had rejected the Christian faith before. I will continue to pray for him.

Overall, we are encouraged. God is at work within Cru here at NAU. We look forward to what He will continue to do, and we are praying that our community continues to become more authentic and vulnerable while staying welcoming and outward focused. We know that keeping our eyes on Christ is what will help!

We just returned from our Fall Retreat camping trip up in Southern Utah. It was a fun time of connecting with several of our new students.  We had about 20 there, and we enjoyed some great devotionals and relaxing times around the campfire. The environment is great for laughing together and also having some deep conversations on hikes as well as in camp.  We wore everyone out with a hike into the famous Buckskin Gulch, and even waded through some deep pools of mud. I will try to link some pictures later this week.

The theme for the weekend was “All Things New,” which enabled us to focus on our new life in Christ and how walking with God means our perspective and our mission and our hope are all new. It was great to see some of the students open their eyes to see new things about God even from the beautiful creation surrounding us. It was also super encouraging to hear some of the students engaging with one another about faith. I heard one student ask another one how they came to know the Lord, and overheard other conversations about how they are so glad they decided to dive into caring about their faith more up here at College. God is on the move, and we are thankful! Thank you for your prayers. Please pray that community continues to go deeper in our small groups and other activities, so that those students who were unable to come on the retreat experience that depth as well.

We are excited about what God is doing already this fall. It has been a bit of a whirlwind for the past three weeks, with all kinds of events and get-togethers with students, but we can tell God is moving here at NAU and we are praising Him!

We started off by getting together with our Core leadership team and sharing the vision for the year, praying and planning together. The 5 Core students and Jeremiah and I were all excited to step into our various roles and trust God together for what He might do through us and the group.

Then we dove into Welcome Week, with students moving in on campus. We had a little come-back get together for our returning students and then tabled for several days to get the word out about our group and get the info of people who were interested in our activities, our small groups, or how to have a relationship with God. We also had an ice-cream social, a hike and a scavenger hunt the first weekend.

The first week of classes we had a Freshmen meeting on Tuesday to introduce our small groups and let students know more about what we are all about. It was followed by Free pizza and our first weekly meeting on Wednesday. We had about 45 students attend and many responded positively to the time. We truly felt that God was glorified in the focus and content, and praise Him for being at work there.

In addition, we and the Core team have been pursuing meeting one on one with many of the interested students, to hear their stories, find out their spiritual backgrounds, and share the good news as the opportunity arose. Jeremiah had some exciting conversations (you can see your latest newsletter for one fun story of a student responding to the Gospel! – not quite posted here yet) and several of our Core women had great conversations too. One girl in particular is excited to have a follow up conversation with a girl who really wants to know how to have a relationship with God!

The second weekend, we had some “spikeball” on the lawn Friday afternoon, an evening hanging out downtown, and a hike to the Lava Tube on Saturday. It was lots of fun, with about 30 people on the hike with us, and some great bonding and hanging out. The kids did well in the Lava Tube too. Isaiah went all the way to the end, and Bethany made it most of the way and was a trooper walking with her headlamp next to Daddy the whole way.

This week has been reason to praise God too. We are seeing a number of the freshmen really get involved in our group. Several have volunteered to help with worship for the weekly meeting, I had a great turnout for the womens’ small group, and Jeremiah saw another student receive Christ and get more involved. Praise God! We have another hike this weekend, and will have mens/womens’ overnighters the following weekend, so that will be fun. Please do continue to pray for us and for God to move, drawing more NAU students to Himself day by day!