Christmas

Just love the impact of these words...

O holy night, the stars are brightly shining;
It is the night of the dear Savior's birth!
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope, the weary soul rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born!
O night, O holy night, O night divine!

Praise Jesus for coming here to save us!

Baby!

Yup! That's right! We're having a baby!

Dreaming big

A couple of summers ago, John (a great friend of mine) and I embarked on an 8 week road trip. Our destinations were various CIY conferences across the country at which we would represent the National Association of Christian Campus Ministries (now, the ACM). Our goal was to make high school students aware of the fact that they could be Christians on their "secular" campus.

Perhaps one of our most startling discoveries for us was that while students were interested, their youth leaders were nearly oblivious to campus ministries. We had several leaders approach us and say they didn't know such things even existed on secular campuses.

This is tragic. Tragic and frightening.

Consider: An overwhelming majority of high school students in youth groups will NOT be attending Bible college.

As a new campus minister, one thing of which I am becoming increasingly aware is that college students have extremely specific needs. This is why Todd and Gretchen started CSF at UIS & LLCC and why my wife and I are working alongside them now. One of our main purposes is to guide students into a deeper relationship with God as they go through some extreme life changes. It requires intense amounts of time, attention and prayer.

Unfortunately, I'm repeatedly reminded that many high school students are not even exposed to campus ministries, and, for those who are, it is little more than advice given in passing.

What if this changed?
What if every high school student in Springfield planning on attending secular college was aware that campus ministry existed?
What if they were not only exposed to campus ministry, but had experienced it ahead of time?

How many more would transition well from H.S. to college and from college to full time lay service in a church community?
How many more believers would exist in the workplace?
How many more over-seas missionaries would Christ raise up? How many more pastors, teachers, etc?

This isn't meant to be an accusatory shout. It's meant to be the start of a brainstorming session among believers in Springfield interested in H.S. believers not dropping off the map once they hit the university. I want to dream big about this topic today. Pray with me about this...

thanks
-dave

Psalm 131

This semester my friend Emily and I have been doing a Beth Moore study on the Psalms of Ascent. As part of this study we have be rewriting Psalms 120-134 as personal prayers to Jesus. This has act has really been impacting my spiritual life this semester as I get a chance to be both creative and reflective...things I often don't allow myself the time to be. Here is my psalm 131:

Psalm 131
LORD humble my heart, let no ounce of pride find a home there.
Purify my glances and let my eyes never be to good for those around me.
LORD I do not want to be involved in things to great for my mind.
I want to rest quietly in your embrace like a small child in its mothers arms.
Forever and ever is how long I want to put my hope in You.
Please keep my heart aligned with You.

Back to School

This past Tuesday, September 1 marked a new period in the our lives. We are going back to school!! (All I want to do when I think that is say it in an Adam Sandler voice). David and I are taking classes at Lincoln Christian Seminary...which I am not sure if that is what it is called anymore with their big name change to Lincoln Christian University. We are really excited to be sharpened and to grow in intimacy with our Lord as we learn more about Him and the story of his people. I would say we also are a little intimidated by this whole taking classes again thing but we know it is where we are supposed to be for this season of our lives.

Just for Gretchen we took some back to school photos on Tuesday morning :)

...and we're back!

Our life the last month or so:
July 12-30 Nairobi, Kenya
July 31: Laundry, Laundry, more laundry and printing pictures. Sleep, too.
August 1-5: National Student Conference with amazing college students.
August 6: Morning hospital visit. Evening 3.5 hour trip to Sycamore. Both totally worth it!
August 7-9: Camping w/ the grandparents out at Lake Sangchris. Sweet rest and Nana's delicious cooking for 3 days!!
August 10: Linds @ work. I spent the day unpacking our suitcases from three different trips! wow!
August 11-present: A slow return to "normalcy"

It has been a crazy month. We've been so blessed though to see God work in some ridiculous ways every single day. We'd love to share the stories and hear yours too! Just shoot us an email or give us a call!

Thanks so much to all of you have have been so persistent in prayer for us. We could not have made it past July 12 w/o you!

-David & Lindsey

Lions, Giraffes and Wildebeests, O My!

