The Spurlock Scoop

Time to Make a Come Back?

2010-11-02T09:19:00.001-04:00

Things are changing in the Spurlock household, and it just may be time to dust off the pages of 'ol blog...let's see what happens.

Colorado Summer!

2009-01-31T22:39:00.009-05:00

Yep, we are thrilled that God is so kind to send us to Colorado for our summer! We will spend most of May, all of June, and almost all of July in the breath-taking mountains and landscape of Colorado! It's a privilege to help lead Campus Crusade for Christ students from all over the country in an adventure-filled Summer Project called SnowRidge at Horncreek!

"Snowridge Summer Project is located in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of south-central Colorado. Our backyard is a playground of lakes and mountain peaks that set the stage for this summer ministry opportunity that can change your life forever. Our unique and remote location makes it a haven for outdoor adventure."

"Campus Crusade for Christ partners with Horn Creek to give each college student and staff member ten days of camp & urban youth ministry training as well as two weeks of mid-summer mentoring development. This is in addition to running six weeks of camp. Students will receive leadership training, urban youth camp training, counselor training, personal gift discovery and development, discipleship training, bible study, evangelism training, vocational exploration, men-only and women-only sessions, and a variety of practical experiences to test what they are learning."

We will be co-directing in the area of Operations for this project. This means being responsible for all of the finances and budget, gear order for staff and students, and lots of logistical details. Thankfully, we are both detail and task-oriented people... you know, nerdy, love-to-make-lists- and-be-organized type people! :)

This is one of many things we appreciate about the organization that God's blessed us to work for right now. Cru allows people like us to take on new responsibilities so we can continue to stretch our minds and explore new things. We don't reallllly know what we are doing but they are willing to take a risk with us! While being in campus ministry, we get to be trained in countless other fields like finance, leadership, operations, event coordinating , and so many other areas one might not expect a campus missionary to dabble in. We have so much to learn in life, and especially this summer, and are looking forward to a ton of training and development.

We love the outdoors, we love college students, and we love Jesus- all that to say, we are excited about our summer in Colorado!

Friends from Afar

2009-01-08T19:10:00.009-05:00

Life post-college is so different for friendships! Our friends are spread out all over not just VA, but the US! We miss so many people so often. Here are a few pics of some of our dearest friends from our college days at JMU. We got the chance to hangout one night between Christmas and New Year's as they'd all flown in for the holidays. The crazy part... there are 6 married's! We're getting old.... but we are lovin it! :)

Meet Jordan & Sam Ballard (formerly Miss Morris), Us, Eric & Anna Miller (formerly Miss Kewley), and Danny Christiansen (Laura Pruett missing from this pic!)
I missed the dye-your-hair dark memo...
Seriously, not even planned... don't know what that says about them!

A Very Merry Christmas

2009-01-08T17:39:00.013-05:00

On the 23rd, we celebrated an early Christmas together and it was amazing! We exchanged ornaments, presents, and stockings, each of us loving every minute of it. We even had a little scavenger hunt around the house for our ornaments :) Making new traditions has been really fun for us, so if you have any fun ideas, please share!

Second Annual Brown Family Christmas at the Spurlock's! That's right, we hosted Christmas for Lindsay's family (parents and older brother) at our apartment in Harrisonburg again this year. We went all out decorating, cleaning, and cooking for their time here with us. It was a fun-filled, fully-gifted, tight-fitted two days and we loved it! Lindsay's parents, Lee & Lois (as Brandon likes to call her, LoLo) and her brother, Erik, gave us really generous gifts, one of which was a gps! Yay! Thanks again Mom & Dad Brown & Erik!

(Erik doesn't like to pose for pics... Brandon made him laugh good on this one!)

