welcome week 2009

here's a little visual glimpse into the very busy week at the beginning of the school year called, "welcome week." for us, this first week of school is a PERFECT opportunity to meet new students and get them involved before the semester gets thick. welcome week involves many activities and events to invite students to...and of course, FREE FOOD. we've met so many new people...friends for life. here are some pictures:

we had a table on campus during the day and passed out candy and fliers.

kickball

free pizza after a campus-wide scavenger hunt

bowling
(this is melissa...one of the new students we met! LOVE her!)

free ice cream and coffee after our first fall meeting

eric, kevin, dean and nicole

i still can't believe the team the LORD has lined up for us. they are super amazing and just keep surprising me at every turn. last weekend, matt and i took the four of them on a leadership retreat to lake livingston. we had such a wonderful time together and were really able to get some stuff decided.

i think the coolest part about them is that although we've watched their lives change and grow over the last year or so, we still haven't really seen them become completely responsible for a group of students yet. that's about to change. their lives are about to change. oh, i'm so excited!

thoughts on life/death

so, i've been thinking a little bit about death lately...depressing, i know. after my grandmother passed away last week, i began to think about what people would say about me when i died.

you see, i realized that whatever it is that we value most throughout our lifetime is what our death also becomes about. for example, if we give our lives to family (which is not a bad thing), then all that people talk about when we die is how great a mother, father, sister, etc we were. if we give ourselves to our work, the only thing people can say about us when we leave is how much we accomplished in our particular field. if we live our lives around how much money we have or all the things we can acquire, then that's all that people will be concerned with when we die.

if we live our lives for the LORD and give ourselves to Him only, then that's all that can be said about us after our life is over here on earth. even those who may be unbelievers will be forced to talk about JESUS, because that will be the very essence of what our lives have been about.

that's i want for people to talk about when they talk about my life.

it's finally official!

matt and his official badge :)

okay...so matt may not be happy with me for putting this picture of him up, but i'm just too excited!!! earlier this week, he and two of the student "officers" attended a meeting at the university that allowed Chi Alpha to become an official student organization on campus. they gave him a cool new badge and everything. the LORD really showed HIS favor on us and has some really cool things in store for UHXA.

there are only a few more weeks left of summer and it seems as though the excitement just builds and builds the closer we get to the beginning of the fall 09 semester. however, as the excitement mounts, so does the nervousness. we kinda feel like we're about to walk into a realm of something completely unknown. PRAISE GOD that He's on our side, right? even though we're a little freaked out, we can walk in confidence knowing that we're not alone and that the Most Sovereign GOD is our guide.

please keep us in your prayers during this time. we need supernatural wisdom and continued favor from the LORD.

we are so rich...

The past couple of months have been such a busy, yet beautiful time for us. Matt and I have truly seen just how rich we are in terms of relationships, and how blessed we are to be always surrounded with such an amazing host of loving friends and family.

Here we are with my mom and my sister, Allison, setting up for my grandmother's 80th surprise birthday party. Gran is such an example of strength, beauty, and the love of GOD. It was so much fun celebrating her life and what's yet to come with many, many other precious family members.The month of June was started by our time at Camp Barnabas. We thought in going to this camp to serve that we would be a blessing to those there, but it turned out that we were the ones who left indescribably blessed.

Matt's cousin, Walker, got married a couple weekends ago in Corpus Christi and we were able to spend some relaxing time with his family. Of course, we did steal away by ourselves for just one day for fun at the beach and a nice dinner overlooking the water as the sun set. (Ahhh...) We were also able to spend some extra time with his brothers, Josh and James, for the Fourth of July.
Then, just as Matt's brothers were leaving, we welcomed our dear friends, Kyle and Tabitha Crouch into our home. We went to school with them at Sam Houston, but the LORD has directed them to minister to college students in Washington State. They're here for the month visiting friends and family. We really had such a refreshing time with them, catching up and talking about what the LORD is doing on college campuses at opposite ends of the country. We're honored to be have them as friends and co-laborors for the Kingdom of GOD.


Like I said, we've been super busy, but there's nothing else we'd rather be doing than spending time with those we love. We really are so grateful for the wealth we have in relationships...including our relationship with you!

CBTX

serving the LORD at Camp Barnabas TX was such an amazing experience...for EVERYBODY involved!!! we've all pretty much decided that it would take way too long to really explain all that the LORD did in our hearts that week. to sum it up in a simple phrase? forever changed. another phrase? our work here (with this ministry) is not finished. we're excited to see how the LORD will continue to use the students at UH at CBTX.
here are a few pics of us with our campers:

matt with his camper, noah
(that's a chocolate mustache that noah painted on him)

me with my camper, rebecca

kevin (one of our UH students) with his camper, jeff

and nicole (another UH student) with her camper, jessica

UHXA at CBTX

We are so excited to be taking a couple of UH students with us to Camp Barnabas TX for the next several days on a missions trip, but it's not exactly the kind of missions trip you're thinking about.

CBTX is a camp out in Tomball, TX specifically for kids with special needs and their siblings. This is such a wonderful ministry because most kids who have special needs are unable to go to a normal summer camp, but the amazing directors at CBTX make it possible for these kids to come to camp, stay overnight (which is really a big deal!), and have the time of their lives!

We leave tomorrow afternoon and plan to get back on Wednesday. Please pray for us as we're out there serving the LORD in this way. And of course, pictures and stories of the trip to follow.