The 2010 List

Being at home for Christmas has had me thinking about what I have done in 2010.

My one official New Year's Resolution was to watch all of the movies that John Williams composed music for. That went really well, until May. Here are my thoughts on the movies I did make it through:

- Sugarland Express: Quirky movie about Texas outlaws.

- Jaws: Scary.

- Indiana Jones Trilogy: Fantastic.

- E.T.: I'll be honest, I was asleep after 10 minutes.

- Schindler's List: Horrific and amazing all at the same time. I have been to Anne Frank's house in the Netherlands, as well as the Holocaust Museum in D.C. I think that this movie was more moving than either of those things, which I had been very struck by as well.

- Harry Potter Movies: How can you not love the John Williams music from these movies?

- Minority Report: Eh.

- Star Wars (the first one): Darth Vader still scares me.

Other Notable Things about 2010:

- Travelled to Peru. This means that I have now been to 4 continents!!!

- First full year of working a job out of college.

- Burned the first pot roast I ever made.

- Watched the entire series of the West Wing.

- Taught Anna Serven to ride my horse.

- Made a lot of Pioneer Woman recipes. YUM!

- The first flowers I ever planted (tulips) bloomed in the spring!

- Met Pioneer Woman.

- Saw world class horse back riders at the World Equestrian Games in Kentucky. Considered change in life calling briefly after this.

- Drank a lot of coffee (now considering teeth whitening) and had amazing conversations about Jesus.

- Drove thousands and thousands of miles to visit family and friends (JAX, Atlanta, Huntsville, Lakeland, Houston, Houston, Houston).

- Listened to Harry Potter 3,4,5, and 6 on audiobook.

- Improved my very, very primitive sewing skills, thanks to my mom and Kirsten Spears. I am half-way through a slipcover for a big armchair!!!

New Years Resolutions for 2011? So far all I have thought of is to master a recipe for Pad Thai. Suggestions?

Greetings from Chi-Town!

Greetings, Readers!

Well, at 7:00 AM this morning I boarded a plane in Atlanta, GA. I have been in Atlanta this week for RUF Staff Training. I expected to have a short layover in Chicago, and then be in Oklahoma City by lunch time. Hardly! I am writing to you from the Barnes and Noble of DePaul University in downtown Chicago. I will hopefully be on my way back to the Sooner State tonight (in time for RUF Large Group) but while I am stuck here, I am making the most of it! Here are some things that have happened so far:

- Got asked for directions 2 seconds after getting off the L Train in downtown. I am not sure what made me look like an all-knowing native. I think it was the large embroidered Vera Bradley duffle bag that I am lugging around.

- Heard a jogger talk about the lack of highly enriched uranium. I would have liked to hear the rest of that conversation!

- Saw a man yell obscenities in the middle of a busy street, and then raise his cane and shake it at the offender.

- And, finally...I am off to complete the one thing I have always wanted to come to Chicago for: the Original American Girl Store. Laugh if you want, but it is my childhood dream and I will accomplish it!!!!

Adios from the Windy City!

Goosebumps!!!

Does anyone remember the Goosebumps book series from the 90's? That is not what this blogpost is about. It is about the physical reaction one (one being me) gets when one (again, me) watches another 1990's icon: The West Wing. You can read about this experience from another perspective here: Sally's take on four months of our life.

The president knocking on his desk and asking "What's next?" Charlie, the personal aid to the President, fearlessly pursuing the woman he loves. Josh Lyman, deputy Chief of Staff, standing up for what he believes in. Senior staff advocating for tax deductible college tuition for wages under $150,00, because everyone should have a chance to go to the school they want. Toby Zeigler, White House Communications Director, trying to solve Social Security in one night. The President invoking the 25th Amendment while his daughter is missing. Sesame Street's Big Bird making an appearance next to the tall CJ Craig...for these reasons and oh-so-many more, is why I get goosebumps when I watch the West Wing. The dry humor gets me every time.

I want to post some of my favorite dialogue, but as I read through it I giggle at everything. It is too hard to choose something that resembles the show perfectly. I think you should watch it. If you can't watch it all, watch my favorite 5 episodes:

5. "Shutdown": Season 5. The President refuses to be manipulated by the Republican Congress. Sally says I was "one big goosebump" during this episode.

4. "Game On": Season 4. The President debates his opponent during his reelection campaign. Brilliant.

3. "Institutional Memory": Season 7. Second to last episode. I bawled. Best friends make plans for their new lives.

2. "Twenty Five": Season 4. The President's youngest daughter is kidnapped.

1. "Noel": Season 2. Josh Lyman is suffering from PTSD. My favorite dialogue of the entire show is delivered :

"This guy's walking down the street when he falls in a hole. The walls are so steep he can't get out.A doctor passes by and the guy shouts up, 'Hey you. Can you help me out?' The doctor writes a prescription, throws it down in the hole and moves on. Then a priest comes along and the guy shouts up, 'Father, I'm down in this hole can you help me out?' The priest writes out a prayer, throws it down in the hole and moves on. Then a friend walks by, 'Hey, Joe, it's me can you help me out?' And the friend jumps in the hole. Our guy says, 'Are you stupid? Now we're both down here.' The friend says, 'Yeah, but I've been down here before and I know the way out.'"

