What a week!

It has been a whirlwind week in my little corner of the world, and I've loved every minute of it! I was thinking this morning that I should have re-instated my old updates before venturing into this new ministry at the BCM, but I didn't, so I'm thinking about using the blog instead. My goal is to have at least a weekly update every Sunday... hold me accountable!
School started this week at UAB. I spent a lot of time on campus, meeting with students and attending welcome-week events. I've got 11 girls that I'll be meeting with weekly, and was somehow able to schedule all 11 last week without any schedule conflicts. It's a lot, but they're a great group of girls and I'm having fun with it! We had our first Thursday-night worship at the BCM with 160-180 students! (That's nearly double what they averaged last year) I only hope we can keep that momentum.
And as if I didn't have enough going on, Starbucks finally opened this week too! Wednesday and Thursday we had pre-opening "Friends & Family" days, and the big day was Friday. It's going really well so far, and I'm enjoying meeting our new regular customers.
Saturday I got a special delivery at work- a huge bouquet of yellow & white daisies (my favorite flowers!)- from my favorite Tennessean... I love surprises like that! Isn't he great?
I'm so grateful for all that God is doing in my life. I know that all these good things are a result of His work, not mine. I'm just happy that I get to be a part of it!
You can be praying for several things this coming week... Monday I'll be going to Birmingham Southern College to meet students and spread the word about a weekly Bible study we'll be starting there. Thursday, I'll lead the first in a series of four freshmen Bible studies before our regular weekly worship- ask God to speak through me to reach the new students at UAB. Also remember worship Thur. night and all the student-led Bible studies that are starting on campus this week. And to finish the week, I'll get to drive home to Louisiana next Friday to spend the weekend with my family.
Let me hear from you sometime.... I miss ya'll!

Step 1

They say the first step in battling an addiction is admitting you have a problem. So, I'm going to start with that right here. I'm addicted to 24, the tv series. It's a pretty intense show: 24 episodes per season, 1 hour per episode, each hour representing one hour in "the longest day of Jack Bauer's life". So basically, at the end of the season, you've seen what happened all 24 hours of a single day for a federal counter-terrorist agent.
I watched ALL 24 hours this past weekend!!!
Now, to cover myself a little, with no commercials, each hour is actually only about 40-45 minutes. AND, I had a mild case of food poisoning on Monday, so I wasn't going anywhere anyway. But yes, I watched season 1 in its entirety between Saturday afternoon and Monday night. I think anyone who's ever seen the show will probably sympathize with me, and understand what I went through. I'm addicted just the same though.

Happy

Rob came to visit this weekend, and we had a really good time. Friday night, we had dinner with Julie & Gary- friends who are getting ready to head to the mission field in a couple of weeks (Julie was the first one to suggest that Rob & I should get together a few years ago). Saturday we went to the Birmingham Botanical Gardens in the morning (beautiful and very peaceful... maybe my new favorite place in B'ham), and to Megan & Bret's wedding that afternoon (we went on our first double date with them back in April!). And Sunday we went to church at Shades Mountain- where half the youth group (or so it seemed) had been recruited by Rob to go to Union... he was the most popular visitor there!
Megan was a beautiful bride, and by far, the calmest one I've ever seen!! When I went in to see her before the wedding, there was no rocking, no pacing, no tears- she was just ready to become Mrs. Bret Golson! I was honored to go in and pray with Megan Smith one last time before her name changed. I love you, girl, no matter what your name is!! AND- I caught my first ever wedding bouquet at the reception! I have to be honest, I wasn't looking to catch it, and even placed myself behind a little girl thinking she would grab it for sure, but somehow it ended up in my hand. It was fun, though, and I've been enjoying the pretty pink roses! Everyone should have fresh flowers in their home- they make everything a little better, and who doesn't smile when they get flowers? Bring flowers to someone tomorrow!!
My old roommate Erin came to visit and go to the wedding too. We had a great time catching up Saturday night in the dark (my electricity was out for about 15 hours). My heart was encouraged after our talk, maybe not by the words that were exchanged, but more by God reminding me of some simple truths that came up while we were talking. I was reminded of the huge responsibility that I have as a college minister; and the awesome joy that comes with leading them closer to the Lord. It's not about me.
But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me. Psalm 13: 5-6