Psalm 37 and some other thoughts

Psalm 37 is one that the Lord has drawn me to many times recently. I (Kristin) have found there's something unique about reading the Psalms in the middle of the night (while feeding Maggie).  Its like they seem deeper, more passionate and tangible. I love some of the promises Psalm 37 offers believers....in uncertain times, with protests, economic problems, conflicts, and disease, they are such a refreshment to the soul to cling to.  Here are the verses in particular that have brought peace to my heart.

v.4 'Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.'

v.5 'Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act.'

v.7 'Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him...'

v.8 'Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.'

v.11 'But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace.'


I hope these might bring peace to your heart as you meditate on them as they have to mine!

Changing subjects a bit...here are a few new pics of little Maggie...she'll be 6 weeks old tomorrow!

She discovered the pacifier 2 weeks ago...its a wonderful thing!

Showing off a dimple.

First wedding! All dressed up & looking good.

trip to the apple orchard! Maggie decided to sleep it out in the sling :)

Poor Maggie came down with a cold yesterday but still flashed me her first real smile this morning. Hoping for some good pics of that soon!

Our first days with Maggie

I would like to announce that little Magdalena (Maggie) Jo was born on September 16th!  Kristin and I (Matt) are so excited to have her with us.  Now that Maggie has been with us for a full 10 days I decided I would like to share 10 things that I think that I know about parenthood and about our baby girl.

Things I think I know...

1) Things just got much more complex.  Before Maggie entered our world we had the freedom of spontaneity.  Kristin and I could get up and go at the drop of a hat.  Friday date nights could include driving out to a park, going for bike rides, seeing a movie, or planning a nice dinner to make together.  The cities and our hometowns didn't seem so far away.  Now I am learning the value of preparation as it comes to enjoying time with Kristin. 

I am surprised by just how much we need to plan ahead to make a simple trip in to town.  Watching a TV show also isn't always so simple.  We try to work watching one of our favorite TV shows around her feeding schedule.  Thank goodness for Netflix!  Basically things are a little crazier now.   It is easy to get caught up in caring for and loving Maggie.  She is such a blessing.  While loving our little one, I am also rediscovering the value of intentionally trying to connect and have quality times with Kristin.

2)  We still have a life.  I believe that deep down inside of me, there was some part that felt life would somehow stop with our newborn.  This is not the case.  Sure life will not be the same, but I wouldn't want it to be anyways.  As far as continuing to do "normal" things goes, we recently took Maggie on her first outing to Target.  We also walked around the mall and took a stroll in the park.  She did a great job with all of these trips.  There are still fears about how to handle her first tantrum in public and I am not sure how ready we are to have a dinner outing.  Right now we are taking baby steps and enjoying all the achievements.

3)  Maggie has the cutest expressions!  Isn't it amazing how every little thing a baby does can draw oohs and ahhs from everyone.  So you can only imagine how many smiles OUR baby girl brings to faces.  Okay, I admit I may be a little biased, but I just find most everything she does to be so adorable.  I love looking at her eyes when she has them wide open and is curiously looking about.  She loves to have her hands up near her face and often looks like she is doing the wave.  She has one face she gives when she is dissatisfied, that we have endearingly named "scrunchy face".  When she gets really worked up and starts crying she tends to snort a lot.  I feel so bad for her, but it is also so cute.  There are so many other cute things, it would nearly be impossible to get it all in words.

4)  Forget about Twitter, Facebook, and Woof... Maggie is the greatest social connecting tool.  People are drawn to babies and we become the beneficiaries.  We have had the opportunities to meet some new people at church and in the community because of our little one.  We recently got to know one of our not too distant neighbors as she noticed us taking a walk.  We chatted some about being parents and learned that she and her husband have lived on this street for over 40 years.  They have seen many of their good friends move over the years as many of the houses now have become rentals.  She told us how much she missed seeing families with children around here.  Would we have had this conversation with her if not for Maggie?    I am not sure, but I am sure looking forward to the new connections we will get to have in the months to come.

