Palmer Home: Monday

I'm going to attempt to post an update every day while we're on our spring break service trip. (Key word: "attempt.") I didn't realize we were going to have wifi here, so this is a spontaneous decision. Feel free to share the link!

This week, thirteen of us from Kennesaw RUF are serving at Palmer Children's Home Columbus, Mississippi. Florida's RUF is also here with us (they just slightly outnumber us ... they've got 40!), so it's been fun to get to know them. (They're currently playing the blow dart game ... if you're familiar with that, you can imagine how "fun" it's been to randomly hear your name called out, look up, and then have to keel over wherever you are. They all seem to know my name, and we've barely been here 24 hours. But I digress.)

We arrived yesterday and were greeted and briefed by the Andersons. They used to be house parents here at Palmer Home, and now they oversee groups (like us) who travel here. You can find out everything about Palmer Home here, but here's their mission statement (straight from their website):

"The mission of Palmer Home for Children is to reflect the hope and love of Christ by providing a stable, long-term Christ-centered home for children who lack an adequate family structure. To that end Palmer Home, as it has since 1895, remains committed to privately-funded, non-government child care which keeps siblings together, models evangelical Christian values, mends emotional scars, restores self-esteem, and provides for each child the full opportunity to reach his or her God-given potential."

Palmer Home is taking great care of us. When we unpacked last night, we found that our on campus apartment had snacks (Pop Tarts, Capri Suns, candy, popcorn, coffee ... major college essentials), and we all have beds! (Having been on a bunch of mission trips with lots of different accommodations, this was a welcome surprise. We've all agreed that this is definitely a "nice" missions trip.) We made a quick Walmart run last night (hey Mom and Jen, I bought us healthy stuff!) ... and the photo below is just a typical "welcome to Mississippi" thing. Go Duck Dynasty.

Aubri, Anna, and Hannah modeling

This morning, we got up before 8 (woohoo for college kids who are willing to give up most of the break and get up "early") and ate a hearty breakfast. We were then split up into work groups. I'm not 100 percent sure everything that Florida did (painting shutters, digging a massive ditch, and lots of other things), but here's what our crew did:

Brett, Matt, and Phillip: Our fearless guys were in heaven today. They got to drive an old Chevy truck (every guy's dream, right!?), used machetes and other sharp instruments, and were outside all day. They cleared a large area of brush and ivy behind the baseball field. I don't have photos of them in action, but they worked super hard (and they'll be back there tomorrow to do it again!).

Old truck. What more could you want?

Hannah and Kayla: These two sweet ladies eagerly volunteered to strip wallpaper from a bathroom in the administration building. (Not sure they knew what they were getting into, but they did it!) They came back sticky from wall glue and with pieces of wallpaper all over them - and they're headed back tomorrow to keep working.

Cheerfully scraping wallpaper

Lexi, Rebekah, and Sarah: These cool ladies moved supplies (all kinds - school supplies, crafts, toiletries, etc.) from one room into a large closet/room area. They did some major organizing and cleaning, and they kept up with people who brought in more supplies. I think they're continuing tomorrow with more school supplies in the tutoring center.

Rebekah's crew found a pogo stick!

Anna, Ansley,  Aubri, Nicole, and me: I had a blast with these fun ladies all afternoon. We got to sort and move toys, games, clothes, supplies, etc. from one room in the administration building. We decided which toys were going to the toy room at Palmer Home (it's where the house parents can pick out gifts for their kids, as well as gifts for when their kids get invited to birthday parties) and which items needed to be sent to the Palmer Home thrift store. The thrift store's proceeds help keep Palmer Home running. (Side note: We had one in Starkville when I was in undergrad. Hands down, it's one of my favorite thrift stores.)

Don't worry - these were already used, so they went to the thrift store 

Loaded up the bus with thrift store toys!

Later this afternoon, we played with the sweet and energetic kiddos. I made rock piles, knotted clover necklaces, and chased twin 3-year olds. We got to eat dinner with the families, which was really neat. (We can't post photos of the kids, but trust me - they're cute.)

After dinner, the group humored me and we drove to Starkville ... home of my wonderful alma mater, Mississippi State University! I broke my 40-day fast (just once!) and ate Bop's ice cream. Totally worth it. Loved being able to share one of my favorite college places with our crew. After ice cream, we headed to State's campus and I told them all about it ... way more than they ever wanted to know. (Side note: There's still SO MUCH construction on campus!) They were awesome and I think enjoyed seeing all the green space. We definitely walked off our ice cream and wore ourselves out - we're all going to sleep GREAT tonight.

