First of all, I am back for my second semester of the internship!  Thanks to all of you who have helped with support along the way…I’m not quite to 100%, but only about $1000 shy of the target, so praise God for that!  Well, once it was certain that I indeed had a spring semester to look forward to, said semester was placed on hold while the infamous winter storm had a go at the city of Atlanta.  Not that I complained…three extra days trapped indoors provided a legitimate excuse to cook and bake relentlessly.  Finally, though, I felt like it was time to actually get back to work, and fortunately so did Georgia Tech.

Three weeks later, the semester is in full swing, and so is RUF!  Tuesday night large group, small groups, and an exciting addition that we’ve been trying out: weekly hymn sings, organized for the sole purpose of gathering students together to worship in prayer and song.  Huh?  Right, that’s what I thought at first, too, so here’s the promo video from Bifrost Arts: http://vimeo.com/14429217

The concept is appealingly simple: bring back the communal worship gathering that once was so common, when people came together for no other reason than to fellowship with one another in musical praise to our God.  This is an event that I ask you to be praying for, because it’s no simple matter to let go of our staid, suffocated approach to organized worship…nor is it easy to let down our walls of self-consciousness and oh-so-hip passivity.  I really want our students to be genuinely blessed by the practice of worship in song, and I’m very eager to see how our gatherings develop over their first trial semester.

Also, pray for my aspirations of blogging diligence  See you all back here soon.

The end of the year is almost upon us, and here’s the deal: if I don’t raise about $4,000 [the remaining 13% of my annual budget] within the next few weeks, there will be no spring semester for me at Georgia Tech.

But think of it this way: someone’s donation this summer paved the way for a conversation with a freshman student. Another gift helped pack 17 girls into a tiny apartment for a fun-filled night of crafts and desserts. I am immensely grateful for all the awesome times you all helped provide for me and for RUF at Georgia Tech. I can’t buy quality experiences with another $4,000, but it will enable me to hang around a little longer to see what else God has in store!

So please keep that in mind, and pray about supporting me as I work towards 100%. Also, as a reminder, donations are tax deductible, which is nice for you

God bless, and happy New Year!

That may not seem like sufficiently newsworthy material, but in my mind, it was nothing less than magical.  I could stare at snowflakes falling all day if I had a mind to.  And now, even if Georgia’s notoriously fickle temperatures decide to swing upwards towards December 25th, I can still pretend that, somewhere in the season, we had a white Christmas.

Along with snows [apparently], December also brings a time of great fun — aka end-of-year support raising!  Joy of joys!  Although I have a really hard time calling you all up and asking you for money, I hope my frankness will move you to show me grace when I do.  Anyway, it’s all God’s money, going to God’s work, which makes the whole deal a lot less about me and my paycheck and a lot more about Him and His plans.

Anyway, all that said, please pray about whether or not He would have you give to support my part in RUF at Tech, and that He would provide the remaining 15% of my support needed to get me through May.  Also, pray for courage and faith for me as I make the support-calling rounds

And finally, WWW.RUF.ORG/DONATE !!

Especially with the arrival of eggnog.  How can I resist eggnog?? [I've given in and put it in my coffee...so it begins...]

Also, it doesn’t help that plans are well underway for the RUF Christmas Party, or that I’ve started rehearsing with the ChristChurch Christmas Choir [the album for which has finally made its way into my car, and will probably soon infiltrate the CD player].  So now, in addition to the overeager consumer-Christmas spirit, I’ve got pre-actual-Christmas spirit invading my life weeks before I formally choose to recognize the season.

While I’m fighting to stick to my guns, I can’t help that Christmas gifts are an obvious outlet for craftiness — in the sense of making crafts, not deception.  Deception is not in line with the Christmas spirit — crafts are.  Anyway, I’m devising plans for how I can send small, flat-packed goodies to my supporters with their December newsletters…will update with my progress.

And on that bombshell, look forward to the next snail-mail newsletter, coming out in a couple of weeks!  It’ll be chock-full of info on end-of-the-year support raising, so please be praying about that

Ahem, well apologies again for the long-ish intervals between posts!  Normally I wouldn’t be so legalistic about posting on-the-dot, but so much has happened since my last update that I’m not actually sure where to begin…so I suppose I’ll just default to chronological order.