Ultimate Banana, Pineapple, Gourd, Tomato etc.

Ultimate Frisbee, anyone? Well, ok...the rules of ultimate with a twist. Instead of throwing a aerodynamic disc around, why don't we lob fruit into the air that may or may not be conducive to flying? That is exactly what RUF did this weekend! We tossed everything from bananas to cabbage. The gourd was much more sturdy than you would think, and the cabbage began to unravel almost immediately! I feared the pineapple, but it wasn't too bad. The stalk came off mid-throw and sprayed pineapple juice over everyone!

We played on the north end of campus, right across from campus corner. What would you think if you saw people playing frisbee, but with a tomato?!?
The girls- going after a banana!
Anna Serven and me. Ultimate Banana was a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon!

Indelible Grace

Have you heard of Indelible Grace? I had not before I started going to RUF my freshman year. It is a music ministry that has primarily grown out of RUF at Belmont University in Nashville, TN. They have taken old hymns and put them to new tunes. They are wonderful. The reason for this blog post is to say that Matthew Smith, a founding member, and Indelible Grace are coming to Norman next Tuesday! Woohoo!! I could keep telling you how wonderful they are, or I could point you to their music here: http://www.igracemusic.com/ig5/

Here are the lyrics to my most favorite hymn, Isaiah 43:

When you pass through the waters,

I will be with you,

And the waves will not

Overcome you.

Do not fear,

For I have redeemed you,

I have called you by name,

You are Mine.

For I am the Lord your God
(I am the Lord your God),
I am the Lord your God (I am)
The Holy One of Israel
Your Savior
For I am the Lord your God
(I am the Lord your God),
I am the Lord your God (I am)
The Holy One of Israel
Your Savior
I am the Lord (do not fear)
I am the Lord (do not fear)
I am the Lord (do not fear)
I am the Lord (do not fear)

When you walk through the fire
You’ll not be burned,
And the flames will not
Consume you.
Do not fear,
For I have redeemed you,
I have called you by name,
You are Mine.

Football Season is HERE!!!

It is killing me to write this blog with no pictures, but blogger has been slow about uploading for days now and I wanted to post!

Football season is here! The Sooners, along with most other schools in the country, played their first game on Saturday. The beginning of the football season at UF would have meant that my eyes would be pealed for anything orange and blue to wear to games. An orange and blue paisley belt currently hanging in my closet is one such find. Family members and friends admit to not being able to shop anymore without hearing my voice saying, "It's orange and blue- my alma mater's colors- perfect for football!" Alas, if I were to wear orange and blue in Norman on game day...I am not sure what would happen, but it would not be pretty.

Crimson and creme are great colors (yes, I said that!) and there is not a lack of them here these days! We have three football games in a row this month. This weekend the Sooners will take on Florida State- the arch nemesis of Florida football!!! I for one cannot wait to don crimson and creme on Saturday and (hopefully) watch FSU get the snot beat out of them by OU. Boomer Sooner!

Our third large group meeting is tonight at 9. We were going to attempt for a third meeting outside, but the rain in Norman today looks like we will be in Dale 103, per usual.

Bible studies started this week! Our freshman Bible study met yesterday, and this group is going to be great! Tons of personality and spunk!

Ok, I need to beat it to the Union now for lunch with a student. Hopefully this non-photo post did not bore you! Boomer Sooner!!!

Welcome Back from Summer Break!!!

My blog is back from summer break!!! As is, among other things, RUF large group! We had our first large group this week. Doug is preaching on Philippians this semester. The first two weeks of school we meet in the "Passion Pit" on campus. OU has asked everyone to call this area the "Unity Garden" instead, but it's popular use as a make-out spot has ensured that it will never go through a name change! It is a nice change to worship outside, where people walking by look in on what we are doing, and we can see the OU campus all lit up at night. Here are some pictures my friend John Stuart took for us:

Well, I thought I would start this semester's blog entries by writing a good old-fashioned top 10 list. So here you go...the top 10 things I am looking forward to this semester:

10. Our awesome "Not-A-Date" that we have planned for September.

9. Meeting new students and helping them realize that RUF really is the best thing around since flavored shaved ice.

8. The Harry Potter premier in November.

7. Meeting with students in various locations in Norman: the Gray Owl, Cafe Plaid, and the Union.

6. A Bible study on body image, boys etc that I am doing with 2 RUF girls.

5. The AMAZING fall weather in Norman...I fell in love with Norman last fall!

4. Going to Cane's (an Oklahoma restaurant kind of like Zaxby's) after football games with students.

3. Jogging Club...some girls are going to get together once a week to jog a leisurely 1.5 miles!

2. A road trip to Doug's Alma Mater with our RUF students to see OU beat Missouri.

1. Generally just living in Norman and working with awesome college students!!!

I will have to do a re-cap at the end of the semester entitled "The 10 Best Things of the Semester," and see how they compare!