The guys enjoying concretes from Bop's.

As I finish writing this post, our crew is currently bonding with the Florida crew. They're playing Hearts, and I'm about to get to bed. (My tired body is still on Eastern time ... or I'm just old. Probably a combination of both.) Thanks for your prayers, encouraging texts, and Facebook likes on our photos ... keep it up!

The Kennesaw/Florida crew bonding in our kitchen

Fall semester catch up: Part 2

As promised, here's part 2 of our fall semester at KSU RUF ... photo edition.

Here are just a few of the lovely ladies in our weekly Wednesday night Bible study. We've got through Tim Keller's "The Prodigal God," and it has been excellent. I'm so thankful for the discussion, conversation, and transparency in this group. I look forward to Wednesday nights just as much as I do Tuesday nights! (large group night)

This photo is what happened when I asked for their best awkward family beach pose. (Side note: We have girls from every class — freshman, sophomore, junior, senior — in this picture!)

Over the summer, my intern friends at Emory introduced me to a fun event called "Snap, Crackle, Pop Culture Night." You have people bring a box of cereal, and you provide the milk, spoons, and bowls. (And in our case: coffee and OJ.) Everyone gets the chance to try lots of types of cereal (thus the "snap, crackle, pop," and then you sit down to eat while watching a movie (thus the "pop culture"). We did one at my house and it was a hit — I just need a bigger den and a bigger TV. I think we crammed 24 into my tiny den to watch "The Hunger Games." Shout out to Rachael and Jake for letting KSU RUF shamelessly steal y'alls idea. We loved it, and we're definitely doing it again!

Joel (senior), Chelsea (senior), and Lucy (sophomore) going for the cereal — this was maybe half of the selection. Note to self: have a bigger kitchen table for the next "Snap, Crackle, Pop Culture" night.

In October, we headed to fall conference in Temple, Georgia with other area schools: UGA, Emory, GA Tech, Alabama A&M, Samford, UAB, and Mercer. (Sorry if I forgot anyone.) Rev. Les Newsom (former RUF campus minister at Memphis, then Ole Miss; now the RUF area coordinator for RUF Midsouth) spoke to us about faith. This is definitely a topic that I've talked about with students, and the weekend talks helped us continue some great conversations. Les, thank you for speaking and bringing the Word!

Our fall conference group — 26 students! We loved spending the weekend with them.

If you're friends with me on Facebook or follow me on Instagram, you may have noticed that my hair was pink for the weekend. We challenged Emory's RUF to see who could get the most students to the conference. The prize: the winning school's intern had to dye her pink for the weekend. We beat Emory by 8, so my hair went pink for the weekend!

Taylor (one of our seniors) prepping my hair on Saturday morning. 

Candice (junior) took the photos and Taylor did my hair. Thanks, ladies! Now I 

know I can pull off the Katy Perry/Sydney Bristow look for Halloween next year.

"Winning" intern (me) and "losing" intern (Rachael). You decide who 

looks like she ended up winning for the weekend ...

Thankful that I didn't have to sport a mohawk like Justin (UGA's campus minister). UGA got 100 students to fall conference, so Justin had to do a mohawk. Look out, Bowen — you're totally doing this for SuCo!

We do a weekly Thursday lunch in the Commons. (The Commons is Kennesaw's state of the art "cafeteria" — I use that term loosely because it's way better than any college cafeteria I've ever had. It's actually ranked in Newsweek and "The Daily Meal" for best college food.) It's a lot of fun, and I love hanging out there every Thursday. One week, the new and improved Scrappy (KSU's mascot) stopped by our table.

David (senior) and Joel (senior) talking basketball with Scrappy.

Some of y'all know that I've tried to start running somewhat consistently. I've learned that if I pay money for it (a gym membership or 5Ks), I'm more likely to actually run and train. In October, I jogged a 5K with Chelsea, who graciously stuck with me, even though she totally could have run the whole thing and made great time. Thanks, Chelsea!

The run was at night, so we had glowstick bracelets and leg/arm bands. And yes, we're sporting RUF SuCo airbrush t-shirts. Pretty sure we were the only two running in airbrush tanks!

Three of our girls hosted an epic Halloween party at their apartment. We had a great time with the photobooth that Taylor (one of our seniors) set up. If you want to see more photos, check out the album on Facebook.

I went as Sleeping Beauty (hello recycled college costume) and Laura Kate (freshman) went as '80s workout Barbie!

