Laughter is the best medicine!!

I love this picture of my Senior bible study. These women love Jesus and are turning the world upside down for Him.

I think this picture epitomizes my relationship with sweet Amy!

Running through the fountain in Charleston, SC while on vacation with 3 dear friends.

Here are 2 of the 3 dear friends running through the fountain with me! Hope & Haley.

I love these women! Here are the staff women that have been with me in Clearhotter all summer. We didn't know someone was taking our picture at this moment, that's why I love it.

Psalm 126:2Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, "The LORD has done great things for them."

Psalm 30:4All you saints! Sing your hearts out to God! Thank him to his face! He gets angry once in a while, but across a lifetime there is only love. The nights of crying your eyes out give way to days of laughter.

Over a year ago, I began slowly coming out of a season of sorrow. Watching others experience loss, experiencing loss myself, wrestling in the midst of it, etc. I can remember the exact time and place the shift happened. Haley, Stacy, Hope and I (dear friends) went on vacation to Charleston. I believe it was the first vacation I had really taken apart from work in a long time. One night we went for a walk down to the beach and we were making fun of how each other walked and laughed and laughed. The laughter continued throughout the week as we went out to eat and had our pictures taken running through the fountain. I began to feel life and hope again. Jesus was changing the sadness to moments of laughter.

Posted above are pictures from this last year (the last one as current as last night) starting with the Charleston trip. These pictures are a tangible reminder of God's "nearness being my good" and that to everything there is a "season".

Beth

Clearhotter, Florida

I am not a "good" blogger. Guess that gene from my mama skipped me. In the past month I have been stranded on a small island, been accepted to Grad school, spent 4 weeks in Clearhotter with 50 other college students and CCC staff, reconnected with a dear friend, seen a new little cousin enter the world, sweat through clinical strength deodorant this morning as I confronted 37 college students on how they interact with one another....do you want to hear more?

One reason I love summer project environments with Campus Crusade is that they foster such community and your "mess" surfaces a little quicker than if you just attended church on Sunday in your best Sunday dress and smile. Community allows masks to come off, the chance for you to be KNOWN, the chance for you to RESIST being known, and the grace to deal with the things the Father surfaces. Larry Crabb (my hero) says, "Looking bad in the presence of love is so much better than looking bad in the presence of advice."

This morning I had to speak to our students on conflict and how they have been treating one another.....it's not been pretty. These dear students were so great!! They worked it out among themselves, prayed and came in to the church service. We then took communion and I'm going to post a picture of our students standing around tables, taking communion, joining hands and praying. Can you say REDEMPTION?????????????? That is so how Christ is with me/us. In my brokenness he comes to me full of Grace and Truth and gently brings about restoration.

I can't believe I'll be home in less then 3 weeks. I'll have a lot of support to raise now that I will be going to Grad School part-time. I'll still stay in my role with CCC @ UT as director, but will be given one day a week to drive to Chattanooga (Richmont Graduate University) to pursue my Masters in Professional Counseling with a specialization in Spirtuality and Counseling/Spiritual Formation. AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so excited and scared. I hope to gain a better understanding of people and to continue to cheer them on in their journey. I have to raise a lot of $$$$ to be able to do this though, so please pray for me because I'll have approx. 2 weeks to do it in!

Okay, that's all I got.

Beth

aka: Bdubs