Easter Orphans

I know this is out of order, but I also wanted to include a picture of the "Easter Orphans".  Most of the people sitting around for Easter Dinner were not able to go home because family was too far away.  Some, however, had never celebrated an Easter since it is not celebrated in their country.  It was really fun to celebrate, and explain the meaning of this holiday.  I honestly don't think I can emphasis enough what an enjoyable and neat time this was!  Thank you for your continued prayer!

Spring Quarter in Pictures!

So...  I realize that I have not been very good at keeping up on this blog.  There are just so many things to do.  So, instead of writing blurbs, I thought maybe I'd post some pictures that I have taken of some activities with students this spring.  Basically, The pictures with all the BEAUTIFUL flowers are from the Tulip Festival.  As women, we decided to take some time away from the city and go be around something beautiful.  It was such a fun time to spend time with girls from all aspects of the ministry here.  

Training with the BOWMANS!

Well, to all of those of you who know anything about the time that Kevin and I spent at Penn State, you would have heard about Dave and Cathy Bowman.  During our engagement, Kevin and I were blessed to have our premarital counseling done by them, and they even were a part of our wedding.  Basically, they are a special couple to us!  So, I say all of this to tell you that we were so excited to hear about their trip to come out to Seattle to train the University of Washington Team.  They spoke to the students that we (as a team) have been ministering to about biblical relationships,  and trained our staff team and PAC Northwest team in the area of Core Lies.  It was great to be with them.  My favorite part was getting to spend time with them as a couple.  Kevin and I were able to spend time with them together for the first time since we were married.  (It's hard to get together when Kevin is away so much.)  It was especially helpful as we are still in the midst of making decisions regarding our future and discerning where God is leading.  Another encouraging thing that came out of Dave and Cathy's visit was the Reunion of Navigators that were gathered together at our pastor's house.  Basically, a group of Seattle singles and family's, all impacted by the Bowman's as they worked with The Navigators gathered together to spend time with them on Sunday afternoon.  It was such an encouraging thing for me to look around the room and realize that the people in the room were impacted by Christ through the ministry that the Bowman's lead, and now, many of that group are making disciples as well!  

I have included some pictures that were taken at the Relationship Talk with students, the Navigator Reunion and Kevin and I with Dave and Cathy after church.

IGNITE!

Hi everybody! So this post is getting out a week later than I had hoped but I wanted to share with you about our conference. It was considered to be a Navigator Collegiate Conference, but it ended up including a diverse group of Navigators from around the Pacific Northwest Region. We had people from collegiate, b2g (a mission geared towards people in their 20s and 30s), metro, and military all in Portland, Oregon. It was great to see these different missions involved. It is also wonderful for me to witness as a person who is working with collegiate, but also very much understands the military lifestyle (from the wife's perspective of course). The conference itself was the first one held in the Pacific Northwest in recent memory. Drew Frazer, our speaker did an amazing job encouraging us to remain in Jesus and because of that connection, we will produce fruit. It was a good reminder that we need to stay connected to the vine. Besides Drew's talks, we also participated in corporate worship, workshops, amazing meals together and of course giveaways!

I have to say though, that part of the reason that I had such a good time was because I was able to spend more time with Kimby, Rita, Deidra and Alissa. It was just a blast to spend the time with them and to see them interact with our team at the University of Washington, along with some other students from UW as well. Overall, I would say that the first conference for the Pacific Northwest fostered growth in our walks with Jesus as well as community between the different entities of The Navigators.