Boomer Sooner!

Well, I Missed the One Year Anniversary...

I missed my blog's one year anniversary!!! To commemorate, let's see the (blog) year in review. We're going to work backwards:

Enjoyed time with friends, worked on projects, gave an RUF report at church, hung out with people in Norman, and couldn't get enough of this Oklahoma sky in June!

Summer conference in May!

Relish Retreat in April!

Missions trip to Peru with 11 students in March!

Celebrating the Olympic Games in February!

Ski Trip in January!

Barn Dance in December!

Football games with freshmen in November!

Dressed up in October!

Discovered some Sooner tradition at football games in September!

Moved to Norman in August!

Support raised in July!

Celebrated graduation with Mom and Dad in NYC and Washington DC in June!

Notes on my study program...

One aspect of the RUF Internship is the study program that I do every month. While this has not always been the part of my job that I am the most diligent about (honesty hurts), I have enjoyed a lot of the books and thought I might share some of them with you.

The books assigned to us cover spiritual growth, roles of the church, and various counseling topics. The term "spiritual growth" can be kind of off-putting. We are not reading books that teach us how to become a "super" Christian, and you don't have to have a PhD to understand them. These books talk about how to read the Bible even when you don't know much about it, and how to pray even when it makes you uncomfortable. Below are some of my thoughts on four of my favorite books from the program.

Getting the Message, by Dan Doriani

The point of scripture is Jesus. Doriani expresses this theme of scripture in two very poignant points: (1) Every passage in the Bible presents Christ both as the remedy for human fallenness and as the end point of God’s plan of salvation (2) Every passage of the Bible touches on some aspect of the fallen human condition and presents some part of God’s remedy in Christ. If I were to read every passage of scripture with these things in mind, I would see the Bible as much more vital to my life. If I believed all of scripture had this point, I would read it more often.

Hurt: Inside the World of Today's Teenagers, by Chap Clark

Abandonment is the big theme of Chap Clark’s book Hurt. Clark states that abandonment is the biggest overarching issue facing teenager’s today, and that their biggest need is a safe and welcoming relationship with adults. Abandonment in the context of Clark’s writing does not mean physical abandonment, but rather emotional and spiritual. Parents and other influential adults are physically present in the lives of mid-adolescence but cease to provide any emotional support as they are bussing their teens to soccer practice and seeking to achieve their own goals. Merely being physically present in teen’s lives seems to be the world’s standard for adults, and it has created a generation of mid-adolescent’s looking for support and comfort elsewhere.

The Reason for God, by Tim Keller

Who better to write on the argument against skepticism than Tim Keller, a pastor in New York City which is perhaps the most skeptical city in the United States? He speaks from a breadth of knowledge on the topic, having not only studied it, but confronted it head on in his urban ministry. It is with this knowledge that we can confront this book confidently, knowing that the author is not simply trying to throw Biblical phrases at non-believers, but is rather attempting to answer the questions which plague the skeptical critics of the twenty-first century. "The Church has been responsible for so much injustice" and "You can't take the Bible literally" are among the applicable topics.

The Enemy Within, by Kris Lundgaard

Lundgaard's purpose with The Enemy Within is to describe the seriousness of sin, it's effects, and how we should guard against it. Mission accomplished. He is not afraid to bluntly state that the wages of sin is death. Lundgaard reinforces the point that sin draws you away from the Father. Perhaps the clearest point that the author makes is that the battle against sin is a battle between flesh and spirit. Lundgaard writes, "When the mind wants to know God, the flesh imposes ignorance, darkness, error, and trivial thoughts. The will can't move toward God without feeling the weight of stubbornness holding it back." He clearly expresses how I feel every day when I want to get an extra 30 minutes of sleep instead of reading my Bible, or how I do not want to talk with God because it feels awkward.

FAQs

Hello All! As I have been traveling I have been getting a lot of the same questions, so I thought I might answer some of them here, in case you were wondering too!

If I have been giving monthly, do I have to renew my pledge?

If you have automatic withdrawal, RUF will continue to automatically take the pledge each month until you ask them to stop or I no longer work with RUF. If you have made a pledge but just send it in each month, RUF assumes that you will continue to do so through my second year.

The internship is two years?

Yes, the internship is a two-year program. It is designed that way so that interns have a prolonged period on campus to make connections and form deeper relationships. RUF does not want to break the relationship with the students and campus that we worked so hard to form after one academic year. Having just finished my first year, I am excited to have another year to go. I would hate to break the relationships I have made, and am thrilled to get to make new ones this year.

How much money do you need for the second year?

