Garden opening 09

After nursing seedlings in my bedroom for the past 3 months, I was anxious to get them in the ground. This year they are starting off with some pros and cons. Pro: we now have a water tower and hoses so that we do not have to water the garden by hand and I was able to put carpet remnants between my rows to cut down on the amount of weeds. Con: I am working 40+ hours/week, so it will be much harder to get to the garden and take care of problems such as pests like I did last year (when I pulled them all off of my plants by hand rather than use pesticides).

EPIC Chapter pics -2008

Heading to Flat's Grill, yum!
Fondue party at the Testa's.
Bowling at the Union. Wearing protective gear is recommended, because when we bowl, the ball does not necessarily stay in the lanes.
Christmas party at my place. Note my first real tree ever. Isn't it pretty?

November 4th -- It Matters

For the past month I have spent the bulk of my free time registering and talking to voters. Please vote. 1 person does matter. Do it because you care about our country. Because you care about our world, your family, your "issue". Do it because you care and because you can. And after you've done it, make sure that your friends and neighbors have too.

Your mission, if you choose to accept it

After you read this blog post, it will self-destruct.

Well, not really, but I have been notoriously bad at posting of late. By the time I find a moment to write everything is old news anyways. To spare you of that, I'll give the 4 sentence summary and fill in the blanks later. This actually will result in the deletion of this post :)

This past weekend I went to Angola, Indiana for a retreat with the college group at my church. The time was packed with great teachings from God's word, kayaking, and new friends. Since coming back I have been spending most of my free moments registering voters. If you happen to pass by me on Grand River with my clipboard in hand, say hello.

Blessed Be the Name. . .

So, it has been a rough couple of weeks in many respects. My internet went down, my phone was lost, my glasses broke, my garden is under more than a foot of water, I had a really bad test day, I need more money to have any chance of going to the nursing program that I like, I led a bible study that I was not happy with, and scheduling people to run the new church venue has been a real headache.

Despite all of this, I have felt surprisingly content. I am still in awe at the wonderful aspects of life in East Lansing (lots of healthy food, old friends, a wonderful apartment and roommate. . . ) and I have felt a strong sense that there is nothing that I am under compulsion to do at the moment. Of course my schedule is ueberfull, but I truly feel the freedom to just let things go right now. Whether this is healthy or not remains to be seen.

Church Planting

One month ago we began a new church venue on the campus of Michigan State University. Each week 30+ volunteers work from 7AM-2PM to help set-up sound, lighting, projectors, and decorations, play in the band, serve in the welcome team, make coffee and deliver donuts, along with a host of other jobs.

It has been interesting making the transition from a small house church to this new service which attracted 167 people last week. I think that the most difficult aspect has been the amount of time that I seem to be engaged in "busy work". In Germany I had significantly more time to spend building relationships with international students. As with all new ventures, however, it is necessary for everyone to jump in wherever needed to make things go smoothly (more or less smooth anyhow).

Here, I have been helping to schedule all of the volunteers (several hours each week). As usual, the beginning of the semester has also required the hanging of innumerable posters, passing out fliers, manning information tables, et. In addition I'm helping to lead a house church which requires about 7 hours a week of meetings. On top of these activities I am enrolled in three courses and working 20-30 hours each week. This week I also began attending MSU's German club in the hope that I can keep up my German language skills. I had a really good time and met several people whom I would like to get to know better. Despite the time pressures, I am really excited to see what God is doing here.

Prayer Update

Previous Requests:
1) healing for dad’s leg: found out that he broke it and will need to have lighter duties at work for 5-6 wks.
2) job interview: I got the job, but I’m still looking for a better one (need more money)
3) money for school books and tuition: I got the book and paid my tuition!
4) Sara and her baby: both are doing well and home now
5) move into apartment: everything went well and I love my new place
6) church role: I accepted a position helping lead one of the campus groups
7) Charlie’s mom: just started chemotherapy
8) garden: it is growing great. I have gotten a lot of food for myself and others from it.

New Requests:
1) that I would do well academically this semester and that I would get into a nursing program
2) that I would have spiritual wisdom in my conversations with students
3) that I would be able to (re)build deep relationships with my friends here

Gearing up

This week has been dominated by activities at church from prayer meetings for the new campus service to putting tape on the back of white boards (5000 of them!) until midnight and passing out said white boards to all of the freshmen who are moving back onto campus today. There are also a few jobs that I am planning on applying for in the next couple of days as well as getting ready for the start of classes on Friday. Please pray for those things.

P.S-It occurred to me today that I often post prayer requests here without mentioning the resolutions to them. God has been working in some great ways lately, and I'll try to post some of the prayer answers soon.

Making Salsa and Friends

This past Friday I had a chance to go bowling in celebration of Kristen Cambern's birthday. I was pleasantly surprised to meet a couple of German tourists who were visiting friends in the States and joined us in a couple of rounds of bowling.

In other news, the Garden Project had an open house this weekend so I was able to show people from the neighborhood around our plots. They had a lot of fun ideas for potential improvements to our garden including a compost pile, bee hives, and even a water tower! On Thursday I had attended a Salsa making workshop, so I was able to offer our visitors some homemade salsa and tortillas. Another benefit of the workshop was that one of the other participants invited me to her home to can with her. I am looking forward to learning from her experience.

The biggest news of the week, however, is that my new roommate has officially moved in. It is great to have her here.

Moving

I am finally moved in to my new place! I am really enjoying having so much space. My current bedroom is almost as large as my first apartment in Cologne. In addition, with the furniture that we currently have in the living room we are able to comfortably seat 13, and there is still space for another couch. It will be so much easier to have movie nights, dinner parties, and Bible studies here. Please pray that my roommate and I will be able to use this great space to serve others and to be refreshed.