You Too Should Come to Norman...

The title of this post works on so many clever levels. 1.) My mom came to visit me in Norman this weekend, and you should come visit me too. 2 out of 2 visitors have really had a good time! The picture to the left is my mom with Chance. 2.) U2 DID come and performed in Norman and it was awesome!!! The picture to the right is a group of RUF students that sat together at the concert.

The semester is half-way over. This is great for numerous reasons. One of which is that I am personally feeling more settled in, feeling like more organic things are happening with students, and that things are just happening more natural in general. This time in the semester can be hard too. Students can be overwhelmed with school work, anxiety, loneliness etc. I myself certainly experienced all of these things in college. Please be praying for the students of RUF at OU. Pray they will seek to glorify God in their studies. Pray they will see God as applicable to their lives and as a God who loves and cares for them.

On Saturday I leave for Intern training in Atlanta, GA. All of the 1st and 2nd year interns will spend 3 days talking about what we have learned so far on campus and what we have yet to learn. Please pray that this will be a time where we can be honest about our struggles and successes and learn about God. I am really looking forward to this time to be able to reconnect with the interns!!!

I recently sent out my mid-semester updates. If you did not get one and would like to, please send me your address by facebook or at natalie.haynes@ruf.org. I would love to add you to my mailing list!

PresWIC, Dates and Dating, U2 etc...

- "Community life will validate or negate the claims of the gospel." from The Legacy of Biblical Womanhood.

- I attended PresWIC this weekend in Dallas, which is the woman's conference for the North Texas Presbytery. It was great to see women thinking intentionally about their role in the church, and gave me a lot to think about. More importantly though, I got to spend some more time with women from Christ the King Pres. This was wonderful. The above quote is one from the weekend. It showcases how much emphasis was put on community, and how it plays an integral part of our lives.

- It has been raining and in the 50's for the past 5 days or so. I know that people have mixed opinions about this. I love it though! It reminds me of Sweden and makes me feel warm inside (even though my hands might be freezing!). Chance also likes the weather. He galloped around the field yesterday like he was a kid again :)

- I had some people over last Thursday to watch the Office. This is a regular thing every week. Jim and Pam got married. We ate cake afterwords to celebrate. It was wonderful.

- Doug's topic for RUF this week is "Dates and Dating..." This should be interesting. I am looking forward to the discussion that ensues after this.

- I am going to the U2 Concert (which we have affectionately been calling the "RUF Concert Series") a week from yesterday. You guessed it, that will totally be written about in next week's blog post....stay tuned!!!

Facts of Life in Norman

- I found out last night that I missed a great opportunity for an outing. The Cordell, OK annual Pumpkin Pancake festival and Pumpkin carving was on Saturday. This is a must for next year! Put it on your calenders OU RUFers!!!

- I just finished The Discipline of Grace by Jerry Bridges. That makes the third book of his that I have read, including Transforming Grace and Trusting God: Even When Life Hurts. I would recommend any of them.

- I had dinner with and played games with a group of students last night. These types of things make my heart warm. Love it!

- The picture to the right is of me and a statue on campus that I think is called "The Gossips," and I am wondering what they are talking about. One of my favorite thing about the OU campus is how they have captured history. They have interesting statues like these as well as framed photos everywhere of things that have happened on campus. These photos have captions on the bottom with the date and an explanation. I have spent several hours wandering the halls at OU looking at these pictures and loving the stories they tell!

- I have my membership interview at Christ the King Presbyterian today. I am loving this church and am glad to become a part of it. We take communion every Sunday and prayer requests are taken from the pulpit. Those individuals are then prayed for by a pastor or elder. These are things that are different from previous churches, but I love about CTK.

- Fall is definitely here in Norman, OK! I had a conversation with my mom this morning about making sure I have enough winter clothing. We decided that I probably have the right coat, but need more long sleeve shirts since I have 2 (two).

- I watched my campus minister's kids this weekend. Although there are many memorable moments, my favorite was probably Drew and Anna sticking their head out the window of the car and saying "Dog Mode." They then stuck their tongues out and let the wind blow their hair.

- Every week before RUF we do "pRUF" or pre-RUF. This is a pretty informal gathering of students to hang out and chat before our large group meeting at 9. Two weeks ago we went to a classic-50s dinner and last week we went to the OU Volleyball game. pRUF is becoming a favorite activity of mine!