I'm the one in the back wearing the helmet (that was part of Kevin's Tron costume). We've also got Poison Ivy (Lexi), Supergirl (Anna), flapper dancer (Mallory), Wonder Woman (Chelsea), tiger (Hannah), and Batgirl (Taylor).

Georgia Tech's RUF hosted the second annual fall semiformal in November. This year's theme was Hollywood. We weren't exactly sure what to do with that, so basically we just put on nice clothes and hit the dance floor. Thanks, GA Tech for having us!

Semiformal with Frances (sophomore)

All three of these ladies (Sally, Aubri, and Christa) are new to RUF this year!

I have a few more photos to add (and lots to write), but this will do it for now. More to come later ...

Fall semester catch up: Part 1

For a journalism grad, I'm really terrible at keeping my blog updated...I apologize. If anyone wants to be my blog accountability partner, please be my guest. (Seriously.)

This is part 1 of the photo edition of fall semester — I started off with one post and realized I have too many photos. This post covers August through early October. (I do have another detailed/more thoughtful version in the works, and that will be posted later; but sometimes, it's fun to let the photos and descriptions tell the story.)

Back to school cookout on campus: Sally (one of our new freshmen), Kayla (returning sophomore), Anna (returning senior), and Amber (returned to us after being away at another campus for a bit!)

David, Brandon, & Spencer playing Giant Jenga at the cookout. Chris got the
idea from another RUF campus minister, and it was a hit. (Leave me a comment
 if you want instructions on how to make your own!)

We set up Jenga on the Campus Green for almost two weeks. It definitely helped us
meet lots of students! Phillip (returning junior), Chris (our campus minister),
and Taylor (returning senior) are playing a round here in the shade.

Thankful for students like Christine (returning sophomore), who helped us man
the RUF table, played Jenga, and talked to newcomers. We did this on campus for two weeks.

New meeting place this year — thankful that First United Lutheran Church (on campus) has
allowed us to rent space. Also new this year — the nametag and welcome table! This enables us to greet and get the names of students before they walk into large group.

Several of our girls, including Anna and Chelsea, faithfully helped chalk up campus
on Monday nights to promote RUF. (And by the way, it worked! We have students who
found out about RUF because they saw our chalk!)

This photo is dark because it was taken around 12:30 am ... and that makes for a good story: We had a great turnout for our first big chalking event. I split the girls up into groups and we went our merry ways around campus, careful to obey Kennesaw's chalking regulations ... or so I thought. I got home around 11 pm, and thought I'd doublecheck my KSU handbook. Much to my dismay, I found we had accidentally violated the chalking policy — in about 15 different places on campus! Matt (holding the water jug) and Steve (with the broom) answered my desperate text messages for help, graciously provided cleaning supplies (water jugs, a pesticide sprayer filled with water, and a broom) and scrubbed away the illegal chalking. Guys, y'all are my heros. I don't know what I would have done without y'all!

First large group of the semester — so many students that I couldn't get everyone in the photo!

The new place means we get to plug in for music! Thankful for our band: Joel (guitar), Josiah (banjo), Anna (vocals), Matt (guitar and vocals), Eli (bass and vocals). (Not pictured: Phillip, who does our sound, Kayla, who does vocals, and Jordan, who plays djembe.) And yes, they're all in matching shirts for RUF photo night!

This was one attempt at a group photo. Sadly, the lighting is pretty 

terrible — but you get the general idea. 

The city of Kennesaw had food trucks every Monday night for the "summer" months (June through October). That meant several great trips with the girls (great for the food and fellowship, but not so much for the waistline). Sally and I split an apple pie sundae, and yes, it was crazy delicious.

Thus ends part 1 of the photo update — thanks for reading. Stay tuned for part 2, which includes fall conference, Halloween party, semiformal, and other shenanigans...

Ministry team retreat

This summer, I didn't spend a lot of time blogging about my blessings. OK, correction — I didn't spend ANY time blogging about my blessings. I did write some of them down, but never got around to blogging about them. While I want to start the 1000 Gifts challenge again, this isn't the blog post for that ... it's about one big blessing.

