Anyone else need a little prayer motivator?

Our church just shared this in a weekly email & I thought it was so visionary and helpful! As a missionary, it's not only encouraging to think through others praying for us...but also just exciting and well thought-through to pray for others! Here ya go...

AN OUTLINE OF PRAYERS FOR OUR MISSIONARIES

“Every step in the progress of Missions is directly traceable to prayer”

Executive Pastor James Gould said in a booklet for our Missionary Prayer Night last year:

“Since Genesis 1:1, God has been on a mission, a global mission to restore people from every ethnic group on earth to a right relationship with Him. When this work is completed, God will receive the greatest glory! Both His Son Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit are currently engaged in intercessory prayer for the completion of this awesome mission. Shouldn’t we, as Christ’s followers, be doing the same?”

Sunday their Relationship with God

• Consistent, refreshing Bible study and prayer

• Awareness of God’s grace and power

• Protection from sin and temptation

  Monday their Ministry Vision

• Faith to define God-sized ministry goals

• Ability to prioritize important over urgent

• Creativity in overcoming obstacles

  Tuesday their Ministry Effectiveness

• Open doors and hearts for evangelism

• Consistent modeling/teaching of Christ-likeness

• Development of vibrant national church

  Wednesday their Family Life

• Marrieds: Strong spouse and parent/child relationships

• Singles: Fulfilling friendships

• Concern for family members back home

  Thursday their Health

• Physical health and safety

• Positive emotional perspective

• Wisdom in maintaining a balanced schedule

  Friday their Cultural Adjustments

• Sensitivity to cultural differences

• Fluency in language

• Commitment to lifelong learning

  Saturday their Relationships

• Unflagging burden and love for the lost

• Servant attitude toward fellow missionaries and nationals

• Appreciation of diversity within ministry team

I ran away.

It's January 18th. And my last post was in September. And I'm okay with that. New phase of life, new phase of blogging. Thanks to all 1.2 of you that may actually still be hanging around waiting for a new post. :) Here ya go...

So, today Paul did an amazing thing. A very very very amazing thing. He took a day off and kept Thatcher all day so I could run away and have some time to myself. Did you hear me? All day. I slept in. Took an uninterrupted shower. Shaved the woolly mammoth fur off my legs. (Yes, I did just type that on the internet.) Had a long life-giving phone chat with my since-college best friend. Hit a thrift store. Meandered through Big Lots. And ate fried dill pickles at Zaxby's & listened to my Jim Brickman Pandora station on my phone while having a quiet time. I feel like a new woman.

But it's the quiet time I want to talk most about. See, I have really been struggling in that area in this new season of parenthood. I try to allow myself freedom in 'snacking' on God's Word here and there when I can in my pj-clad, applesauce-smeared, one-eye-open mommy state...but inevitably I end up spiraling into guilt because I'm not heavily entranced in scripture like I was in college. Oh how I long for those days. And that free time. (Dear 19 year-old Merideth: make the most of your time!)

I have been praying lately for God to give me a renewed desire to be in the Word. Like, an unquenchable desire that over-runs sleepiness & distraction. Normal day-to-day life seems to be my biggest enemy. I've tried several ways to overcome the distraction...all to no avail. So today when I opened my journal, I prayed for renewed desire & lack of distraction again. And here's what God returned to me:

³⁵ In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there. ³⁶ Simon and his companions searched for Him;³⁷ they found Him, and said to Him, “Everyone is looking for You.” ³⁸ He *said to them, “Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby, so that I may preach there also; for that is what I came for.” -Mark 1: 35-38

Several things God drew me to today:

• Jesus went away:: Even Jesus needed to get away from it all sometimes & just be alone, un-distracted with the Father. As I processed today I listed all the things that make me distracted and less likely to spend 'quality' time with God at home. Noise. Laundry. A messy house. Sleepiness. But God could meet with me in my crazy messy noisy house. I know that. But Jesus could have also met with God in His bed at Simon & Andrew's house. But He didn't. What a relief. What a relief to know that there is something sacred about running away to steal some time with God by yourself. Jesus gets me. He needed it too. And if He needed it, surely He understands my need.
• Jesus understood the desire to be closer to the Father:: What a burden it must have been to be so distant from God in flesh while for so long being so close in nature. He wanted to be near God. Just the two ONE of them. Again, Jesus gets me.
• Jesus kept eternal perspective in the midst of pressing circumstances:: I *LOVE* that in vs. 36 it says Simon & his party posse interrupted Jesus' alone time saying "Everyone is looking for you." Oh man do I know that feeling. Well, not really. But I do know what it feels like to not go to the bathroom by myself. Or not read a magazine without someone needing to know when someone else needs to go down for a nap. Or not get to spend time alone with the Lord during 'nap time' without being interrupted by mid-nap crying. But how does Christ respond? “Let us go somewhere else...so that I may preach there also; for that is what I came for.” He knows his role in eternity. This passage begged the question of me - Do I know my role in eternity? Am I content to live out that role despite pressing circumstances? Or am I going to spitefully hoard my "me time"?

I am not God. I am, however, a wife/mom/campus missionary. And I need to be prepared, through the power of the Spirit, to respond as Christ did in this passage. And what a relief to know that in this season of life, the Lord of my life and God of the universe actually 'gets' me. He was well acquainted with desiring God more, needing space & yet still being asked to serve.

Would you join me in praying for me (and you!) to live out this passage? Oh, how I desperately needed this sweet reminder!!

Thanks y'all. See ya again when God inspires another post. ;)

Another summer story...

Want another student's take on the Summer Project experience? Here ya go!

This summer was incredible for me. After hearing so many testimonials from CRU staff and students about how amazing Summer Project was, I decided to do one in Gatlinburg, Tennessee and was really glad that I did! During my Summer Project, God did incredible things in my life and helped me grow into a much stronger person. I learned what successful evangelism looks like and I was pushed by the staff and by my brothers and sisters in Christ to take steps of faith by the power of the Holy Spirit and leave the results to God. I was also discipled by a CRU staff member and taught what it looks like to be a biblical man of God. Perhaps the part of project that took me most out of my comfort zone was stepping up and being co-director of evangelism for my Project after the staff left after four weeks, but I learned from this experience that with a humble attitude and with God's help, I can be a successful leader and help spread the gospel. By the end of my summer, my Project group had seen about seven people come to Christ (about five of those being international students), and we all came back home walking closer with Jesus and having a greater understanding of what the gospel is and how to share it with other people! -Thomas, USC Junior

I'm just LOVING all these guys' stories!! Thanks for doing all YOU do to help these students fulfill the Great Commission!

Growing, growing...

Catching you up on little man's growth...


This is going by waaaaaay too fast. Thanks to so many of you who have challenged me to not take any moment for granted!

It's Fall Semester Time!

Fhew. Poor little un-tended-to-blog. What on earth ever made me think I would be good at this? :) This season of my life is kickin' my hiney! But - while I'm not blogging - I'm out changing diapers & watching God change lives!

The school year has kicked off here & we're super pumped to be back with students again. We had a great summer...but nothing beats being with this generation that we are SO passionate about.

Thanks for praying for our summer AND our student's summers. Here's a little short-and-sweet snippet of what one student who spent his summer in Australia recently shared with us:

"So, my summer was great. Worked for about 5 hours a day on campus at the University of Newcastle getting into conversations with students and trying to share the Gospel. I saw everyone on the team constantly growing in boldness and love, learning to deeply care for almost-strangers. By the end of the summer, we had, as a team, shared the Gospel about 65 times and we had seen two students come to Christ. While this might not seem impressive, the STINTers (year-plus long missionaries) who had been there each for either a year or a year and a half had only seen one student come to Christ, as Australia is a very spiritually dark place. In addition to that, we saw one student kind of rededicate his life. We found him drunk off his butt at 4 in the morning one day, and had him plugged into a Bible Study the next week. We were also able to help at least two Christian students find a solid community in Student Life (the Australian name for Cru)." -E., USC junior

Love that & love what God is doing all over the globe through these students! Thanks for joining with us on this journey!