Last weekend, all the North-Georgia RUF’s had a little pow-wow in Temple, Georgia — home of Woodland Christian Camp, which boasts a scenic lake, wide grassy fields, and the legendary boxcar-cabins.  Over the course of the weekend, these all came together in a glorious mesh of paddleboats, flag football tournaments, and uncomfortable nights’ sleep (for the boys, at least, proud residents of the boxcars).  Definitely a recipe for bonding moments.

me hanging with some of the girls, watching flag football

the georgia tech group!

Our speaker, Brian Habig [now-pastor and once-RUF campus minister] came and blew us all away with excellent teaching on community — what it means, what it entails, how true community is fostered — basically summed up RUF, which is remarkably appropriate.  But listening to Habig speak, then watching the students go into their small groups, their ultimate frisbee teams, their dance party circles, their bonfire huddles, all with one other — that is RUF. And it was awesome to be there for it.

For me, the spirit of the weekend was encapsulated in exhausted joy.  Although I never got what felt like enough sleep, God somehow got me up and going from early in the morning to late at night — felt kind of like the dry bones in Ezekiel come to life, then set to running around the camp pulling up tent pegs and refilling water coolers and cheering on our Yellow Jacket flag football team.  My co-intern, Isaac, his twin brother Jake, and I teamed up to lead music, and that was a blessing to my life.  I honestly don’t know when I’ve laughed harder, or sung more genuinely, or felt more welcomed as a part of a team.  By the end of the weekend, I could have taken them for my brothers…and apparently nearly everyone else at the camp caught that vibe, because we heard rumors that not only we — but Kathryn, too — were all brothers and sisters and that the whole Georgia Tech intern team was related.  [Sibbies in Chriiiiisstt...!]

So that pretty much does it for conference…now fast-forward three hours from landing back in Atlanta, and I’m once again with Isaac and Kathryn, now at the Doubletree Hotel in Buckhead for intern training.  Sunday night through Tuesday evening, all the first and second year campus interns from all corners of the United States were reunited in Atlanta for seminars and general encouragement.  But mainly for catching-up with one another and dinners out and free cookies courtesy of the Doubletree.

In all seriousness, though, I had arrived at training ready to hang my head as other interns expounded on their various successes and shared stories of how awesome their freshmen are.  But, if I took anything away from those three days, it was how much GRACE God gives all of us.  I’m still learning how to accept that grace, and how to live out of it…but it’s so encouraging to know that God gives me grace for where I am, in my situation, on my campus…and others in due measure.  So, once again, I can’t claim any credit for being on top of everything or for deserving success (or failure).  God is doing all the real work.  I’m just here.

So, I know that’s a lot…but I think that basically sums up the past couple of weeks in a nutshell.  Hopefully more coherent posts to come.  Cheers!

All it took were those few words, and the damage was done.  He had said them so genuinely, without a trace of sarcasm or ambiguity.  We could get a puppy.  The dream was born.

And, ever since, I’ve experienced heightened interest in looking up different dog breeds and dog-watching at parks, with more frequent and emphatic aaaAAAWWWWwww’s upon the appearance of an especially adorable, fluff-tastic pup.  Just a few minutes ago, I witnessed a cute-splosion of two puppies outside Inman Perk cafe.

Nathan: I feel like I’m getting replaced.

Me, with face pressed against window: Nooo!…

Me, in my head: *puuppppiiiiiiessssss*

When I drag my mind out of puppy-dream-land and back to reality, I do realize we can’t quite afford a dog right now, much less have enough time at home to take care of it.  Which brings a teensy, invisible tear to my eye.  But — all things considered, it’s still amazing fun to be at a place in my life where my hubs and I can semi-realistically talk about whether we want a Pembroke Welsh Corgi named Otter or a Miniature Schnauzer named Schroeder.

All the same, donations are now being accepted towards the Baileys-Want-A-Puppy Fund

In other news [of significantly more importance], RUF Fall Conference is this weekend, which means awesomeness is going to happen in Temple, GA.  Prayers would be appreciated for everyone’s safety as well as spiritual and communal encouragement, and definitely for a Georgia Tech win over Georgia in dodgeball.

So, for the past week and a half, I’ve been coming to terms with my responsibilities as a real-life intern.  Like…actually being there for everything.  On time.  Being STOKED about RUF at large group every week.  Reading the books in my study program, and writing interesting reports about them.  Having non-awkward one-on-one meetings with students.  Leading with wisdom and intelligence at small groups.