Meet the Kennesaw State RUF ministry team! (a couple weren't able to
attend the retreat, but this is most of them)

This past weekend was one big blessing: RUF at KSU held its first ministry team retreat! I cannot begin to express how encouraged, blessed, and humbled I was to be part of this. During his second year at KSU, Chris had a student leadership team, but the group graduated and he hasn't had one since then. The Lord has answered the prayers for a ministry team again! After being part of RUF at MSU for four years, and then working with RUF at MTSU for a year, I didn't realize how I took the ministry team for granted. The one at State was huge, we met weekly, and we got a lot accomplished. It was a vital, necessary part of RUF due to the sheer size of our group (over 300 people). The one at MTSU was smaller, we didn't meet weekly, and the students were getting the hang of taking charge and being responsible for the ministry.

When I first moved to Kennesaw, I remember being surprised when Chris told me we didn't have a ministry team. He was hopeful about starting one, but wasn't sure when that would happen. We wanted student leaders, and we prayed for dedicated and eager students. Several months into the semester, it became obvious that God had given us a committed"core" group of students — and suddenly the idea of a ministry team at KSU didn't seem like such a crazy, far off idea.

Hanging up hammocks — we camped on Friday night.

Chris held interest meetings during the spring semester, and we now have eight guys and seven girls on RUF's ministry team. We went on a retreat for 24 hours this past weekend, where we sang, worshipped, learned about RUF and leadership, and planned/discussed what we want to accomplish this year.

Chris illustrating a point with a diagram. (Points to the intern/RUF staff
 who can name what this is!)

It is such an incredible joy to see students owning the ministry and taking charge. I'm so grateful for how the Lord has provided these students and for their desire to serve. Praise God for His faithfulness and provision, and join me in praying for our team as they seek to invite, encourage, and reach the campus this year.

Worshipping with songs

Reminder on why I'm pro-life

The link that I've posted below is hard, horrible, and graphic (descriptively, not visually) read on the sobering reality of abortion in the United States, but one that I want you to read anyway (if you're over age 13). Obviously abortion is something very real to me, and I'm grateful to the Lord for keeping me from being one of those aborted babies!

Thank you Ada Moore for posting this via Facebook, and thank you Kelly Clinger for sharing your story. May the Lord continue to use your story and life for His glory, and may He continue to give you boldness!

"We Can't Handle the Truth About Abortion" - Kelly Clinger

One thousand gifts challenge, week 6

86. Hunger Games premiere (at midnight) — yes, that was a couple weeks ago, but I forgot to put it on the list

87. Being with family (immediate and extended) for Easter — and my aunt looking great and feeling well enough to be with us and eat!

88. Finding an old gift card that still has money on it

89. The home button working (somewhat consistently) on my iPhone

90. Stephen sweetly cleaning out my iPhone and case after I mentioned that it still had colored powder in it from the Color Run

91. OH! Being able to eat sweets/sugar/desserts again because the 40 day fast is over!

92. Part of Poplar Pike/Park being repaved in Memphis — a lovely unexpected surprise

93. Homemade food (thanks for cooking, Mom)

94. Pineapple (Mom send me home to Kennesaw with a whole one — yum)

95. Good discussion at last week's Bible study, even with a small turn out

96. Being reminded that good discussion and "success" isn't dependent upon the number of students at Bible study

97. Summer conference filling up quickly — so glad to see students excited about a week of fellowship and teaching

98. Mindless TV. Sometimes you just need to turn your brain off for a bit.

99. Not having to get my windshield replaced (I have a couple new cracks in it — but no new windshield yet)

100. Jerry's Sno Cones in Memphis with my brother and cousins

101. Being home with my family this past weekend

102. My campus minister graciously encouraging me to read my Bible this past week

103. The tankini that I needed being on sale at Target (hello summer conference!)

104. Friends and family who are good listeners and graciously put up with me

105. Gas not being $4/gallon yet

106. Pash getting to enjoy Scotland and England this week with our cousin Mary Ellen

107. My mom doing incredibly sweet things for me this past weekend — like just being at home and sitting with me and doing my laundry (even washing my dirty Color Run shoes!)

108. My dad doing incredibly sweet things for me this past weekend — like filling up my tank with gas and making sure I had enough oil in my car

109. Beautiful photography — like these wonderful photos from Annalissa and Rob's wedding (http://www.sullyclemmer.com/2012/04/mississippi-wedding-annalissa-rob/)

110. Coming home to Kennesaw today to find a package and kind note from Adam's dear parents. They have no idea, but it was exactly what I needed.

111. Safety in traveling home to Memphis for Easter (and traveling back to Kennesaw)

112. My iPod — helps keep me company on long car trips

113. Podcasts and sermons — I listened to Brian Habig, Nathan Tircuit, & Brian Sorgenfrei this weekend thanks to iTunes/iPod/technology. Wonderful.