Christmas day, the Brown's left and we headed up to Brandon's grandma & grandpa, "Nan & Pop's" place for his family's Christmas. There, we had Christmas with his mom, Patti, brother, Tyler (Lindsay likes to call him Ty-Ty, just don't tell him that), his aunt, uncle, and cousins... a full house! It was a great night of presents, laughter, home-cooked food, and fun. Thanks for everything Spurlock's, Wassell's, & Somerville's!

And as always, we miss you Dad Spurs!

Thanksgiving!

2009-01-08T16:48:00.010-05:00

So it's been a while since we posted- sorry to all you blog-stalkers! :)

Thanksgiving was great and filled with lots of traveling... typical for us Spurlock's. We visited both of our families, first to Northern VA to B's mom's, and then down to Williamsburg to L's parent's. Here's a few pics of our families, whom we love dearly and thank God for!

Brandon's mom, Nan, Uncle Tripp & Aunt Jan

Brandon's brother Ty & Nan

Us, Lindsay's mom, dad, and brother

Unfortunately, we did not get to see Brandon's dad because he is cool and lives in England! We are truly thankful for him as well and hope to spend Thanksgiving with him again soon :)

We have much to be thankful for in this life. God has blessed us with countless earthly blessings, but the greatest of all is His love. Without the love of God, we have nothing... no, worse than nothing. This life is meant to be lived in relationship with the very One who created it, apart from Him, life is empty, vain, and cruel. We are thankful that His love exists, but moreso that we can experience it. We don't deserve His love and we didn't do anything to earn it, yet He freely pours it on us... simply because we trust in Jesus and what He has done for us!

1 John 4:10
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

1 John 3:1
How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

Psalm 40:5
Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders which You have done,
And Your thoughts toward us;
There is none to compare with You
If I would declare and speak of them,
They would be too numerous to count.

Psalm 69:30
I will praise God's name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving.

The Great Outdoors

2008-10-14T14:30:00.011-04:00

Last weekend, we joined some great friends of ours, Justin & Grace Davies, and headed for the trails for an over-night backpacking trip. We got to the trailhead around 7:30p, soon after sunset. Hiking in the dark night was a new and fun adventure for the four of us, which included headlamps and a few missteps! We were hauling everything we needed for shelter, food, water, and gear... all on our backs for about 6 miles. Lindsay and Grace had never hiked with backpacks that were almost as big as them, so they were doing all they could not to fall over while tackling the trails.

The weekend could not have been more beautiful. Middle of nowhere Virginia, in the mountains, in the fall, in October... absolutely gorgeous. God blessed us with perfect weather the whole time with not a cloud in site or a hint of humidity. The changing leaves reminded us of the creativity and beauty of our God, that He dashes the earth every year with what Lindsay calls "leaf confetti," just because He can and He loves us.

Backpacking is a hobby we hope to continue in as long as God has us in such a beautiful location, accessible to all kinds of outdoor adventures!

JMU v. App State Game

2008-09-23T14:14:00.007-04:00

Two of our friends and supporters, the Brock's (pictured below, in the middle), invited us to join them at the intensely anticipated JMU v. App State game this past Saturday night. THANK YOU Brock's and THANK YOU JMU football team for the most exhilarating home game in JMU history!!!

We couldn't make it to the field until half-time, when the score was a discouraging 21-0, with App State feeling confident. As we arrived, herds of saddened fans filed out of the stadium after throwing in the towel. We like to refer to them as "suckers" as they left behind the better half of the game and what could have been the best Saturday night of their college experience! Now, we are not so prideful as to say we brought the luck into the stadium, but we will mention that as soon as we got there, the tides changed and the Dukes revived! JMU went from downcast to jumping up and down as our determined players scored touchdown after touchdown. It must have burned hopeless students when they got home, only to turn on the TV and see what they were missing. However, thousands of fans that stayed rocked the bleachers in praise and hundreds of those carried their celebration onto the field, as they swarmed to the 50 yard-line as soon as the clock ran out.

Final Score: JMU 35, App State 32.

