Heading Back East

So my dad flew out to Cali…and we had the opportunity to do the father-daughter cross country road trip. After showing him a bit of the Bay, we visited Yosemite National Park.  We then got to visit all three parks in the Grand Stair-case: Grand Canyon, Zion National Park, and Bryce Canyon.  Driving through Monument Valley, we continued on to our last National Park, Arches.  We got to visit with Rachel Collier and her boys in Ft Collins, CO before driving across a very flat Kansas, staying with Donna Noonan, and getting to see FCA’s national office.  Finally, we made it to Tennessee.  Here’s a few pictures for you to enjoy.

Dad in front of the Golden Gate Bridge

He got to see some BIG trees…which one is REALLY the “Father of the Forest”?

waterfalls in yosemite during the sprig melt are amazing

my favorite picture in yosemite this trip

kinda a BIG tree

The obligatory Nevada sign

Utah…seriously SUCH and beautiful state…I wanna go back

Zion NP- “The Great White Throne” and “The Organ”

More Zion NP

Bryce Canyon

Arizona

The walk to the Grand Canyon was a little windy to say the least

Grand Canyon- North Rim

View from the Lodge

Erin’s Duck enjoying the view

Monument Valley

Balancing Rock in Arches NP- reminded me that kids are literal…DON’T tell a 2 year old that that’s gonna fall off!

Delicate Arch

yet another Arch

Colorado

still snow on the mtns in Colorado…BEAUTIFUL, but I don’t know if I could handle that

The most exciting thing to photograph in Kansas

Though Dad was excited by the huge windmills

FCA national office…woop woop!

quick drive through St Louis- yet another arch

can you tell we didn’t wanna pull over anymore?

yes, the final state…because my camera died.

Only “See you laters”

God’s been doing some awesome stuff in my life over the past 3 years on staff with FCA, the year here, and personally in the last few months.  I’d like the chance to tell you the whole journey, but the bottom-line of it is that I have LOVED my year here, but will not be back in Cali for next school year…what’s tough also is that I’ll even be leaving FCA staff …but I’ll be returning to grad school.

To explain some: God so undeniably took me out of teaching and coaching to go on staff with FCA at Auburn because of my growing passion for college students.  I got placed at Clemson, yet walked into a difficult funding situation there that made it really hard for me to stay.  So I explored options such as working for a church and grad school at that point, but nothing panned out and Bay Area FCA unexpectedly pursued me.  So, I put my “yes” on the table, read Scripture, sought godly counsel, and gathered the facts.  The facts were: I’m 30 and single and can, there was a group of people willing to make the funding happen, and it was an opportunity to stay on staff with FCA…the ministry I LOVE!  What an adventure!

The facts have somewhat changed…with 2 really being the most important.  1- I still have that desire to pursue a degree in counseling and 2- I have a growing desire to be drivable to my family and be more a part of their lives.  So I figured to apply to a few programs that fit that bill and see what would happen.  I have since been admitted to a few programs…so I will be returning East to follow that path.

I’m not sure what the end result looks like, but this is what I DO know.  There are 3 groups I’m passionate about: 1- college students… because the decisions made now impact the trajectory of your life and you are such people of influence! 2-young women with a history of sexual abuse and/or other relational issues…you would not believe the quantity that I have gotten to walk alongside!  3- young women in leadership positions, be it sacred or secular, to stay healthy in such giving professions where burnout threatens to steal influence.  I desperately want to speak Redemption back into these lives…nothing really fires me up more!

I’m sad to be leaving Cali.  I’m rather tired of moving…but know that it’s never “goodbye”….but only “see you later” with many of you.  I also can’t believe that it comes with leaving FCA staff too.  But to sum up in one sentence…I am excited about the opportunity to be near my family while pursuing education that will enable me to further serve those populations in a way that can be a career and a ministry.  Who knows what it will practically look like?  But I do hope to serve FCA the rest of my life in some capacity.  To my Cali friends: I love you all, pray for you lots, and intend to be Him with skin on as much as He allows me in each of your lives.  Thank you so much for granting me a voice to speak into many of your lives.  I don’t take that lightly and am humbled that God would use someone such as me.