114. Smiling at my reflection in the mirror when I see the stray strands of pink in my hair left over from the Color Run (although to be completely honest, I'm a little ready for it to go away)

115. Chocolate

116. Being home at Riveroaks for Easter and Good Friday services

One thousand gifts challenge, weeks 4 & 5

Well, I had it going for three weeks in a row ... oh well.

65. More amazing weather. It really does seem like spring (well, summer) is here to stay. I hate cold weather, so this makes me incredibly happy.

66. Kennesaw RUF started ministry team interest meetings, and we've got students coming! Praise Jesus.

67. Being reminded of the basics of RUF/thankful for what it stands for.

66. Kennesaw's SABAC (Student Activities & Budget Advisory Committee) awarded RUF money so that we can scholarship students for RUF summer conference! (How amazing is that?! I've never heard of a school that does this.) We had one of our students go present to the committee and tell them about summer conference, why we go, what we learn, why it's good to take students, how it builds community, etc., and then we were awarded money.) This money greatly enables RUF to take more students and offer a reduced price to an awesome conference. We currently have 19 students signed up (and 2 more have said they're coming — they just have to register). I'm amazed and super excited.

67. On that note, it's less than 40 days until summer conference. Get me to the beach.

Our logo/t-shirt design for this year. I like it.

68. My grandmother celebrated another birthday this month! I am so thankful for her kindness, graciousness, and caring spirit.

69. Safety for our students over their spring break. Yes, it was a couple of weeks ago, and yeah, we had not one but two students end up with broken ankles (separate trips, separate incidents!), but it made me realize how fortunate we are to have all of them return back safely to Kennesaw.

70. Kiefer Sutherland being back on TV. (Is that shallow? Oh well. Anyone else watching Touch? I'm intrigued. And Jack Bauer is the man.)

71. Celebrating lots of birthdays this past month — not just my grandmother, but several of my students AND my boyfriend!

72. Traveling mercies to Birmingham (with bad weather), then to Jackson, then back to Birmingham, then back to Kennesaw — all in one weekend.

73. The reason I did all that traveling — to be part of one of my dear roommate's wedding! Two of my favorite people got married and I was incredibly blessed to be part of their wedding. Rob and Annalissa, it was a joy to be with y'all and to celebrate the Lord bringing y'all together.

The four of us lived together at State our senior year. I love y'all dearly!

74. Seeing and catching up with lots of dear friends at the wedding. Y'all are an incredible encouragement and blessing to me, and I miss y'all!

75. Having a free place to stay in Jackson — thanks Amy!

76. Being back in Mississippi for a bit. (It's not home, and I don't want to move back, but I do miss it and enjoy visiting.)

77. Stephen getting interviews/applications in with several companies. (Add him to your prayer list for jobs please!)

Team RUF Runners ready for the Atlanta Color Run: Jessie, Mallory, Lexi, me, Chelsea, Anna, Jen, & Kayla.

78. Getting to run in the Atlanta Color Run with some of Bible study girls and Jen! SO FUN. Memphis and Nashville friends — y'all gotta do the ones there in October. (And side note, those of who know me should realize that me agreeing to do a 5K is huge. Granted, I didn't get to run the whole thing due to lots of walkers/it being super crowded/strollers/a super narrow path for running, etc., but I found myself wanting to run more of it! What? Who am I?!) On another note — I'm still trying to wash the pink and blue out of my hair (six washes and it's still there!), so please forgive the random color streaks in my hair.

Jen, Kayla, me, Lexi, and Anna after the race!

79. The Lord watching over my aunt who had surgery to remove cancer this weekend. (Add her to prayer list too, please.)

80. Catching up with a couple of people via phone this week. (Thank y'all for bearing with me and my terrible phone skills.)

81. Spicy salsa (like "clear out your sinus cavities" spicy). Hit the spot this week.

82. Baking (Specifically this week, baking a cake for birthdays. Don't you love how it makes the house smell so good? Mmm.)

83. The fact that my fast from sweets/desserts is almost over. I'm so tempted to cave. I've forgotten what chocolate tastes like.

84. The apartment pool area staying open — as you can see from the photo, we can't swim in it yet (not that I'm big on that anyway), but catching the sunshine rays and getting some much-needed vitamin D? Yes please.

No water = they do not want us swimming yet

85. My not-so-little Honda Passport hit 189,000 miles today. Thankful that it's still running and doing well.