Over the last couple of weeks, I have been looking back over some video footage we took on our trip last year to Kenya. In viewing this, David and I are becoming more and more excited to be back. We return to Kenya 19 days from today! Here are a few clips from the safari our team took last year...lions, giraffes, and wildebeests o my! (don't mind the commentary in the background :) )

Sharing the love

Ever since I started doing worship music, I've always tried to make it a rule that I'll never do a song that I haven't been able to worship to myself.  Though that sounds all cool and stuff, a lot of the motive behind it is from knowing how miserable(and bored) I'd be if I were not able to worship to the song I was singing with and in front of others

In order to avoid the misery,  inauthenticity and boredom, I have to take some time to let a song sink in a little bit, allow it to influence my faith, and then process how God has used it.  After it has had an impact on me, then I feel comfortable with sharing it outwardly.  

A little while back I stumbled across what has become somewhat of an exception to that rule.  It's a song called "How He Loves" by John Mark McMillan.  After hearing this song once, I was completely hooked.  I listened to it probably 20 times the first day(a Sunday) I heard it(and all the other songs I could find by John Mark on myspace) and again the next day.  Almost immediately, I worked at learning the song and by Tuesday, we were putting it in the worship set for Friday night.   

I have become so thrilled with this song that I can't help sharing it with anyone willing to listen. Most of my musical friends knew about it within 24 hours and my poor wife was forced into listening to it repeatedly.  

The reason I'm so thrilled with this song is that it expresses what I experienced in my return to relationship with/faith in Christ. I don't know how to describe any better just how wonderful this song is for me and more importantly how much its message (which existed long before me or the song) has changed my life forever.  

Here are the lyrics:

"How He Loves" by John Mark McMillan

He is jealous for me
Loves like a hurricane
I am a tree
Bending beneath 
The weight of his wind and mercy
When all of a sudden
I am unaware of these 
Afflictions eclipsed by glory
And I realize how beautiful you are
And how great your affections are for me

Oh how he loves us so
Oh how he loves us
How he loves us so

He is jealous for me...(repeat 1st verse and chorus)

Yea He loves us 
Whoa how He loves us

Whoa how He loves us

Whoa how He loves

We are his portion
And he is our prize
Drawn to redemption by the grace in his eyes
If grace is an ocean we're all sinking
So heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss
And my heart burns violently inside of my chest
I don't have time to maintain these regrets
When I think about the way

He loves us
Whoa how he loves us so
Whoa how he loves us
How he loves us so

I thought about you
The day Stephen died
And you met me between my breaking
I know that I still love you God
Despite the agony
See people they want to tell me your cruel
But if Stephen could sing 
He'd say its not true
Cause your good

I just stumbled across a couple videos on youtube with recordings of this song. The first is John Mark explaining the song and singing a portion of the song.  I had no idea about the entire context of the song.  This only adds to the incredible meaning I've already found in this song.  The 2nd is some woman with incredible pipes completely rocking the song.  Also, John Mark has a recording(definitely the best version over any covers) posted on his website-- thejohnmark.com

"Tonight, God wants you to encounter His love.  Without it these are just words, these are just instruments.  It's like we're just up here making noise.  But the love of God changes us and we're never the same again..."

enjoy!

-dave

The CSF Story

A couple of weeks ago David and I had the opportunity to speak about Christian Student Fellowship at the main campus of the church we attend which is South Side Christian Church. South Side has been so generous in allowing us to share about CSF with the congregation at the Southwest campus in the fall and now at the MacArthur campus. Instead of giving a sermon we decided to tell the story of what God is doing right now in our campus ministry. God is doing wild and crazy things in our students as they encounter Him and our transformed by his love and grace.

If you are interested in checking out the message here is the link http://www.southsidechristian.com/#/Media/

We gave the message of 4/26.

Trivia Night this Saturday!

As the title suggests, we're doing a Trivia Night this Saturday out at the Southwest Campus of South Side Christian Church. Our Kenya team is putting it together to raise money for our trip.
Registration begins at 6:30 p.m.
Trivia begins at 7:00 p.m.
Cost: $10 per person.
8 people per team.
There'll be a silent auction going on during the trivia night.
Snacks will be provided.