My budget for the second year is the same as it was last year, $31,804. Total monthly pledges made in the 2009-10 school year were $18,960. That means that last year I received $12,844 in one-time gifts. If all of my monthly donors stay with me this coming year then I will need to raise $12,844 to meet my 2010-11 budget. This money can be in either one-time gifts or monthly pledges. You can give online at www.ruf.org. Thank you to those who have been part of my team this last year.

Do you have to have this money by a specific date?

August 1st would be most helpful. Classes start August 23rd and things get very hectic after that. In order to best minister to students, it would be helpful if I had a "healthy" support account by then. There is no definite date though.

How can I give monthly? What if I cannot continue giving?

You can send in a pledge and/or set up automatic withdrawal at www.ruf.org. If you cannot continue giving, I understand. Thank you for the part you have played in ministering to the OU campus. Please let me know if this is the case, since it will help me determine how much I need to raise. Again, thank you so much for your prayers and support.

What is all of that money used for?

The money I raise is used for: my paycheck, insurance, books for my study program, costs of conferences (2 per year) and training (3 per year), and occasional traveling expenses. This is not quite everything it covers, but these are the main categories.

Are you the only intern on campus?

Last year I served with Benjamin Nichols, our male intern. Unfortunately, last week we learned that Ben cannot return to campus because of a budget deficit in his support account. Thus, I will be the only intern in the coming year. This is very sad for us. Ben served the OU campus with a lot of enthusiasm. He has a great heart for campus ministry. The loss of him on our staff will be greatly felt.

These are the most common questions I have gotten so far this summer. If you have questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. My email is natalie.haynes@ruf.org. My phone number is (904) 651-2166. I will be in Jacksonville July 21-25. Sarah Wilkening and I will be co-hosting a lunch for RUF at Pinewood Presbyterian on July 25 immediately following the 11 o'clock service.

Hey Y'all!

Happy Tuesday, Everyone! I am currently sitting in my parents den, and have been working on prayer request cards this morning. I will have them with me this summer as I visit churches and travel. They have magnets on the back so you can put them on your fridge! If you would like one, but know that you will not be seeing me, let me know- I would love to get one to you!

This picture, which is on the prayer card, was taken by my friend John Stuart. The landscaping is one of my favorite things on the OU campus!

My visit home so far has been delightful. Last week I visited with Mark and Kristin in Lakeland. I got to sit in on their junior high/ high school Bible study, watch Mark play softball, and get a tour of the school where Kristin is substitute teaching. Since I have been home I have been helping Dad finish a bookcase/ entertainment center for our house, worked on a backboard for my update lunches this summer, seen a couple of friends, and gone to a Jacksonville Suns baseball game. The Suns are our minor league team here. It is one of my most favorite things to do when I am home!

Last night we lost power for five hours! As luck would have it, Dad and I were just starting a movie too! We had to resort to other forms of entertainment. I love this picture of dad reading the Wall Street Journal by head lamp. In true Boy Scout fashion, he knew exactly where all of our flashlights were when the lights went out!

The Serven family left Acapulco, MX today. They will be there for seven weeks on a missions trip working with the orphanage Casa Hogar. Doug will be helping lead the interns there this summer. Please pray that God would keep them safe this summer as well as grow them through this incredible opportunity!

I am in Florida for another week, and then I will be making a trip to Texas to see my family for a couple of days. Floridians: I would love to see you while I am home! Texans: Mason and Wyatt, I am excited to see you! Let's jump on the trampoline when I get there! Oklahomans: Boomer Sooner! See you soon!

Thoughts from the Sunshine State

We have returned from Summer Conference 2010! The above picture is of me and freshman, well sophomore now I suppose, Sam Carper. Sam was one of our students that came to Freshman Bible study regularly. Sam caught the winning catch in the Ultimate Frisbee tournament at SC!!! She is from Tulsa and is a wonderful part of our community :)

John Stone, former RUF Campus Minister, was the speaker our week. Amidst many funny stories, anecdotes, and tangents, he clearly presented the gospel every night. One of his more memorable talks was on forgiveness. While he did borrow this from Tim Keller, John Stone said, "To the extent that you see how much you have been forgiven, to that extent you will forgive and love others." Wow. This statement makes me want to study, learn, and appreciate my forgiveness. I want to be a good forgiver.


The above picture is of two of our cherished students. The guy sans-cowboy hat is Wes Martin. He is normal the one donning the hat. I think I saw him for the first time ever this week not wearing his cowboy boots. He is from the rural Oklahoma town of Tallequah and is getting married next week. The guy sporting the cowboy hat so proudly is Ben, and has just finished his freshman year at OU. He is another one of our freshman Bible study attenders, and is from Wisconsin. To say that this guy loves sports in an understatement. We bantered about the Gators and Tim Tebow quite a bit!

Summer Conference was chocked full of activities for our OU crew. We layed on the beach and swam in the ocean everyday. The waves were pretty strong, and schools of manta ray kept swimming by. Some students formed an ultimate frisbee team and won the SC bracket!!! Every night we had ice cream outside Doug and Julie's apartment and debriefed from the day. One night both Doug and Bentern got thrown into the pool. It was pretty priceless. Speaking of Bentern...


