Highlights of the last week

Happy Sunday!! It was a great week last week- busy, but fun! Let me give you a quick run-down of all the great graces we have received and amazing opportunities The Lord has provided us.

Last Saturday, we spent the day at the lake with a bunch of students. We were so blessed that a parishioner of St. Leo's generously offered to host our group for lunch at their lake-house.

Flannery and Abigail at the Lake

We were able to spend some time relaxing, getting to know our students a little more and meeting a few new faces as well! It is so important that we are able to share this mission with the students in a natural and organic way, and spending the day together- sharing life with one another- was a great way to do that.

We ended the day with a visit from the local Fire Department (they are really great- one fireman has gone on quite a few mission trips himself). Yep, it was me. I successfully started my first kitchen fire. Don't worry, everyone was fine. I even got my flaming pot back in good condition with a little elbow grease (and Barkeeper's Friend). All I wanted was a funnel cake! And, while I was never able to actually eat a funnel cake that night, I did learn a few things instead:

1) Never put the lid on a pot of hot oil- it gets wayy to hot. You will be surprised with a HUGE flame when said lid is removed and the hot oil has access to oxygen. It is best to use a thermometer to keep an eye on things.
2) Never throw baking soda on an open flame caused by a huge pot of overheated oil. Baking soda is fine for a small pool of burning oil, but obviously a huge pot of oil cannot be completely absorbed by a small sprinkling of soda- it just irritates it more, makes a bigger mess, and creates very thick smoke that is hard to breathe in.
3) Best thing to do is keep the lid on a burning pot of oil, remove it from the heat and let it cool down- it will work itself out. When in doubt call the Fire Department though- they are the professionals.

I may not have mastered funnel cakes yet, but I'm doing pretty well with bread!

But like I said, everyone was fine. I had some extra cleaning to do and a seriously bruised and embarrassed ego- but that's okay too. Humility is a virtue, and at the end of the day, even though I don't like the process of being humbled, I do like virtue so- there you go! Win. Basically. But I have a great husband who noticed I was feeling a little down about my kitchen mishap and brought me these to cheer me up! It worked! I just love him.

On Tuesday, we were so blessed to get a visit from our Regional Directors. They came to see how things were going and bounce ideas off us. And, the team took them out to do some bare handed evangelization on campus. Zach and the team are big fans of the 'God Test'- an evangelization tool that is a series of questions which allow for a conversation about God to take place with random students to help them assess their walk with God. Check it out here! So many great encounters have been a result of this method- stay tuned for some stories in the future!

Wednesday was the day we all were waiting for! Wednesday night we had a bunch of students over to the Newman House for a little vision-casting. We decided we wanted to get as many students informed about the mission of FOCUS as soon as possible and get them started ministering to their peers right away! It was a pretty great success, we didn't know what to expect really, but close to 90% of the students who attended were really excited and even committed themselves to go out evangelizing the next day and start getting some of their friends together for a bible study! This is more than we could have hoped for- as of the end of week two on a brand new campus we already have about 8 students well on their way to becoming disciples! Less than two weeks!

One of our students holding Flannery on Wednesday night

Thursday was spent meeting with students, evangelizing with them, and sharing our testimonies. I had a great afternoon with one student who has never been involved in anything like FOCUS before and never had many opportunities to learn how to become more involved in her faith. After hearing about my walk with Christ and how He changed my life, she is excited to learn more and grow in a relationship with Him. As you may have read in Zach's zombie post, we are trying to be more intentional with everyone we meet. So, after learning a few details about this student, I jumped straight into it and just asked her to tell me about her walk with Christ. You'd think people would be more put off by a question like that- but more than not they are pretty willing to share. And as they share they begin to self-assess and realize (many times) that they want to learn more or have a personal encounter with Jesus. This is what happens when we stop living like zombies and speak the name of Jesus! The name of Jesus is one of the most powerful prayers we can pray. Do it! Ask someone about their walk with Jesus this week- I dare you! Then let me know how it went.

Zach found his favorite coffee mug at the Newman House- he uses it every day. 

I call it the Beyonce Bunny, he calls it the Fergie #mystump Cup.You decide. 

Friday morning we met two new faces at daily Mass. two young women who are international students that are here studying English. They are originally from South Korea. Friday was the first time they had made it to Mass at St. Leo's- they came for 8:00 am daily Mass. That's pretty committed for a college student. We got a chance to show them around the Newman House and tell them a little more about the opportunities for students. I'm really looking forward to getting to know them, and maybe learn some Korean- Annyeong!

We're are spending the long weekend relaxing, gathering a few more pieces of furniture from the local consignment shop, eating Culver's Frozen Custard (which by the way, did you know you can get a quart of the flavor of the day for $5.99?), reading and catching up with family and friends!

Oh, and we're celebrating an unofficial Back the Jacks Sunday- GO JACKS! We miss you SDSU!

- Meghan