I Double Dog Dare you

Love this guy!  And dang…challenging me today.  How now shall we live?

Wild Goose Chase part 1- Otro dia, Otra Aventura

Ever come cross a book that you KNOW you’ll read multiple times?  Yeah, I hardly ever do.  But my co-workers and I just started reading “Wild Goose Chase” together.  When you flip a book over to read the back, if it’s good, It’ll grab you.  Here’s the back of this book:

Celtic Christians had a name for the Holy Spirit–An Geadh-Glas, or ‘the Wild Goose.’ The name hints at mystery. Much like a wild goose, the Spirit of God cannot be tracked or tamed. An element of danger, an air of unpredictability surround Him. And while the name may sound a little sacrilegious, I cannot think of a better description of what it’s like to follow the Spirit through life. I think the Celtic Christians were on to something…Most of us will have no idea where we are going most of the time. And I know that is unsettling. But circumstantial uncertainty also goes by another name: Adventure.

It’s my second time…and it WON’T be my last.  Chapter 1′s take-away? “You cannot simultaneously live by faith and be bored.”  So here’s the adventure that chasing the Wild Goose brought me to last week.

Thursday

I was supposed to go to one of my High Schools, but it didn’t work out.  Seeing as how I get to drive all over the East Bay, I figured I might as well drive on up to Cal-Berkeley and hang with the coach I was supposed to meet for afternoon coffee.  I’ve had so many names at Cal dropped on me since I got here, so I said, “Ok God…gonna go try and find these people…order my steps?”  The result?  A head coach who is “in” for helping with an FCA clinic, the opportunity to speak to her team, and a knowledge of how to pray for her.  An asst coach who shared some big decisions with me and walked me all over campus and helped me find the other two people I was looking for.  A office visit with a support staffperson who has several multiple friends as me (what? a girl who only moved to cali 3 months ago??) and is armpit deep in ministering to their athletes (plus he has a wife who played college soccer…I’m a fan!).  Crazy.

Friday

Rigo and I went to Santa Clara University intending to find two coaches.  They weren’t available. (sound familiar?)  Well, since spending time with my new friends at Cal the day before, one had told me to go say hi to one of the AD’s…a friend of his.  So Rigo and I roll up to this guy’s office, unannounced and unknown and get the chance to sit down with him, explain FCA, and hopefully encourage him some.  What?!?  While we were waiting to see him, Rigo’s phone rings and we both start laughing.  It’s an SCU athlete we’ve both been trying to connect with for several weeks.  And we hear back from him while sitting in SCU’s AD office?  The only day we BOTH have been on that campus together?  Totally gotta to connect up with this athlete 10 minutes later and try to hook him up with other FCA college athletes, and maybe even get something started on SCU’s campus before this year is out. 

Otro dia, otra aventura- another day, another adventure…a day in the life of chasing the Wild Goose.

The Good Shepherd

How do you make a decision?  Put your yes on the table, ask the Good Shepherd to guide you, and check Scripture to see what it says.

Yeah, but it doesn’t say “Heads Carolina, Tails California” (shout out to all you country fans out there that actually got that).

So what do you do now?  Gather the facts (because if you actually did, you could probably make a wise decision anyways), seek Godly counsel, and look back to see how He’s led you so far.

So when I did that, my heart and emotions were torn, but all three seemed to be pointing towards moving to California.  What’s a girl to do?  Well, in my case, it has looked like selling or giving away everything, packing what I needed in my car, and relocating to the Bay Area, California.  (This tells you a little bit about the job).

I waited a week between accepting the job and announcing it because in my little human mind I figured that allowed God time to redirect me as even Paul had to be redirected at times.  That never came.  But D-day did…the day I had to start letting people at Clemson know.  I woke up, had to start a new journal because my last one had been filled the previous weekend, and opened to page 1.  It’s a great journal…it’s green…which makes it amazing by default.  But it also is the kind with pre-printed Bible verses at the bottom.  Yeah, God has a funny sense of humor…this time, His humor comforted me and left me in awe.  Hear the purposefulness of a personal God (and He feels the same way about you too!)…the verse was Psalm 23:1- “The Lord is my Shepherd, I lack nothing.”