Ben and I are proud recipients of airbrushed t-shirts, courtesy of OURUF. I really like mine, which has a dolphin on it, but seeing Ben open his t-shirt was priceless. His t-shirt has emblazoned on it his nickname, "Bentern," and the turtle from Nemo. Both of those things made Ben giddy with excitement over his gift. I think there is an official facebook petition to change his facebooke name to "Bentern Nichols." Students claim they go to search for him, but can't find him because they don't think to search for "Benjamin Nichols."

SC '10 was a great success!!! I am in Florida now for a couple of weeks, and am currently visiting some college friends. Yay for summer!

The Semester's End

Greetings from Norman, OK! Students are in the middle of finals, and will be done this weekend. Then, about 40 of us will head to summer conference in Florida. Before any of that happens, however, I would like to catch you up on some stuff that has happened here:

- North Texas Presbytery: Last week Ben, Doug, and I took a trip to Dallas for Presbytery. We saw two ordination exams. Brent Corbin, a former OU RUF student, passed his ordination exam. It was great to see our denomination at work. Ben, Doug, and I got to eat at this cool place called "Eatsies." I think you could eat there everyday for a year and never have the same thing twice. It was super cool.

- Relish Projects: This semester in our leadership team, Relish, our topic has been personal growth. We have been reading The Disciplines of Grace by Jerry Bridges. Each week there has been a project due. The projects have included a poetry project, a service project, an art project etc. The semester finished with a "personal project" that students choose at the beginning of the semester, and have been working on throughout. These included but are not limited to: learning how to cook, writing songs for an album to be recorded, running a half marathon, and a photography project (me!). Below is a picture that I really love but did not find a place for in the final book. That gross lookin' stuff is called Hooflex and I put it on Chance's hooves to keep them strong. I feel like this picture captured how messy this stuff is!

- I stuffed 150 envelopes with my news letter last night to send out to my supporters. If you do not currently get one of these, please let me know- I would love to send one to you!

- The John Williams Project is going splendidly. Every week when students come over to watch the Office, we play a movie afterwards. The last two weeks we have watched Star Wars, which I had not previously seen. The Empire Strikes Back has been my favorite. This weekend I watched Schindler's List with some people. Three words come to mind: horrific, intense, awesome. The next two movies are Amistad and Saving Private Ryan. Apparently we are going with an intense theme.

- I leave tomorrow to drive to Florida. Summer conference will go from Monday May 17- Saturday May 22. Please pray for safety for our students as they drive a long way from Oklahoma to Florida and back. After summer conference (and Anna McDowell's wedding!!!), I will be in Florida for two and a half weeks. I am having an after service lunch at Christ Community Church on June 6th. I would love to see you!

- Boomer Sooner!!!

Humans vs. Zombies

This week I have been reminded that working in campus ministry means that you are able to do totally over-the-top completely ridiculous and yet excessively stimulating things every once in a while. What am I talking about exactly?!? Humans vs. Zombies, of course! humansvszombies.org

In an effort to do an outreach event similar to Assassins, OU RUF sponsored our very own HVZ game. We thought 75 people might register. 764 people did.

It has been crazy. I have been wearing a bandana (almost) everywhere I go. I always have socks with me in case I need to stun a zombie and make a getaway. I am always looking over my shoulder to see if I am being snuck up on. I see complete strangers on campus and smile, because they are wearing a bandana on the arm or leg (denoting them as a human) and I know that we are both survivors of the human race (for right now). The number of humans is getting smaller, and the zombies are getting more frantic as they need to tag (feed) on humans in order to stay a live.

We are having a dance party on Friday night. Humans vs. Zombies 1980s theme. Yes!

OU RUF has been featured in the campus rag twice this week. Once for HVZ and the other because Dr. Os Guinness came to speak to our campus. 10 campus ministries, including RUF, brought in the "Veritas Forum" to talk about suffering and injustice in the wake of the 15th anniversary of the Oklahoma City Bombing. Check out the veritas forum: veritas.org

Dr. Guinness was very engaging and did a wonderful job speaking to about 300 people. I will admit my own skepticism in that I did not feel like people would come to this forum, even though the topic is interesting and relevant. The turnout was great though. He addressed topics that I often speak to students about. When faced with the question "Why was evil allowed to exist?" He responded the same way I do, "I don't know. No one does." I know have a copy of his book "The Call," and am excited to read it.

We leave for summer conference in a mere 3 weeks! Boomer Sooner!

Live from Cafe Plaid, it's the Tuesday Blog Post!!!

Hello Friends!

Hope you are doing well. I am enjoying a sunny here in Oklahoma. I am sitting at Cafe Plaid, looking out on the Visitors Center and the North Oval- very pretty!

