Looking better than the lilies/God provides for his work

Jesus said "do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?...why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

Matthew 6:25,28-30

I have been learning that very thing. In college I adored clothes, a little too much so when I let Jesus have my life I let go of some things that were bad for my body image and soul, cancelled subscriptions cleaned out my closet, and haven't spent a lot on clothes since, more from necessity the last four years than choice. Regardless of this I have beautiful clothes and after about a week ago practically a new wardrobe. My dear friend Kristi threw a clothing exchange party, and while I passed over the gorgeous puff ball wrap I'm modeling for you in the picture above I took home many lovely things. My closet was ready for them since I had taken the things I only wear because they are clean to the soiree. God has also been providing for my work on campus in a unique way this month. All extra or new financial donations dated in the month of June and received by July 7th will be matched by the area. I've had less than a week to contact supporters and after asking a supervisor some questions today I realize I have misunderstood the timeline. I must know about the gift and notify my supervisor of the name and amount by tomorrow June 30th at 5 p.m. to have it matched. God is gracious, so gracious and I have been able to on short notice get ahold of enough donors that the amount that will be matched so far is at $875. That mean $1750 extra this month! Praise God! I have a deficit of $7,000 but this past week I have been watching it shrink. Also if you are planning on giving a one-time gift let me know so I can make sure it will be matched. I am excited to see what the final amount will be. Also pray for me as I look for a good part-time job. I am hoping for something that will contribute to my work on campus somehow and am even applying for an instructors position on campus. If I can find a good part-time position than I can reduce my salary with IV without reducing my hours on campus and decrease my deficit in this way as well.

Oh yeah, what chapter camp was like for me

Chapter Camp started early for me. I was part of the creative response team which means all the visuals of camp, guided response to manuscript study of John 1-4, and planning/taking down the prayer room. I specifically put together the response for John 2"Abundance!"-the wedding at Cana passage. This meant setting up worship leaders to close our time in corporate worship. Putting together a funny/serious set of clips to help students begin to think about how this passage connected to their lives, special shout out to Sam and Randell who helped me more than I can begin to say with all the editing. It also meant MCing directing prayer and everything else involved the day of. I also got to put together different elements for some of the other days and had a hand in making sure those days went well. I also helped with the re-imagining evangelism track. I was re-convinced of the value of InterVarsity fellowships in reaching the campus, because Jesus used that witnessing community at UW to win my heart for himself. I was also encouraged and convicted that Jesus loves people who aren't college students and that there were other people he had placed in my life who needed more of him. We used the excellent materials courtesy of Rick Richardson and IVP that I had tested out with a group of students when I was still staff at UNC. I got to share my testimony and be part of students learning to share their stories as well. It was a privilege. I was also prayer ministry coordinator and camp intercessor with the help of my new staff partner Lauren, also a privilege. Jesus always uses Chapter Camp to prove that he can pour out more goodness on me than I can imagine, even as I pour out my life, time and the work of my hands to his service.

Better than bouncing down a cliff side with a rope

Maybe repelling doesn' seem that risky to you, but I bet the things I'm about to tell you about some of these students will. Faith had a real moment with Jesus at WinterVarsity conference. So real she put her trust in Him. So real that she shared about her testimony in front of about 150 people on the day we studied John 3 at Chapter Camp and talked about moving from darkness to light. Part of a Christian family, it was not until that moment at WinterVarsity that Faith understood who Jesus was to her, and she will tell anyone now. Lisa didn't know any of us going, she had met us at a table just weeks before camp, but she came. She was looking for something and she had made a pact with God that she would take some risks. It seemed like what she needed to do. During an invitation at one of the night sessions to stand up if you were ready to commit your life to Jesus, she stood up and knew it was a risk, but what she really wanted to do. Two more students choosing to be part of the kingdom and understanding that it means that you go about on the kings business now. My supervisor called to my attention that our chapter has had conversions every year, that about a quarter of our fellowship our students who have committed their lives to Jesus because of the ministry of InterVarsity. How humbling. In many regards all I did was show up. I was there and did what I felt moved to do. whether it was handing out otter pops, leading a study about from John 4 or praying I was just doing my job. Full of risks but also the mundane. I know that many of you who support me risk to keep me there. Thank you. Let's keep risking. Let's keep getting students in front of Jesus whether in the student union, student apartments or Bear Trap Ranch. Let's get students in front of Jesus. Repelling seems like just about the most boring thing you could do at Bear Trap now though.