As if.  Honestly, it felt more like I was just showing up and hoping for the best.  I mentioned my concern about my apparent lack of performance to my campus minister, and he spoke some reassuring words into my life.

“But really, Lori, that’s most of what we do in ministry.  The majority of our work is just showing up.”

Which reminds me of my very first post to this blog, in which I mentioned Isaiah’s response to the Lord’s call.  ”Here am I, send me!”  Isaiah just showed up for the job.  The Lord did the real work.

So…please pray that I will keep on showing up with enthusiasm, ready for God to make me useful.

1] Cool weather, perfect for hiking.
2] Leaves — changing, falling, littering the ground and making perfectly satisfying crunch noises when stepped on.
3] Warm drinks, like apple cider or tea or
4] Pumpkin spice lattes at Starbucks. (gets a spot all to itself because it is so, so good.)

Now it is almost mid-September.  And alas, as eager as I am for fall, my attempts to hurry it up are, it seems, futile.

1] The forecast predicts in the ballpark of 90-degree highs for the foreseeable future.  This really throws a wet rag on my plans to wear hoodies and shorts, go apple picking, and spend a weekend hiking on the Appalachian Trail.
2] The leaves are still green.  And sticking to their trees.
3] My premature endeavors to nuke apple juice in the microwave just end up making me sweaty.
4]  The pumpkin spice misto I’m currently drinking is inexplicably gross.  How this magical elixir of fall has so utterly failed me today, I really have no idea.

——————–

In good news, I am (officially, according to the Main Office) less than 1% shy of reaching my 85% mark!  In not-so-good news, I’m less than 1% shy of reaching my 85% mark, which means I STILL haven’t gotten the “green light” to start working on campus.  Seriously?

However, over the past few months, I’ve come to realize yet another way in which my predispositions are completely bonkers.  Normally, I assume that reality will fall short of my expectations — shows how jaded I’ve become, right?  Then God does something crazy, and some supporter comes through with abundantly more than what I had hoped for.  And usually these are the last people I’d expected to be willing to give that much, sometimes to the extent that I wonder how they could possibly afford it!

Somehow, in all the fuss about becoming less greedy, I’ve somehow overlooked the subtle virtue of being able to accept gifts. And I know that’s not some righteous byproduct of selflessness.  No, my deep-rooted pride has managed to take others’ generosity towards me and translate it into inward guilt.  It’s like I have an inherent awareness that, on my own, I really deserve nothing good — but I still cling to the shreds of my merit rather than accept grace.

This is one of the toughest cookies I’ve had to chew: realizing that, in the grand scheme of things, all things are God’s and all gifts are ultimately from Him and for Him.  I suppose, in practice, it’s very freeing.  I can detach myself from the support numbers and enjoy pure, simple grace.  But it’s also convicting — and in the best way possible — because I’ve been continuously poured into, and by so many people, that it’s as if I’m a little tiny cup brimming over with joy and gratitude.

“You anoint my head with oil; my cup overfloweth.”  I’ve been immensely blessed, and I can’t help but want to pass it on.

Suffice it to say that I was about as prepared as if I were sitting on a plane and suddenly realized that it was taking me skydiving.

For the past few months (and for a little while longer yet), raising support has been my first priority.  My days haven’t been spent reading theological books, or scouting for freshmen…instead, I’ve been obsessively fiddling with my favorite support spreadsheet and making best friends with the answering-machine lady and her friend, the bad-number man.

So it really didn’t feel real at all. Honestly, I’m still nervous to admit that it WAS real, and the support crisis won’t necessarily overwhelm the dream.

Last weekend, if you’d asked me what I was going to be doing in a week and a half, I would have had absolutely no idea.  My support numbers have been consistently below average, and if they weren’t going to shoot up anytime soon, I was told I would have to be let go from the intern program.  Hard news.  As I fumbled for old studio projects to update my portfolio with, I genuinely wondered how a good God could be working this situation in my best interest.

But this has all brought me to a point of realization.  I may not know how this will all turn out — but there’s really no uncertainty at all.  This IS the real world.  This is where I am, and it’s the only place I’m called to be.  If I wake up next Tuesday morning as an intern or no, I’ll be okay — because I am in the hands of a good God, whose plans won’t be ruined by the status of my employment.

So welcome to the real world, me, it’s time to get to work.