5)  Maggie turns every moment into a photo shoot.  Have I mentioned how adorable I think she is!  It is just so amazing to look at her and to realize that she is our baby girl.  One thing is for sure, we have been taking many photos to capture the moment.  I have picked up the camera more often this week than almost all this past year combined.  I actually just learned how to take pictures with my phone.

This Saturday we went to the park to try and do a little photo shoot.  Lets take an intermission to see the pics.

(If only I could edit out that tag behind her)

6)  A little girl can sure dirty a lot of clothes.  I have been doing laundry almost every night for the past week.  She has an uncanny ability to dirty newly changed clothes.  She is very talented.

7)  I am growing a better understanding of Christ's love for me.  I look down at this precious little girl in my arms and I can't believe just how much she already means to me.  We have been anticipating her arrival for about 9 or so months.  I have been able to hold and care for her for 10 days now.  I feel like I would do about anything to care for and protect her.  I just want to meet her needs and help her to know she is safe and loved.

We are referred to as sons and daughters of Christ.  This picture takes on a whole new meaning to me now.  To think that He loves me not because of anything I can do, but simply because I am His son.  He had anticipated my arrival since the dawn of time and made me perfect in his sight.  It is profound to think about these things and I feel that Maggie will challenge me to see Christ's love in an even deeper way.

8)  I think that I can live off this amount of sleep. 

9)  Kristin is a wonderful mother.  I see the way that she cares for Maggie and loves her with such patience.  Even in the wee hours of the morning when sleep deprived, she tenderly talks to and cares for our little one.  Maggie is one lucky girl.

10)  I don't really want her to grow up.  I mean, I know it is a great deal of work to take care of her (refer to #8).  I just hear everyone telling me how fast the time goes by and I want to capture every moment.  These past 10 days have felt long, tiring, and great.  I know days seem long now but I also know the time will come when I will look back and miss being able to hold her in my arms.

Well these are some things that I think I know.  Thanks for reading.

1 week!

I (Kristin) can't believe our due date is a week from today!  In some ways it feels like the past 39 weeks have flown by...in other ways it feels like we've been expecting for a long time.  Its been neat to see the ways the Lord has used these 10 months to prepare us (as much as we can really be prepared!) to welcome our daughter into the world. We've learned more about prayer as we've lifted her, her health, her future, and her growth up to Him daily. We've learned more about working together and setting aside some of our own needs for hers. Our office became a nursery. Some of our stuff was boxed up and moved downstairs so there'd be room for baby clothes in the closet. We went to classes and lots of doctor appointments.  Yet its all been a joy.  I know there are more changes to come, more ways that we'll have to learn to be selfless and how to communicate well with each other, but I'm grateful for this process.  We've gotten a taste of God's love for us as our Father in a new way...a new understanding of a parent's willingness to do anything for their child...and of the depth of love a parent feels....and we haven't even seen our baby yet!  We're excited for what lies ahead of us in the next week or two as we welcome our daughter into our lives and for the continued insights the Lord will give us as we care for her.

Please pray with us for a safe labor and delivery process.  We'll be sure to post pictures as soon as we can!  And if you have any newborn parenting tips...or thoughts on labor & delivery to pass along, we'd love to learn from those who've gone before!

Oh, and here are a few pictures of the baby room....we're kind of excited for her to be in it!

August update and a few other nuggets

I always love hearing our president, Steve Douglass' updates of what God's doing around the world.  He's sort of 'in the loop' in ways that most of us aren't because of the other ministry leaders he gets to interact with on a regular basis.  Its just so encouraging and such good perspective to hear of the Lord's immense workings.  You can hear his whole talk with video from our staff conference, but I'll just share a few stories that struck me.