This last weekend we travelled to Springfield, Missouri for our Relish Retreat. Relish is the leadership team here at OURUF. 12 students came and it was a great time of 4-wheeling, hot-tubing, camp fires, and discussion. God has blessed us greatly with students that have a heart for ministry and who think intentionally about how to love people.

Here is a picture of (from left to right): me, Brittany, Doug, Ben, and Anna. Brittany and Anna have previously served as interns at OU. It was wonderful to have them with us and hear about their experiences and their wisdom.

There are only two weeks of classes left here at OU, then "dead" week and then a week of finals. Even though time is running short, we have much left to do. This weekend we are doing "Not-A-Date." Norman has a music festival going on, so randomly matched couples will be enjoying dinner and then hearing some of Norman's finest artists.

We are also about to embark on an adventure called "Humans vs. Zombies." Haven't heard of it??? Check it out: http://humansvszombies.org/. Our game will last a week as the zombies try to take out the humans. This game is similar to "Gotcha" or "Assassins." We currently have 320 people registered. The week of play will end with a Humans vs. Zombies 80's Dance Party!!! This is sure to be a unique experience- I look forward to sharing it with y'all!

Summer Conference Promo Video!!!

The assignment was to parody a favorite youtube movie and make it into a summer conference promo video, and boy did we ever!!! Teen Girl Squad! Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdfqyklmBng

Good Friday, Bunco, "Little Event" and More...

We're going to work our way backwards....starting with Bible Study. This morning we entered into the New Testament in the Jesus Storybook Bible. The last line of our story this morning read, "Meeting Jesus would change all of their lives forever." We talked about how the gospel does/should change our lives. It was my favorite lesson yet. God is so good! We also enjoyed these wonderful treats: Pioneer Woman's French Puff Pastries. Baked treats continues to get girls out of bed at 7AM for Bible Study!

This weekend OU sponsored the "Big Event." Thousands of undergrads went all over Oklahoma City to do a service project. Students worked at schools, highways, and even homes of the elderly. I have heard nothing but good things about this project from students. While they were working around OKC Bentern, myself, and two graduate students helped out the Servens at the "Little Event." We worked in their yard and did some other small projects. It is always wonderful to spend time with the Serven family!
The 8th Annual RUF Bunco Tournament was this Friday. It is the longest standing OURUF Tradition, and boy is it a good one! Have you ever played?!? You should. I won for most "buncos." Here is a score card:
Jena, Kevin, and Katie having fun outside playing bunco. Over 30 people came, so there were bunco games going on anywhere you could find room to sit!
A little late, yes, but better late than never! Here is the chapel where we had the RUF Good Friday service. It was wonderful. I had never been to a Good Friday service before. The hymns and scripture readings were all great reminders of Christ's love for us.

This weekend the OURUF leadership team, "Relish," will be going to Missouri for our Relish Retreat. It will be a great time to fellowship with the people who serve OURUF together.

The most exciting news however?!??!?!?!? THERE WILL BE A SPECIAL POST TOMORROW AT MIDNIGHT! I don't want to give anything away, so stay tuned!

Has it only been a week since my last post?!?

Seriously, I feel like it has been forever since last Tuesday. Here are some reasons:

- I got really sick last week. I was miserable. I laid in bed for 3 days, but it might as well have been 30. Yuck!!!

- My mom came to nurse me back to health. Seriously, she is awesome. We talked on Thursday morning at 4:30 my time since I had been up all night, and by evening she was here! It was such a blessing to have her here.

- We did a service project in downtown OKC on Saturday morning. We had 19 students show up to paint, sort, and organize clothing. The project was with a group called TEEM, which seeks to get people who are unemployed back on their feet. This includes GED classes, interview strategies (even interview clothes), computer classes etc.

This weekend is Easter, and RUF is doing a special Good Friday service. It will be held at a building on campus, with hymns and readings. I am really looking forward to celebrating Easter this weekend. Doug made a good point in stating today that Easter is one of the most important and yet under-celebrated holidays. Now that I think about it, I totally agree!

The second annual Norman Board Game Geek conference is this weekend. It will be at a local coffee shop. There is a group of students (and Doug) here that love strategy games. Saturday will be a full 12 hours of Agricola, Puerto Rice, Le Havre, Ticket to Ride, Dominion and many many more! I am definitely going to participate, but probably not for the entire time!

On an entirely non-ministry note, Chance is loosing his fur at a very rapid rate! Oh the pleasures of living in a state with such a cold winter. I think I am going to miss Furry Chance :)

Happy Easter Everyone! Christ has risen indeed!

Some Thoughts on Peru

Hello Friends!! Perhaps a more appropriate greeting would be "Hola, Amigos!" The OU RUF team of 13 has safely returned from Peru, leaving us all reflecting on the week we experienced, and what God is teaching us.