It's crazy to think that we're already in mid April. In just a few months we'll be packing to head back to Kenya! We're both incredibly excited. For me personally, spending time with the kids and building relationships with them had an extremely profound impact on my relationship with God (and with other people, for that matter...) and my overall view of the world.
Getting to know the personalities of kids like Nancy, Maggie, Joel, Elliot, Maina, Daniel, James, James and James(yeah there were at least three...) completely made me rethink my views of poverty. After befriending these guys and gals, "poverty," which was always something I was "aware" of, became a personal issue- like it was something happening to a member of my family or friends. I couldn't and can't ignore their pain. It's mine too!

To think that I get to see these guys again makes me so glad. That's why I'm so excited about the Trivia Night(aside from the fact that it's going to be a BLAST!!!): because it's going to bring us one step closer to these people that many of us have grown to love deeply. To serve them again with our hands, resources and time is a blessing I don't quite know how to express in words.

-dave

Kenya 09!

As many of you probably already know, David and I are traveling back to Kenya this July. Words can not express how excited we are to have this opportunity. We ordered our plane tickets this week and it is finally beginning to sink in that in a little over 100 days we will be in Africa. As we hugged the kids good bye last year we hoped we would see them again but we had no idea that God would make that possible again this summer. We can't wait to wrap our arms around them, sing, dance, and play again!

Last year we traveled with a group of 6, us and 4 students from UIS. This year our team has grown to 9 and everyone from last year's trip is returning! We will travel over as group of 7 and meet 2 of our students there. God really has set a passion in the hearts of the students at UIS for kids. We saw this when we traveled to Nett Lake last month and we are pumped for what he has planned when are students are reunited with (or meeting for the first time) Joel, Gladys, Maina and Jane.

If you want to know more about what are students are doing in response to last year's trip and our friend Shana's trip in 2007 check out www.jumpforjoel.org.

NCAA picks

March Madness has been so much fun this year.  Not quite as fun as cheering for an underdog like George Mason last year, but still fun.

My bracket this year is pretty much toast.  I picked UNC to get upset early on, Villanova to get taken down, and Illinois to make a run. Oklahoma was supposed to win the tournament over Michigan State after the two took down Pitt and Memphis, respectively.  

Though most of the bracket was filled out without bias, I must admit that my picking Illinois was because I wanted them to win.  I thought they had a chance, so I was comfortable picking them.   Unfortunately, I did the bracket on our mission trip to Minnesota and failed to find out that Chester Frazier was indeed out for the tournament.  Might've done that one differently...Still, it was almost more fun to fill out the bracket how I WANTED the tournament to work out rather than based on my opinion of the teams' level of play.  I wanted to see Blake Griffin play basketball and I really wanted to see MSU (Big Ten team) knock down a no. 1 seed.  

Glad to see Michigan State is still in it!

I don't think many of the people who follow our blog are sports fans.   If you are, who are you picking for the last 3 games? 

 I'm taking MSU to beat UConn, UNC to beat Villanova, and UNC to take the championship over MSU.  I hope I'm wrong.  I really want Michigan State to win.  However, it really doesn't seem likely after watching Ty Lawson.  That dude is unreal.

Whichever teams you pick, enjoy the rest of the tournament!

-dave

Minnesota Mission Trip

This week we took a group of 9 students (13 of us in all) to Nett Lake, MN. David's parents work with a church on the Bois Forte Indian Reservation at Nett Lake. We traveled the 12 hours north to work with the church and the local grade school. The trip was a blast! This was our fourth spring break journey to Nett Lake and the kids really look forward to our group's return. Our group hosted an after school program Mon-Wed for the grade school and then helped out with open gyms in the evenings for the junior high and high school kids. We even had an opportunity to participate in a Math Fun Day on Wednesday and meet a lot of the kid's parents.

When we arrived on Saturday night, David and I talked with the group about being attentive to the Spirit promptings and to be intentional with one another during our time on the Rez. It was amazing to see them take to this heart and live it out. They not only were looking for every opportunity to help around the church and serve one another but they were learning the kid's names and finding every way possible to hang out at the school.

Our memory verses for the week was 1 Peter 4:7-11. Verse 10 says "Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others." We experienced this on the trip. We had a super hero drawing option for the after school program where the kids could make up their own super heros. We had a science experiment class where they used rulers to make a catapult. We played volleyball and basketball. Everyone's gifts were used to connect with the children of Nett Lake.