Exciting news....

We're having a BLAST at our National Staff Conference! Thanks for your prayers for a refreshing time!

We wanted to pass along some exciting news - after several years of prayer, research and hard work...Campus Crusade for Christ finally announced our new name change at our meeting last night.



So...drum roll please....




Here ya go:



It's an awesome step in the right direction of "being all things to all people" as our ministry continues to change & evolve to best bring our entire culture to Christ...all while keeping the mission and message the same! If you've missed some of the conversation, one of the key motivators was that the "Crusade" portion of our national name delivered a negative connotation amongst those we are eagerly trying to reach.

If we're honest, Paul & I were nervous, excited, & anticipatory about the name change. What would it be? Would it carry with it the same 'message' as our old name? But...Paul and I were simply in awe of the stories of how the name was chosen to be "Cru"...versus some of the other choices. They are pure God-sized stories. So humbling and exciting. Even the logo & the colors were carefully thought through and chosen with a purpose. I love that we work for a ministry that is so intentional about reaching the lost that it labors over every detail with love and prayerful attention!

If you'd like to read up on the name change, you can check out more here: www.ccci.org/Cru

Meanwhile, continue to pray God will direct each and every one of us as we seek to serve Him best! Can't wait to see what else He has in store for us this week!

Spreadin' out...

Paul & I have had an awesome summer so far! We've been spending our time resting, reflecting, pulling together bits & pieces from the last school year, wrapping up the campus finances, and getting out from under the huge huge HUGE mound of paperwork that piles up in our office throughout the semester. Call it a job hazard. ;)

We've also been staying glued to our phones as all of our students attending Summer Projects have spread out across the globe now. We have students serving Christ with their summers in:

Argentina
Lebanon
Other parts of the Middle East so sensitive we can't even mention!
Zambia
Ecuador
Smoky Mountains, TN
Santa Cruz, CA
Charleston, SC
...and all over the globe!

Would you join us in praying for these students as they begin their crazy summer adventures? Many of them reported to their locations just this past Monday, and are eager to see what God has in store!

Please pray also for our staff team, as many of us will be making the trek to Fort Collins, CO for training and our biannual National Staff Conference within a week or two.

We look forward to sharing stories as they begin to role in!

Food for thought...

Here's a great opinion article from the New York Times on today's college graduates, titled "It's Not About You". Good thoughts. Definitely worth sharing.

Thank you for partnering with us to reach such a crucial generation for Christ, so that they WOULD live for something other than themselves.

A little picture catch up....

We've been blessed with a very full past few weeks! Here's a little recap of the latest...

Thatcher turned a very handsome 2 weeks old!

Then...in the blink of an eye,
Thatcher turned an even MORE handsome 1 month old!
Fhew, time is flying! Our little man no longer fits in his newborn clothes. :(
= Mommy having a bit of an emotional melt down!

Thatcher attended his first bible study with his lady friends. :) Needless to say, my sweet junior-soon-to-be-senior girls were SUPER precious with him.

We said our goodbyes to a HUGE load of Seniors this year! This is absolutely one of the hardest parts of our job...yet the most rewarding! So many of these sweet faces are getting ready to set out all over the world to serve Christ full time!!

We celebrated our first Easter together as a family of 3! Neither Thatcher nor Paul fought me on the little level 10 southern little Easter outfit complete with leather booties & high socks. :) Eeek!
It was such a treat to celebrate the Risen Lord as a family this year!

Stay tuned for more random ramblings...I have quite a few blog posts rolling around in my noggin at the moment. :)

Been a little tied up lately...

...but I can't really blame myself. I've been oh-so-busy kissing these sweet little toes & cheeks.


THANK YOU to ALL of you for your sweet prayers, encouragement, meals, phone calls, visits, etc. over the past few weeks! Labor was AMAZING and I seriously having nothing but raving reviews about my entire experience. GOD IS GOOOOD! :)

I'm sure I'll have tons of cuteness to share over the next few weeks/months/years/decades. Stay tuned! xoxo!