Needless to say, us JMU Alum in the pictures above had a memorable and ridiculously exciting Saturday at the JMU Football Stadium. There was no where we would have rather been!

The latest Scoop on the Spurlock's... we love JMU!

Start of the Fall Semester

2008-09-16T12:11:00.007-04:00

As always, we kicked off the new school year with a handful of meetings and retreats to plan, pray, and prepare for the upcoming semester. We had two getaways for our staff and student leaders in August. The first picture is of all of our small group Bible study leaders for this year; praise God for all the willing hearts of our students to serve and lead! The second picture is of our staff and Leadership Team (some who are also Bible study leaders) who meet with the staff on a weekly basis to plan events around campus. Each student is over a specific area, such as prayer, evangelism, conferences, CRU (our weekly large group meeting), and freshmen!

We like to have lots of fun too!

Thank God for friends!

2008-07-17T13:35:00.010-04:00

We are so thankful for the friends that God has blessed us with- unfortunately most of them live far away! Getting to see them a few times a year is exciting and reminds us of how great it is to have people who love us and who we love even across many miles. We went to a wedding this past weekend and it was a blast! Sam Morris married Jordan Ballard and a group of us had the joy of witnessing it. Sam was in Lindsay's Bible Study for three and a half years and Jordan and Brandon have been friends since high school. They are an encouragement to us personally and an impact for Christ in LA. Below are a few pictures of our time with friends for the wedding weekend.

Summer Bible Study

2008-07-17T12:53:00.007-04:00

Lindsay just finished her fifth week of an eight week summer Bible study with JMU girls who are in Harrisonburg for the summer (some, not all of them pictured above). She has been taking these women through a book by Vaughan Roberts called, God's Big Picture. The book "traces the storyline of the Bible," from Genesis to Revelation, looking at how every story and character point to Jesus.

On the Road to Emmaus in Luke 24, Jesus walked with two of His disciples, "And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning Himself." In the Old Testament, we see sacrifices, kings, and prophets, all pointing to a better sacrifice, an eternal king, and the perfect fulfillment of those prophecies. In the New Testament, we see Jesus fulfill everything that was foretold, live the perfect life, become the Lamb of God who dies for the sins of the world, and raise in power to become the King of Kings. By remembering all He has done in the past to save His people, we as those who trust in Jesus' sacrifice alone, look forward in great faith and certain hope to His triumphant return! From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible is about God's Kingdom. We are a part of an eternal dynasty through faith in Jesus Christ!

Welcome Home!

2008-05-28T14:04:00.010-04:00

Our move is complete! 1710 Park road is no more...We are now at:

1750 Pear St, Apt E
Harrisonburg, VA 22801

With the help of 2 other guys on the JMU staff team and a large box truck, we ransacked our old apartment, and completely transferred it to our new apartment last Friday. We spent 8 back-breaking hours carrying furniture and boxes up and down flights of stairs. On Saturday, the two of us spent the entire day unboxing and arranging our new apartment. We are pretty much in order, but still have some decorating to do. We will have pictures to follow when we feel that our decor is blog-worthy!

For now, here is a picture of our new complex, and the view from our 2nd floor balcony!

As you can see, a beautiful view! We can even see cows in the pasture, and on a windy day, smell them too! The joys of living in an agricultural town!

We can't call ourselves newlyweds any longer!

2008-05-15T10:44:00.011-04:00

It doesn't feel like it's been a year since we vowed, "I do," were pronounced husband and wife by Pastor Minter, and had our first dance to "Feels Like Home." We joke often about how we would love to get married over and over again; it was that much fun! We're so thankful for the memories, pictures, and video that we have to look back on the best day of our lives!

This year has been tough on the one hand, because we have been raising support for the majority of our married life. On the other hand, it's been an absolute blast! Laughing, wrestling, making a home, sharing meals, learning new things about our Savior, enjoying coffee, and becoming even better friends and spouses has truly been a joy over the last 365 days. We really love being married and thank God for this gift all the time.