• from Southeast Asia: a group of students were challenged to form 'missional teams' to reach more campuses.  Christine, from the Philippines, started a team.  They trusted God and visited seven campuses near their own to start Cru movements.  Soon the 7 campuses became 40.  Just a few years later, there were new ministries on over 100 campuses. These movements are all student-led and are now sending to surrounding countries where over 500 students have launched 200 movements. 
• from Ethiopia: the country is less than 1% Christian.  The in-country ministry hoped to hold a training conference for students.  They bathed the event in prayer and 2600 students were sent to the conference. During their time, two of the students were arrested for sharing their faith in the streets. While in prison, they took the opportunity to follow the apostle Paul's example and shared the gospel with over 1100 inmates, seeing dozens place their faith in Christ. They were eventually released by the government to stop the spread of the gospel in the prison.
• from Bolivia: An idea called 'dinners for friends' was developed to share with top leaders in Santa Cruz. Since the strategy's inception, over 5,000 of these meetings have been held and 100s of leaders in Bolivia have come to know Christ.
• finally, an update from the world over: Six years ago, a group of ministry leaders were evaluating the task of completing the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20). As they researched people groups and shared resources from their respective ministries, they found that there were 639 unengaged people groups (meaning absolutely no awareness of Christ or Christian presence).  In the past six years, as these organizations have worked together, 4000 missionaries have been sent to minister to these groups and 80% of them have now been 'engaged' with the message of Christ.  What a great work God is doing!

As I mentioned above, to hear all of the updates, you can check out Dr. Douglass' talk on Significance.  I know I missed a few details as I could hardly write fast enough to get everything down!  May you be encouraged by the work of our Sovereign God in the world!

 

Just for you!

Pres. Steve Douglass encouraging staff
in our mission and vision.

Some of the videos from our U.S. Staff Conference in July were recently posted for public viewing.  Check out Francis Chan's messages (that Matt refers to in our monthly update) and hear from our Vice President Steve Sellers on the name change. You can also view our 60th anniversary celebration, hear from Vonette Bright, our president, Steve Douglass; as well as hearing messages from our other main speakers, Renee Rochester and David Platt. The Lord ministered to us greatly through these speakers and we pray He will do the same for you!

Here's the link: http://www.ccci.org/csu/index.htm

60 years!

We're still in Fort Collins, CO participating in our U.S. national staff conference.  2011 marks Campus Crusade's 60th anniversary and last night we had the privilege of taking a look back at how it all got started. One of the first people to come to Christ through Campus Crusade was a special guest at our main session. She shared about how Vonette Bright (co-founder of CCC) had met with her after an outreach event at her sorority at UCLA and shared the gospel with her.  She remembered precisely the day in December 1952 that she had come to know Christ.  She went on to spend 20+ years working with her husband as a medical missionary in Brazil with the Presbyterian church.  I had tears in my eyes as I thought of the legacy Vonette had begun in Nancy's life...and that each of us can begin in a life when we trust the Spirit to speak the good news of the gospel through us.

They also introduced the new staff who joined with Campus Crusade this summer and last summer.  It was incredible to see them streaming onto the stage and down the aisles of Moby Arena at Colorado State.  Such a joy to welcome the 'new' generation of staff into the ministry and to think on all that God has in store for them as they trust Him.

Finally, I just wanted to share a bit more about the name change.  Check out this link to see short video clips sharing the heart behind our name change from our president, Steve Douglass; Vonette Bright, co-founder of CCC; Steve Sellers, VP of the ministry in North America & Oceania; and Mark Gauthier, executive director of the U.S. campus ministry.

Matt and I are excited about the doors that will be opened due to changing our name to Cru.  Every campus we've worked on in the U.S. has been using Cru as a name for years due to the connotations associated with the word 'crusade'. We're also hopeful that the name Cru will open doors to spiritual conversations as we get to define its meaning through how we live our lives and share about Christ and our ministry.  Know that nothing about our mission or doctrinal statement has changed.  As a campus ministry we are as committed as ever to reaching students with the good news of Christ and seeking to do our part to fulfill the Great Commission that Christ set before us in Matthew 28.

We're grateful for your partnership as we take this important step forward!

An update from our National Staff conference...

Just wanted you to be some of the first to know that Campus Crusade for Christ has officially begun the process of changing our name to Cru.  Here's the media press release with more details.... You can also check out this website about the name change

Please join us in prayer as our organization takes this important step forward!