The Peace of Peter - Acts 12

I have been rereading the book of Acts the last couple of weeks. Acts is probably my favorite book of the Bible if I had to pick which is really hard to do. I love the hope, action, and amazingness (blogger says that is not a word but I am going to keep it anyways) of the stories that make up Acts. God has been teaching me a lot about testimonies and the importance of sharing the stories of our lives the last couple of months. Acts is jammed pack full of stories of the early church and how God kept providing, expanding, and changing what it meant to follow Jesus. This read through I have decided to read Acts in the Message for the first time. (Thanks for the inspiration Debra!)

Today, I read through chaps 11 and 12 and this one phrase in chapter 12 will not get out of my head. I have been chewing on it all morning. It says in verse 6 "That night, even though shackled to two soldiers, one on either side, Peter slept like a baby." Peter slept like a baby. Now for this to make sense her is some context: King Herod, in hopes of uping his popularity with the Jews, decided to start persecuting some of the Christ Followers. He killed James, brother of John and threw Peter in prison. After passover, Herod was planning to make a public spectacle of torturing and killing Peter. The night before it was to take place verse 6 happens. Peter is chained with a death warrant and he is sleeping like a baby. SLEEPING LIKE A BABY!! What ?!? Peter was not freaking out, he was not planning his escape route, he was not weeping, he was not yelling at God or making baragins with God if God would spare his life, all things that would run through my mind. No, Peter is at peace.

I was thinking when was the last time a slept like a baby...It has been awhile. I don't have a death sentence weighing over me, all I have is some events to plan or meetings to attend. However, I am still waking up after nights of stressful dreams and my mind is racing. Where is the peace?

I think Peter was so confident with God's decision about his life that he did not need to stress or worry. Peter must have trusted God whether his life was going to end with death the next day or if God was going to miraculously provide an escape. It didn't matter if it was going to be martyrdom or rescue, Peter knew God would be there. Peter trusted in God's love and had given himself over as a servant. It was no longer Peter who lived but Christ living through him. And there was peace.

Peter was able to write in 1 Peter 5:6-7 " So be content with who you are, and don't put on airs. God's strong hand is on you; he'll promote you at the right time. Live carefree before God; he is most careful with you.' (the message) or ⁷ Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. (NLT)."

Be carefree because God cares about you. This is coming from a man on the night before he was sentenced to die was sleeping like a baby. Peter knew stressful and dangerous situations and He is living out his command.

Peace. We can have it, the Spirit is wanting to give it....what is bogging us down? I know I am letting a lot of the little things stress me out and I am giving into worry over God's provision. The little worries are starting to shape me and my world view and cloud my view of the truth in situations.

I didn't mean for this to come out like a sermon....just thoughts about sleeping like a baby.

-linds

Happy Birthday Lindsey!

My wonderful wife, Lindsey, just turned 24 on March 1! Happy Birthday Lindsey!

It's so crazy to think that we are growing out of the typical college student age. Though we aren't necessarily looking forward to getting older, we're both pretty stoked about finally being able to rent a vehicle at a reasonable price and getting a break on our insurance! Both seem so expensive!

We had a great time this weekend at the Winter Retreat for Illinois Campus Ministries. Randy Gariss spoke on relationships and did a fantastic job. I'd heard a lot about his message before, but had never heard him speak. God is really doing something phenomenal through that guy! What a wonderful message he shares about finding our identities in God as opposed to our significant other, friends, accomplishments, etc.

In other news, we are having our annual Celebration Dinner this Friday! Christian Student Fellowship is celebrating its 15th year of ministry this year!!! Come join us at Rochester Christian Church at 6:30!

It's going to be a crazy ride the next few weeks for us. Next Saturday we will be loading up and heading out at 6 a.m. for our mission trip to Nett Lake Indian Reservation, MN to hold an after school program on the rez and generally to continue our relationships with the kids up there. We will be 40 miles south of Canada, so we're gearing up for some cold. Mom said they have 2 feet of snow on the ground right now. I can't wait to sled!!

Well, that's all for now!
-dave

25 Things

So I did this on facebook but I thought I would add it here too. I realize that I am always the one to post surveys on here...I guess they aren't really David's thing.