With our move coming up and trying to focus on finishing our support, we felt we could not leave for our Anniversary. However, we were graciously given a night's stay at Massanutten Resort in town, so we went for a romantic dinner and night out of our apartment! It was a short, but sweet "get away" for us to celebrate all that God's done for us in just a year!

We exchanged gifts the night of our anniversary and you just wouldn't believe it! We got each other basically the SAME thing! Both of us, though carried out differently, had the idea to make a scrapbook of our first year together as our present... we don't say we are twins for nothing!

We're Moving...

2008-05-13T16:55:00.002-04:00

Through a series of events involving the ownership of our apartment building, we have been forced to move. We first learned about this in early April, and have been searching for a new place to live.

God has been faithful and has provided another amazing apartment for us to move into! We are expecting to move in within the next 2 weeks, and are unsure of what our new address will be, so please stay posted for updates and our new address! Also, please be praying for us during this process. It's never fun to tear down and pack up ALL of your belongings, drive down the road, unload and re-arrange them all. We're asking the Lord for a quick and painless process, and that it does not serve as a big hindrance to our support raising.

Thank you as always for checking in and continuing to pray for us!

Friends in Town

2008-05-05T20:10:00.005-04:00

One of the bigger struggles we have faced in our first year of marriage has been the lack of friends our age living nearby in Harrisonburg. We have grown to be VERY good at entertaining each other, laughing, playing, and talking, but sometimes it is nice to have some other friends around!

We recently had a reprieve during a wave of multiple visitors! Earlier in April, Brandon's long-time best friend, Danny, came to visit for a couple of days. They have known each other since they were five, played sports together, and followed each other to JMU. Danny is very dear to the both of us, as he has been by our side for every step of our dating, engaged, and married life! Below is a picture of us with Danny, and Brandon's brother Tyler (see May prayer letter) out for lunch at the hippest new restaurant in Harrisonburg.

Two of our best friends and supporters, Eric and Anna, were in town from Oklahoma City! Brandon lived with Eric in college, and Anna was in Lindsay's Bible study as a student. Over the years we have grown very close to this awesome couple, and their friendship has blessed us immensely! While they were in town, we enjoyed a free round of golf at the local par 3 chip n' putt (you should come check it out) and spent time on JMU's campus, reminiscing of our youngin' days. We are confident that friends are from the Lord, and it is no doubt that He ordained these friendships.

March Happenings

2008-03-31T15:39:00.009-04:00

Since we have been a little inconsistent in updating our blog, we thought we would give you a brief review of some things we have done this past month, aside from the given support raising process.

One of the blessings of being in support raising is having a flexible schedule. For this reason, we were able to pair up with Lindsay's brother and plan a 30th Anniversary party for Lindsay's parents. We gathered about 40 of their friends from their past and present who convened in Williamsburg for a surprise party, in her parents' own home! It was a wonderful opportunity to show love to Lee & Lois, who after 30 years of marriage, have endured many difficult times yet persevered through it all. We believe God was glorified as friends toasted to the Brown's, giving testament to the goodness and faithfulness of Him who has sustained their marriage for three decades! Below are Lindsay's parents cutting their cake.

On Easter weekend we had the chance to share multiple meals with some of Brandon's family. Saturday, we met Brandon's grandparents for lunch (picture below: Brandon's brother Tyler, us, Nan, & Pop) and then dinner with his dad on Easter Sunday.