Did I really just have that week?!?!?

Can you handle this? Really can you? I don’t know if I can…good stuff to remember when you get discouraged…God’s kinda faithful. Check out this past week! Here’s a few highlights…

Monday 1/19- Was kinda an off day. I had a friend in town to visit and we got to go to two coffeeshops (one of my favorite things to do)! This was good, because that evening and the next 8 days would rock! That night we started off the semester for the Female Athlete Huddle. Nothing like sitting around with 10 or so athletes talking about freedom in Christ
Tuesday 1/20- Had a phone conversation with a woman God placed in my path when I needed a smack in the face. Haven’t really talk to her since college. God started something in my life through her act of obedience. I don’t think I even understand how far the ripple from that has run. But it was cool to get to share part of it with her.
Wednesday 1/21- It’s so exciting to periodically get a call from one of the girls I invested in at Auburn University last year. That was Wednesday! Got to spend some time on the phone listening, walking through Biblical responses and challenging/encouraging once again…so cool. Also that night, one of our runners got baptized…the even cooler thing was she was more excited about the 2 rows of teammates that came to support her, some of whom don’t go to church. How cool.
Thursday 1/22- I got to meet the cheerleading team for the first time. They listened intently as a shared what FCA is about after they had had a 4 hour practice. And about 8 came up afterward to personally introduce themselves, thank me, and way they want to get involved. Wow.
Friday 1/23- I went to cheer on the women’s tennis team, and unknowingly sat down amongst the men’s team. Poor guy I say next to I think felt uncomfortable as soon as his teammate said, “Hey, she’s the female FCA chaplain!” Come to find out, that guy has promised the teammate I sat next to a filet mignon if he would come to church with him. What?!?! I said, “Dude, take your steak and GO!” We’ll see…all I know is the steak cooking, church inviting tennis player is my hero.
Saturday 1/24- Working with the Student Body FCA on ways to love the athletic department to show them Jesus. How bout 100+ fans showing up to the swim meet and packing out the facility like I’ve never seen it before?!?
Sunday 1/25- I got to take 2 athletes with me to speak for a women’s Sunday school class at a local church. I got to share some about FCA and what we do. They shared their testimonies. Nothing like watching to young women grow as they step out to share their story with women 50-60 years their senior and everyone being encouraged. That afternoon, I went to the church I’ve been attending and watched 40+ people get baptized…in just that service. There were 3 others that day. What?!?
Monday 1/26- Just was amazed at how He ordered my steps all day to orchestrate 5 one-on-one conversations and an amazing female athlete huddle again
Tuesday 1/27- We had an FCA state-wide staff meeting all day, which was cool. But the best part may have been talking to a friend who is moving away…but hearing how God is orchestrating details. I went to an event hosted by church expecting to not know a soul and run into a girl I worked FCA camp with 5 years ago, and two others with many mutual friends. Topped off the day talking with FCA staff from San Francisco where my buddy is moving to play soccer. It is awesome to watch the family of God at work…taking care of each other and connecting His people.

I needed that reminder…that He’s got the details. I forget sometimes. Hope you see Him as huge too.

Starting 2009

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

Though it’s not scripture, there is something in the previous quote that just resonates with me! And I know I’m not the only one. Many of you may recognize some of this quote from the movie “Coach Carter”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0tHkivAHs0&feature=related

Now that’s just a random quote…but as one who is reading the Bible, I her familiar words in this quote too. “Let your light shine”…and reference to the “power that works within us”…and liberation too? Those are powerful words when you stop long enough to let their weight sink in.

So as you start a crazy busy January, getting back to the grind, the beginning of a new school semester or season, the beginning of a new year…I pray you each become people that will let your light so shine, knowing the freedom that is ours to enjoy, and the power that is ours to wield well.

If you wanna check the scriptures that came to mind as I read and watched this, they’re below. They both encouraged tremendously and challenged the butt off of me. Know that I’m behind you and praying for you as coaches and athletes, but also as people.

Matthew 5:14-16″You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”

Ephesians 3:14-21For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus
throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Galatians 5:1It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.