Whirlwind

'uffda' is how I could describe my past month. I (Kristin) have been taking a class online called 'Trinitarianism' to continue my theological and biblical training. There are 8 core classes that Cru requires staff to take within your first 10 years on staff. As I wrap up this class next week, I'll have finished 5 of them! Taking a master's level class, being a mom, and spending around 10 hours per week on campus plus another 10-12 with the team and prepping stuff for campus has kept me a little busier than I'd aspired to be!

I've appreciated the knowledge I've gained through the class and ways I feel I know the Lord more deeply now than when I started. I love seeing the interactions of the persons of the Trinity and how great it is that that is modeled for us, that we might have such selfless interactions with others...its deep stuff and fascinating to dig into.

Things have also ended well on campus - I hope to post more details on that as there are some fun stories involved! Today, however, we're heading to Alexandria, MN for our annual 'MayDaze' conference. This is our regional staff conference for the Upper Midwest region. We'll spend the next 3 days hearing updates on ministry from around the region, catching up with friends who serve in different locations, and taking a chance to breathe a bit now that we're done on campus until fall. A week from today, our little Jetta will be packed to capacity and we'll start the drive to North Myrtle Beach summer project, our summer assignment.  More on that to come!

Until then, enjoy the beautiful spring weather!

Perspectives

Today I (Kristin) got to go sharing in the student union at MSU with Nikki, I student I mentor. We tried out a new tool that Cru has developed to start spiritual conversations called Perspectives.  Perspectives is a deck of cards that works a bit like a game. As you ask questions, the person you're talking with chooses cards that represent 1) their view of God 2) what they believe the meaning of life is 3) the nature of man 4) who Jesus is and 5) what their source of spiritual truth is. By the time you're through the deck, their worldview is laid out in front of them.  I love being able to listen well and really understand the person's spiritual background.

We talked with a girl named Maria today. She shared with us that she's an atheist largely stemming from some unfortunate experiences she had with the church growing up. After we heard her answers to each category, we asked if we could share how we would answer.  As we talked through the Christian worldview, she had tons of questions for us about our relationships with God (knowing God in a personal way and experiencing grace were concepts that weren't part of her background), what we believed on various issues as well as what the Bible has to say on various points. It was a great conversation where we got to genuinely hear and engage each other's worldviews.  Pray for Maria as she continues to question. We're planning to meet her again next week to share more.

Maggie is 6 months old!

Its amazing how fast babies grow! I can't believe its already been 6 months since Maggie joined our family....and its crazy to think that the tiny newborn who could barely open her eyes has SO much personality now! Maggie loves sitting and exploring. She can stand without our help if she's leaning against something. Her first little tooth is on the verge of breaking through her gum.  We've been going on lots of walks lately with the amazing winter (summer!) weather we've been having.  Matt and I decided to train for a 10K this summer, so guess who gets to train with us? Maggie loves taking in the sights as we run along the (paved!) trails of Mankato...such a fun thing to do together as a family.

I just couldn't resist posting a few pictures of our little sweetie as she celebrates 6 months... ;)

Rice cereal! Maggie's first solid food when she was 5 mos old.

Standing!

6 month photo shoot at the park - 82 degrees on March 16!

First time swinging...she loved it!

Big Break!

We're holding down the fort here in Mankato, but 15 MSU students and 20 Southwest Minn State students and a handful of staff arrived in Panama City Beach, FL on Saturday for Big Break. Please pray for them as they step out in faith to plan outreach events to share Jesus with other spring breakers on the beach. Our students often come back from this conference more confident in sharing Christ with others and excited to share with their friends on campus. Its awesome!

Gustavus ministry

Just 12 miles up the road from Mankato lies the town of St Peter, the home of Gustavus Adolphus college. Gustavus is similar in many ways to Augustana, where Matt went to college. There semester just got started 3 weeks ago and Matt's been working to connect with students there. The past two weeks he's had a group of 5-10 students show up for Bible study and this past week he got to meet up with a football player there who says he wants to be a leader in Cru and help get things going.  Praise God for the inroads He's giving us at this campus!  Pray for Matt to have wisdom as he continues to minister there.

Brownies, the Holy Spirit, and serving like Jesus

Last night at my (Kristin) dorm Bible study, we talked about how Jesus came as a servant. Then we had a great conversation about things we could do to serve/encourage other people and show them Christ's love. One girl, Brenda, mentioned a friend of hers who recently found out she has cancer and was 6 months pregnant. The baby was delivered early and is ok, but very premature and she's still dealing with cancer. Another girl, Kelsey, mentioned a friend from home who's husband died suddenly from cancer. Brenda asked if our group could make cards to encourage these women, so that's what we did last night at the beginning of Bible study. It was fun to show Christ's love in this small way...and we're excited to find more ways to continue serving as a group.

We also started a new study on the Holy Spirit. It was fun to talk about the Trinity, how the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit relate and to dig into what it means for us as believers to be filled with the Spirit. Should make for some great discussion in the weeks to come!

what did you do for Valentine's day?

We didn't really have any plans since our weekly Cru meeting is on Tuesday nights. I (Kristin) don't usually go since its at 8:30 pm and Maggie goes to bed at 8, but I was planning to take her along this week. Then, around noon on Tuesday,our team leader, Jake, got a call from our speakers (a married couple) that they were sick and couldn't make it to speak. Jake and Matt spent a few hours on Tuesday afternoon putting together questions for a panel (consisting of Matt and me and Jake and his wife, Hilary) on relationships and love to take the place of what the speakers had planned.  I got home from campus at 5 and had a few hours to eat dinner and look over the questions before we headed back to campus (one of our teammates babysat for us!) to be on the panel. Crazy day. It was fun though, to share things that the Lord has taught us through marriage and to encourage students to view love in a biblical way and not in the superficial way our culture promotes it.

Another fun surprise of the night was the thoughtfulness of the guys involved in Cru. They pooled their money and bought enough red carnations to give to each girl there in addition to making pink cupcakes and singing a song up front just to honor their sisters in Christ.  I LOVED watching the girls' surprised and happy expressions as they got their flowers. It was such a treat for them to be pampered by godly men of Cru.

Happy Valentine's Day!