This Easter we were continually thinking and talking about the hope that we have in our Savior. We often remember Christ's death and thank Him for the forgiveness of sins that He purchased for those who call on Him, but sometimes fail to recall the rest of the story. The Bible says that Jesus was literally and physically raised from the dead and appeared before hundreds of eyewitnesses. Death and the grave had no dominion over Him- He conquered them when He was risen, and is now seated next to the Father, and is interceding for us. That is who our hope is in. We have hope that just as God raised His Son from the dead, so too will He raise those who trust in Him to newness of life. No more fear of hardships, failure, disease, cancer, and tears. For those whose hope is in Christ, this promise is given in Revelation 21: " 'He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.' He who was seated on the throne said, 'I am making everything new.' "

Birthday Celebrations

2008-02-19T13:37:00.003-05:00

Since our last post, we both celebrated birthdays! Brandon turned 24 in the end of January, and was the same age as Lindsay for about 3 weeks, until she celebrated her 25th birthday in mid-February. Both celebrations were very fun and special, as we both had to learn how to "specially" treat the other for an entire day, making sure they had the maximum amount of joy and fun!

Support has been much more encouraging as of late, as we have had many new referrals to contact, had several appointments with potential partners, and added many monthly partners to our team! We are now at 70.5% and on our way towards 80%.

Just yesterday, we established a short-term goal, calling it "10 in 10;" 10% in 10 days. We are asking God to bring in 10 percent, increasing us to 80%, by March 1 which was 10 days away. (Now we are more like 9.5% in 9) That is our prayer, and we are working towards it. Please join us in praying that God would give us drive and diligence to reach this goal. 10% may sound small, but it is in fact several hundred dollars in monthly support, in just a matter of days. It is a fairly bold goal, but we want to be sure to ask God for big things, and are trusting Him for it!

Leadership Team

2008-01-14T15:16:00.000-05:00

Depressed. Alone. Drunk. Afraid. Trapped in an eating disorder. Rebellious. Confused. Ashamed.

All these are words that were spoken by the students who make up JMU Crusade's student leadership team this past weekend. In a vulnerable time of sharing each other's personal testimonies of how Jesus changed their lives, our student leaders described the depth of sin and hopelessness that filled their lives before they met Jesus. It was a beautiful thing to be a part of, watching their faces light up as they recalled the first time they understood the life-changing and life-giving news about Jesus Christ. And now, they are the very group of students who make up the leadership team at JMU!

Being a part of this 2 day leadership team retreat was a blessing to both of us. Since we live in Harrisonburg, we have been able to whet our appetite for ministry on a few occasions. This time with the students helped to remind us of the importance of college ministry and how drastically Jesus changes hearts in this stage of life. It also makes us realize the importance of finishing this support process so that we can get back to campus full-time as soon as possible.

It is so amazing that the Creator of the universe would choose to call lowly, unworthy sinners to follow Him and proclaim His love to all the world, and JMU. Please join us in thanking God for His grace, that His word has power, and that he transforms broken lives into new creations who venture out as Christ's ambassadors!

Christmas Time is Here

2007-12-18T10:46:00.000-05:00

Well, Christmas is just around the corner, and we have had a blast preparing for our 1st Christmas together! Lindsay likes to call our apartment a Christmas Wonderland, as we have hung lights and decorations all around.

As we prepare to celebrate Jesus' birth together, we can't help but acknowledge the MANY blessings the Lord has lavished upon us. We have had a wonderfully enjoyable 7 1/2 months of marriage, a great apartment, family that loves us, friends that care about us, a support team who provides and prays for us, and jobs that we love. Most importantly, He has given us life and joy in a Savior King whose love endures forever. As Christmas nears, would you join us in a season of adoration and thanksgiving to Jesus, God's perfect gift of salvation, sent to this world to show us what love is, and to bridge the gap between man and God.

This year, as you look at your Christmas tree and the wonderful gifts underneath, would you not reflect on "all the great gifts I have provided," but thank Jesus who has allowed us to enjoy such things. "Every good and perfect gift is from above." (James 1:17) Let us not look at what we have done, but praise Jesus who has provided all we have ever had or needed.

We are so thankful for all of you, and pray that you would come to see Jesus Christ in a new and deeper way this Christmas!

O come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.