1. This is my first facebook note! (Doesn't really apply to the blog).
2. My first name and my last name have the majority of the same letters making them flow very nicely.
3. I love mexican food...I think David and I eat at least three meals of it a week.
4. I was a cheerleader for 8 years, including one at UIS. It consumed a large part of my life. (That one is for my mom-n-law who loves me despite the fact that I was cheerleader :) )
4. I flew on my first airplane when I was 3 weeks old. Flying has never been a fear of mine, I love adventures!
5. I am really shy until I get to know someone and then I probably won't shut up.
6. I used to not watch much TV until I discovered the Office and John and Kate + 8.
7. David and I dated twice. I am glad the second ended much better than the first :)
8. Campus ministry changed my life and I am blessed to give back to it everyday.
9. I went to 6 different schools, 3 were different grade schools. These schools were in three states and one on a military base overseas.
10. My dad was in the Air Force for the first 13 years of my life. I thought everyone moved every couple of years for a long time.
11. On my first day of school in Meredosia (I was starting 8th grade) all the old teachers thought I was my Aunt Julie's daughter(my dad's sis). It was really weird because my cousin Corey (her son) is only 3 months younger than me and was in the same class...never could figure that out. Still to this day everyone thinks I look like my aunt...sorry mom.
12. I really enjoy reading fiction books and recently it has been pop fantasy like Harry Potter, Eragon and Twilight.
13. Jenny and I did what lots of college students say they will do. We went to Europe for two weeks when we graduated college.
14. I am blessed to work with some of my best friends everyday.
15. Until Junior High I only had freckles on half of my forehead.
16. I am very clusty (?), have bad depth perception and issues with fourwheelers/go karts. My cousins like to tell stories of all my accidents like when I ran over my foot with a 4wheeler or when I ran the go kart into the house.
17. I worked in a corn field every summer for 5 years. I don't have issues driving farm equipment or cars.
18. I want to read all of Jane Austin's books someday.
19. I would like to live in another country for at least month during my adult life.
20. God changed David and I's lives through our trip to Kenya last summer...no not changed but is continually changing.
21. I love dessert!
22. I like spontaneity but also organization and planning. My brain has lots of internal struggles.
23. I like open communication...when it is not there my brain starts shutting down. I need to be more patient in this area.
24. Small talk scares me. It intimidates me more than anything else.
25. My husband is my best friend, I am soo fortunate that I get to learn from him for the next 80 years.

Yesu ni Wangu

Reflections on living with a Kenyan

Yesterday, David and I drove to Chicago to pick up our friend James. James is in charge of Fadhili Helpers, the organization that we went through for our trip to Kenya last July. We are so excited that James is here in the US! We had no idea we would see him again so soon...and have him in our apartment...it is crazy.

Today, as we having been doing our normal everyday things, I have been trying to see things of America for the first time. Walmart, pizza, cheese, snow! So many different things than what we experienced in Kenya.

Here are a few snippets from James:

1. "So this street, Toronto, doesn't lead to Canada?" (In Kenya streets are about location, a roads name often tells where it is headed.) He was also confused if the subway stop for California St in Chicago lead to California. I can see why this would be so confusing.

2. We must eat everything that is served to us. Even if it is an entire Chicago style pizza. David and I would have left a couple of pieces when we were full because we couldn't transport them around Chicago with us.

3. Wanted to know why the snow in Chicago tasted bad... :)

more to come...it is so exciting to see things through new eyes and understand how he must have felt when we were in Kenya.

-linds

Atheist Matthew Parris: "Africa needs God"

Check out this post by worship leader/blogger Jeff Miller and make sure to read this article he references. Unreal.

Celebration

So this post is a week late but most things are in my life and I didn't want to miss a chance to celebrate my anniversary.

December 29, as David posted was our one year anniversary. It is so crazy to think we have made it through 12 months, 365 days as a married couple. I have an amazing, kind, and strong Husband. Our anniversary falls two short days away from news year, the time of reflection and change. This is something I don't do near enough...here is a little bit into our year.

This year we traveled farther than we ever have together, we learned how to grieve together, we tipped the ice berg of learning how to love selflessly, we challenged each other to read through the Bible together, and we jumped into the wonderful world of Campus Ministry together.

The journey together has made 2008 the wildest, craziest, greatest year yet. I can't wait to see what 2009 brings us.