The images which I am struggling the most with, and I might even say are "haunting" me, are the following two. They are from the squatter village called "Clementina." If the squatters maintain this land for a year, then they are allowed to keep it under Peruvian law. Through these pictures hopefully you will realize that squatters are all in different stages of development. Some homes only have walls made of reed, tarp, and paper. Some have a tin roof. Some have cement walls. Some have dirt floors while others have stone floors. The missionaries told us that it may take as many as 15 years to go from a home made of reed to a home made of cement. This picture shows some of the more developed homes.

This picture, however, shows how primitive some of the homes are. I still have not come to terms with how these people are able to live in these houses. Regardless of the condition of the house, they take care of it. Even if they only have dirt floors, they still sweep them. I would be lying if I told you that these pictures make me want to move to Peru and help these people. These pictures made me uncomfortable, and made me long for the comfort of American life. I don't know what God would have me learn from this yet.
Peruvian food. Yum! Most meals were served with a large helping of rice, as pictured here. This particular dish was cooked by women at the mission. It is a Peruvian specialty, which includes beef and a version of the french fry.
A highlight of mission trips is always the team bonding. Here I am with Mary Rachel. She has just graduated from OU, and both her and her husband came on the trip. I loved getting to know them more!
Here are Josh, Megan, and me with some Peruvian children with Clementina. Interacting with these kids was wonderful. Even with my meager Spanish I was able to communicate what colors I thought would look good on their pictures, or talk about animals with them. I showed some of them pictures of Chance. I am not sure if they had ever seen a domesticated horse before, because they all seemed pretty confused by the pictures.
The picture below is one of the rooms of the church in Clementina. The building has walls and a roof, but no real floor. We helped prepare to dirt to eventually have stones laid. The residents of Clementina asked Peru Mission to plant a church in their area. This is a testament to the work of Peru Mission, and how the Peruvians recognize that the missionaries are seeking to serve the people in both practical and gospel-centered ways.
I am so grateful for the opportunity to go and serve in Peru. I loved seeing how God is restoring his broken world through this particular mission. I would love to talk more about this with you, especially since these were only highlights of the trip. Thank you for your prayers.

Cross-Cultural Experiences

My family moved to Sweden in March 1994. We moved to Soderhamn, where we were the only native English speakers. We knew no Swedish. This led to several interesting and very humorous experiences in the three and a half years we lived there.

Our first trip to the grocery store was memorable. Being fresh off the farm, my dad was still wearing his cowboy boots, cowboy hat and Dickies overalls. This caught the attention of many Swedish children who could not believe that the iconic American cowboy was there in their small town grocery store. Also, did I mention that my family is from Texas?!? This means one thing, that we are loud. So there we were, loud Texans in a very quiet, docile Swedish super market. No, those are not crickets you hear, it is my loud Texas family.

Since our first 24 hours in Sweden had already been filled with strange food, my parents attempted to buy things that were familiar to us. Tony the Tiger was one of them. I had never eaten Frosted Flakes in my life, and did not intend to start then, regardless of that Tiger's smiling face. I think that box of cereal was still in our cabinet when we moved. But I digress.

Not being able to read the language meant that my parents had to use other clues to figure out what things were. So, naturally, when my mom saw a carton with a purple woman on it, she assumed it was grape juice. When the contents were poured into a juice glass, it came out white. Since it was clearly not grape juice, she concluded it was milk and promptly poured it on my brother's cereal. It came out chunky though, so it clearly was not milk. Plain yogurt? Wrong again. It turns out that we had stumbled across a Swedish product called Fil Mjolk. Slightly soured thickened milk that tastes great with granola or jam. I eventually developed a taste for it, but at the time I could not help but long for normal American milk on my cereal.

Where exactly am I going with this? Well, in a mere four days 13 of us from OU RUF will board a plan for Trujillo, Peru and have our very own South American cross cultural experiences. Only two of us (present company excluded) speak any notable Spanish, so the language will be a barrier. I am excited to see what God has to teach us about the Peruvian people, and to see how His kingdom is growing in other parts of the world.

But I am also very excited to see what is in the purple cartons in Peruvian grocery stores.

"Julia Child Wasn't Always Julia Child..."

...and I wasn't always an RUF intern. In fact, just 10 short months ago I was turning in final papers and taking my last college exams. And yet now I often answer most questions of "How are you?" with things about my job. This is probably directly correlated with the fact that I LOVE my job, so I always have plenty of things to talk about...but I also want to be seen as a real person who has real thoughts and feelings. Why all of this rambling, you ask?!? Well, last week I spent a lot of time with people who were part of my life before I was an intern. I wanted to share some of the them (read: not all) with my blog readers :) God is good, I love that he created us for community.

Kaitie and I have been friends since the 7th Grade.

Abby (the red head on the left) is an intern at University of Washington in Seattle. We were history majors together.

I did not get to see Mark and Kristin on this trip, but they are too wonderful to leave out. Kristin and I lived together junior year and then she and Mark got married and they did a great job including me in their first year of marriage!

Are you really surprised by a picture of Wallace? I took him on a walk on the St.Johns River while I was home.