Tough Couple Weeks

2007-12-14T11:18:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since our last update; sorry for the delay!

This last week and a half was tough on us, as we have had our first experience with a sickness in the family. Lindsay caught whatever was going around, and battled terrible sore throats, which evolved into congestion, and then into coughing fits. She spent many sleepless nights coughing; two of which we slept on the couch so she could be inclined. Thankfully, this past day or two she has almost completely gotten over it, has been able to sleep through the night, and has her energy and voice back!

As for support, it had already been slow, but with us trying to get Lindsay healthy, it was even slower! This month has really been a battle for us as we have been fighting to keep our heads up about this support process. Right now we are at 64.7%, which isn't bad, but we would like it to be much higher of course. We are almost out of contacts, which makes it hard to make much progress. One of the most fruitful ways our supporters can help us is to offer friends, family, co-workers, Bible study members, etc. to us; people who may be interested in hearing about our ministry. Without people to contact, our support will continue to inch along. We so strongly desire to get back to campus as early as possible next semester and spend time investing in our students. Please consider ways you may be able to help get us back!

Here are a couple pictures of our last adventure; picking out our first Christmas tree together! Check back soon for updates on our 1st Christmas tree and decorations together!

Week in PA

2007-11-08T14:29:00.000-05:00

We just returned to Harrisonburg from a wonderful week spent in Pennsylvania! During that week, we traveled all over the state.

We started by visiting Lindsay's extended family in southeastern PA; it was time for Brandon to meet the Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins. We stayed with her Uncle Larry and Aunt Marsha who spoiled us like we were their own children, providing many meals and opening their wonderful home to us! We explored the backwoods area of Bedford, ran around the booming metropolis of Altoona, drove the family tractors (see below), went target shooting, toured many of PA's popular covered bridges, and Lindsay learned crafting skills from her Aunt Marsha!

We concluded that stay with a church presentation that Sunday morning, where we spoke to the congregation for 30 minutes about our heart and vision for reaching students and the world for Christ, via our jobs with Campus Crusade for Christ. It was a great developmental opportunity to speak together in front of a crowd, and God spoke through us and moved people in the church to invest in our ministry financially!

After our presentation, we headed NW to Mt. Bethel and had a Ministry Partner Development conference with other new staffers who are raising support. It was a great time to get away and spend time with people who are in the same boat we are in. We received further training, encouragement, and motivation for support raising. We also spent several hours in a financial stewardship class, learning how to wisely use the money and possessions that the Lord has entrusted to us. It gave us a good perspective in how everything we own, and don't own, belongs to God, and we are just trustees to God's possessions. We were challenged to use our money in ways that are glorifying to Him, rather than using it to serve our own selfish desires. We are excited to look for new avenues to give away God's money!

We also had some free time during the conference, and got out one afternoon to hike a section of the Appalachian Trail. Here are a couple of pictures of us, and one with our good friend Ben, who is also raising support to join the staff team at JMU.

That was a long update, thanks so much for checking up on us! Thank you also for your partnership with us in reaching the JMU campus for Christ! Without you, it would be impossible to do what we do!

Fall Fun!

2007-10-25T15:20:00.000-04:00

If you have never been in the Shenandoah Valley this time of year, we would highly recommend coming IMMEDIATELY, or maybe just wait until next year. It is a beautiful time of year here in Harrisonburg, the weather is usually great (although recently unpredictable), and the foliage is a sight to see!

Just recently, Lindsay had the chance to go on Massanutten's Fall Tour with a few friends, where the ski lift gives you a tour of the mountain and surrounding valley beauty (pictured below). Brandon took advantage of the free time to get away with a few friends of his own, and tackled a 7 mile hike into the Shenandoah National Park. Hopefully there will be pictures soon!

Just yesterday we continued what is now a 3 year tradition of going to Lohr's U-Pick 'Em pumpkin patch, to explore the endless acres of pumpkins! After some fun and a photo shoot (see below) we found the winner, cut him from his vine, and wheeled him to the checkout; now it's time to carve him and make some pumpkin pie!