Start of Winter Quarter

So we have been back on campus for over a week and with all the reconnecting, I have neglected to blog. Go figure! It has been a good start to the quarter so far. It was so fun to get together with the team and see how things were for them over their Christmas break. It has been a little hectic because along with starting up bible study, discipleship and other campus activities we have been heavily recruiting for the Pacific Northwest Collegiate Conference called Ignite! This is the first one in a long time in this region, which is so exciting. We have several students from The University of Washington attending, including all the girls in my bible study! I am so looking forward to what God is going to stir in the hearts of students at Ignite! I also wanted to make sure that I thank all of you who are supporting the work at UDub, both financially and through prayer. Because of your prayers and your financial gifts, students are able to receive scholarships to attend the conference. There are several students that are unable to pay the $135 conference fee, but because of your support they are now able to attend! I look forward to filling you in on the conference in more detail next week! See new prayer requests to the side.

End of quarter craziness...

Wow, so I have been really out of touch on this blog, so for that I apologize.  I have to say that I am very thankful for the reasons that I have had less time to blog.  One of them is that I have gotten to spend some good time with students these past few weeks.  Another, is because we had our Regional Staff Retreat the weekend before Thanksgiving.  

Our staff retreat included staff from University of Oregon, Oregon State and The University of Washington.  It was great to reconnect with staff that I had previously gotten to know along with meeting new staff.  It seems as though God is really blessing the Pacific Northwest with Navigator Staff.  One of the highlights of this time was getting to take Kevin to this retreat and having good fellowship with other believers.  We needed some time away.  Kevin and I have to make a decision concerning the next 5 years of our life in the next month, and it has been more overwhelming than I believe either of us imagined.  We need to decide whether to stay in the Navy or get out in the next couple of months.  It seemed like an easier decision to make before the economy started to deflate.  We are just praying that God would make it abundantly clear where he wants us.  Navy life has it's ups and downs and forces us to be apart for extended periods of time, but if God is calling us back into that, we want to be ready and willing.  

In other news, we are finishing up the quarter with students right now.  It is finals week, which is usually a crazy time for students.  We had a good time throwing a Christmas Party last week.  It was so fun to see students from all walks of life.  We have been getting to know students in all different capacities and it was fun to see all of them get together on Friday Night.  There were students from our bible studies, movies discussion nights, swing dance class and more.  We had food, sang carols and read a wonderful version of the Christmas Story that was written by a Navigator Staff and is told from the standpoint of a shepherd.  It was very powerful especially since many of students are not Christians.  Please pray that we would be allowed to continue to cultivate the relationships that God has given us this quarter and that students would be stirred to think of Christmas differently this year.  

Again, thank you for your support and I hope you all have a MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Catching up...

So this past Thursday, the women on the staff team had our weekly discipleship training time, and it was so good.  Honestly, it is always a good time, but this week was especially sweet because as women, we all spent about a week apart from each other for very different reasons.  Lisa went to Florida for a staff conference for single Navigator Representatives, where she was able to fellowship with other Nav Rep women and spend some time resting with God.  Sarah went home to be with her family because her sister, Rachel, is experiencing some medical difficulties caused by a serious accident that occurred in August.  (Please be praying for Sarah and her family.)  Rachel's leg was badly broken in a motor boat accident.  It is a miracle that she is alive!  Her leg was broken very badly and there has been some infection at the sight of the break, which means there have been several follow-up surgeries as the doctor's continue to monitor her progress.  Genna was on campus, spending time with students and holding down the fort, and Kevin and I went on a much needed retreat away to be together.

The reason I write about this is because we spent about a week away from one another, and it was a good time, for all of us.  We needed that time, but it was so sweet to be together again.  As I think back on that time on Thursday, I am incredibly encouraged about the relationships that God has provided within this team.  I love these women.  We are all so different, but it was so good to hear what has been going on in each of our lives.  I don't mean that to say that everything is great and wonderful, we each have our times of grief of struggle, but I am thankful for the people that God has provided in Seattle.  It is a very clear reminder of what God intends the body of Christ to be, so that we can hold each other up in times of grief but also laugh with one another at the funny things.  I don't want this to start sounding like a greeting card, but I do want to make it clear.  I love these women, their willingness to be real and vulnerable, and their hearts for God and his calling on their lives.