Brittany and I lived together for three years in college. Did we mention we lived on the same hall as Tim Tebow???

Katie and Josh welcomed and new member of their family...baby Jake!!! Katie and I lived together my last year in college.

The new baby...precious!!!

Here is Grace holding baby Jake. Grace and I lived together my last two years in college.

Well, there you are ladies and gentlemen...a snapshot of just some of the people whom God has graciously allowed me to share my life with over the past several years.

13 of us here at OU are preparing to leave for Peru in a week and a half. We will be doing some construction work and teaching some English lessons. I am very excited and simultaneously very nervous. Please be praying for us!!!

Ice Ice Baby

- So I named this post after what I thought was a Queen song named "Ice Ice Baby." It turns out some guy named Vanilla Ice actually sang that song, and the Queen song I was thinking of is called "Under Pressure." Weird.

- The reason for the ice theme??? Well, the initial reason is the Olympics, but more importantly because we had an Olympics opening ceremonies party with ice themed games!!! Here are some pictures from our par-tay:

- Ice Bath: Who can keep their hand in the water for the longest amount of time? Well, the answer is Josh Voth for 14:18. As of yesterday (Sunday) Josh said he hadn't regained all feeling in that hand yet!

- The first round of contestants- they are looking pretty happy at this point! Our other games were corn hole toss and frozen chubby bunny. The chubby bunny record was 12 marshmallows. This was by far the most fun I have ever had watching the opening ceremonies!

- Another highlight of the weekend was making cookies for my horse, Chance. Anna Serven and Lydia Grawe helped me out with this. They were pretty excited to help with this overall, except for when it can to mix in the molasses, which they felt did not smell so good.

- My New Year's Resolution to watch movies I have not seen before is going splendidly. To continue with the John Williams theme, we watched Jaws last week and the first Indiana Jones movie should be arriving here shortly. Jaws is certainly epic, but the suspense was killer (ha!).

- I am traveling to Florida on Friday, staff training Sunday through Wednesday, and then to Gainesville. I am pretty excited to see other interns, family, friends, and Wallace. Wallace is my parent's Westie. He is pretty ridic. As in ridiculously cute.

- Boomer Sooner!!!

Another Exciting Blog Post

Well, after last week's blog chock full of excitement, how can I possibly live up to that standard?? Much to my dismay, there has been no more snow in Norman, so I have nothing to report on that front (get it, as in a cold front...har har har).

We had a girls movie night this weekend, which was fabulous if I may say so myself (which I may). We watched the BBC miniseries "North and South." Haven't seen it? Don't know what it is?? Check it out: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0417349/. If you have Netflix, you can watch it instantly on your computer!!!

I made a trip to Oklahoma City with some freshmen as they are in need of dresses and shoes for the upcoming "Pink and Black Ball." It is a ball put on by the University of Oklahoma for Breast Cancer Awareness.

I also made a trip with my roommates to my favorite coffee shop in Norman, (no offense Cafe Plaid or Michaelangelos you just aren't as trendy and your cafe americanos just don't measure up) Gray Owl! It was wonderful to spend time with them. They are wonderful girls and God has really blessed me by having me live with them. Here we are at Gray Owl:

My spring newsletter will be sent out shortly, so please let me know if you are not receiving them and would like to.

Boomer Sooner!!!

Snowy, Snowy Oklahoma

- I just got back from my first Tuesday morning Bible study. It was great! We talked about some of our hesitations in reading the Bible, and misconceptions we have about its content. Everyone agreed that reading from the Children's Bible was fun.

- I watched the first movie of my project to see movies that John Williams composed music for with my roommate Sally this weekend. It was the 1974 movie "The Sugarland Express" with Goldie Hawn. This was Steven Spielberg's first film! It is the film that marked the beginning of the Spielberg-Williams relationship. "Sugarland" refers to Sugarland, TX, and not some magical land made of sugar. I was under the impression that this name might refer to the latter, until the movie ended and the story had never moved outside of the dry Texas landscape.

- In order to complete The John Williams Project this year, I have subscribed to Netflix. This weekend I will take a break from John Williams movies and have girls over to watch "North and South." If you have not seen this, you are missing out on an epic tale. We will watch the first two hours, break for dinner and then watch the rest. I cannot wait to introduce my Norman friends to this story of unrequited love!

- Here are some pictures of Chance from the weekend: What do you feel like this face is expressing??

- He was still hopeful that I had more carrots at this point:
- A street close to my house Friday morning. It continued to snow most of Friday!

- As you can tell from the pictures above (and the title of the post), it snowed about a foot last Thursday and Friday. OU had 1.5 days cancelled of class. This was fun, especially because it means that we got to hold the time-honored OURUF tradition of SNOW FOOTBALL!!! This was one of the things I was most excited about when I found out that I was coming to OU. Here are the wonderful girls that came and toughed it out between 10 and midnight!!!
- The whole crazy group of snow football players!
- Boomer Sooner!!!