Stalking the perfect pumpkin...

Got him!!

Posing with the winner.

Not quite sure what happened here...

As for support, last week was our best week all month! We increased about 5%, and a couple more percent this week, and we are now at 57.8%! Overall it's been a tough and slow month, but we feel very encouraged by the way God has been working over the past week. At times we feel frustrated and just want to be back on campus, but we realize that God is in control and will bring in all of our support in his sovereign timing. Please keep praying for us that support would come in and that we would stay motivated to raise it!

Perseverance is Tough!

2007-10-11T11:16:00.000-04:00

Praise the Lord the heat wave is finally gone! We woke up this morning freezing, and it was glorious!!

Time to be vulnerable with our friends...It has been a tough 2 weeks! After 2 successful support trips in September, our support was boosted to 50%, and then came to a screeching halt, and has remained at that halt for the past couple weeks! It was a pretty discouraging time for the both of us, as we both can be performance driven and love to see results, and it just wasn't happening. As you read in our last prayer letter, we were able to find comfort in the Apostle Paul's words, "to be content in all things," but it was still a challenge to us.

Just this week God gave us some renewed motivation and we were encouraged to push through. We have already made some progress in the past couple days, made contact with many supporters, and added new monthly supporters! We are now at 51.8%. While that may not look like much of a jump in support, it is a pretty significant change and is very encouraging to us at this point!

We are still asking God to finish our support by the end of 2007; by Christmas to be exact! Our annual Radiate (Christmas Conference) will be held this year in Washington D.C. from December 28-January 1, and we would LOVE to have our support completed so that we can be with our students during this exciting conference. Please please pray with us to this end, that although we have a lot of ground to cover by the end of December, that God would bring in our support in time for us to return for Radiate 07!

Season of Travel

2007-09-19T20:14:00.000-04:00

Boy oh boy, we have been busy, and it shows on our blog inconsistency! Sorry for the lack of updates!

We have been traveling more often than we have been in one spot. We just returned from a 9 day trip to Williamsburg, where we had several support appointments. It was a fruitful week of support raising, and we increased about 10%. We are now at 48.9%! Praise God for how much money He has brought in! This coming weekend we will be traveling to Northern VA and staying for several days, also trying to hold support appointments. We are praying that we would be done with support by January 1, so that we can begin fresh with the Spring semester, but of course earlier would be better! Please be praying for us as we continue to step out in faith during this trying time of support raising and travel.

Campus Update: Our students are heading to their annual Fall Retreat this upcoming weekend of the 22nd. My pastor from home, Mike Minter from Reston Bible Church, will be their speaker for the weekend. They are certainly in for a treat! Fall Retreat is an awesome time of fellowship and growth, as students become better acquainted with each other, grow and are challenged in the Lord, and spend 3 great days at an amazing retreat center (see pictures of the Blob and Zip Line below). Pray for them as well that God would meet them there, and work in the hearts of our students.

P.S. Go Redskins!!!

Beginning of a New Semester

2007-08-22T21:27:00.000-04:00

It's that time again. Harrisonburg was just flooded with thousands of minivans and SUVs as James Madison Unversity's class of 2011 rolled into town. JMU is receiving their largest freshman class ever with about 3,900 new faces; one of which is Brandon's brother, Tyler! We were on campus today helping Tyler move into his dorm room, while reminiscing of our own freshman move-ins of the past. Our own Crusade students were also on campus these past two days and served hundreds of freshman moving in, as they carried boxes, clothes, and mini refrigerators up numbers of flights of stairs!

Although we were on campus today interacting with students, it will not be how we spend much of our time for the weeks (and months) to follow. We are currently living in Harrisonburg, but working on raising our full-time support for Campus Crusade for Christ together. It is a 100% full-time job to raise support alone, so we are not to "report" to campus for our regular Crusade duties (Bible studies, discipleship, large-group meetings, etc) until all of our support has come in. We have both raised support in past years for our one-year internships, but now are raising support together. We are in the process of writing letters, making phone calls, and making numerous road trips to meet with current and potential partners, who may join us in our vision to reach the lost on campus with the Gospel. Our combined "married" support goal is much higher than last year and it could take several months to reach our goal, but we are optimistic that God will work mightily to bring us a complete support team in a timely fashion!

We are currently at 30% of our support goal in just 2 1/2 weeks of support raising! Praise God for how faithfully He has brought in our support so far! We are hoping to be completed and back on campus no later than January 1 to begin the Spring semester, but would happily like to see it come in sooner than that!

Please be praying for us in the following ways:

1. That God would continue to bring our support in very quickly!
2. That we can focus on our support raising while knowing our students are just minutes away.
3. That we could continue to develop good marital habits and enjoy marriage during this very stressful period of life!
4. And, for the students, that they would seek to know Jesus in deeper ways as they begin this Fall semester.

Thank you all SO much for your faithful support and prayers. Without you, we would not be able to do what we do for the Kingdom! Your investment counts!

Finally back in VA!

2007-08-01T21:51:00.000-04:00

After six long weeks in Colorado, we have finally returned to our new home in Harrisonburg, VA! We had an absolute blast in Colorado, made a ton of new friends, learned a great deal about working in ministry, and received a rejuvenating vision for ministry! But, we also got very exhausted. We ran non-stop from classes, to meetings, and seminars; throw in three meals a day and it's time for bed! The hardest thing while there was to try and form good habits in our marriage (i.e. prioritize time with each other) but we were too busy with everything going on there that we didn't even have our first date night until 4 weeks in!

Now that we are home, we will begin raising our financial support for Campus Crusade for Christ. We will be living in our new apartment in Harrisonburg (below), but will be traveling a lot to meet with supporters! Please be praying with us that God would bless us in our support raising and lead us to those he has prepared for us!

Commissioning & Taking on the Rapids

2007-07-16T19:46:00.000-04:00

On Saturday night, all the new staff had a banquet to honor our finishing New Staff Training. We had a great dinner, which was accompanied with worship, a short talk from Steve Douglas (President of Campus Crusade for Christ), and our official commissioning as Crusade staff! Below is a picture of Brandon with Steve Douglas, and Lindsay with Judy Douglas, wife of the president.

God has blessed us tremendously with great friends since being in CO. One couple, who is from the area and joining staff in East Asia, has a family cabin an hour away in the Poudre Canyon. We, along with 11 others, headed to the woods immediately following our commissioning. The following afternoon, many of us had the chance to tube the Poudre River, known for its great whitewater rafting rapids! Lindsay was not feeling up to par and was unable to brave the floods, but Brandon made it into the frigid mountain water and lived to tell about it! Below are two pictures of our day.

Wedding & Honeymoon

2007-07-14T18:12:00.000-04:00

We had our wedding on May 12 in Harrisonburg and it went great! Months and months of planning for a 30 minute ceremony, but it was well worth it. This is a picture of us with our wedding party; what great colors!

We left the next day for Riviera Maya, Mexico. We received a week long trip to a resort from Brandon's wonderful aunt and uncle! We had some very interesting things happen to us while we were there, but that's another story for another day. We had a blast in the Mexican sun, and enjoyed well deserved rest and relaxation and time by the pool. (Picture below is of us before dinner one night at the resort.) Once our week was over, we returned to our new apartment in Harrisonburg, and began setting up our home! It was a lot of fun and we just about finished before leaving for Colorado. We are excited to get back to our own home, kitchen, and grill!

Welcome!

2007-07-14T00:32:00.001-04:00

We will begin posting fun and interesting information very shortly! Thank you for your patience :)