Article tasting

On Sunday afternoons, you can sample enough at my neighborhood Super Target to honestly report you’ve had lunch. Small bites. Tiny cups.

On the right you’ll see a new section offering a taste of some of the articles I’ve written this past year. May you taste and see that God is good and at work around the world.

Yay–the links are working again!

I’ve decided that when I feel prideful and that all life hinges on me, I need to have something technology-related fail. That pretty much puts me in my place.

About God

God loves you. Let that sink in for a minute. The God who created the Universe and everything in it…loves you.

Maybe that surprises you.

Maybe you’ve heard that before but never really believed it. But He does. And He’s extended an invitation for you to know Him personally.

Maybe you think, Jesus is good for you, but not for me. Or you think, “How can you be sure of anything in our unstable world?“

Or maybe you think, I do believe in Jesus, but I still feel stuck. I still have problems. I don’t see the life change I thought I would–I feel powerless to change.

Whereever you are, be honest with God. He can handle it.

A few great books I’d recommend for your journey:

• The Bible. I’d suggest starting in the book of John.
• The Purpose-Driven Life by Rick Warren
• The Case for Faith by Lee Strobel
• More Than A Carpenter by Josh McDowell

Not Found

How ironic that I chose to check the site right after I told you all about it? Even more ironic, I checked the “About God” tab and it said:

Not found. Sorry, but you are looking for something that isn’t here.

Thankfully, God is still alive and well. My new, high tech Blog (and helpless woman at the wheel) need to figure out how to fix whatever is up. Enjoy the front page, though!

Give me a day or two and hopefully ALL will be found. Thanks for your patience!

In my CD player

The Caedmon’s Call 2001 album, “In the Company of Angels,” has made its way back into my CD player. “Thy Mercy” is my well-worn favorite.
My favorite stanza:

Thy mercy is more than a match for my heart,
Which wonders to feel its own hardness depart.
Dissolved by Thy goodness, I fall to the ground
And weep for the praise of the mercy I’ve found.

Jazzercise dance squad

Every four months, Florida Jazzercise instructors meet up. For our last one, a handful of Orlando instructors, including me, practiced like a high school dance squad for the big day’s performance. Like our camo look?

About Ministry

From early on, my dream had always been to work in a big-city ad agency. However, God had done so much in my life through my college involvement with Campus Crusade for Christ that I was considering joining its staff.

My wise mom said, “Who better to advertise for than God?”

I was sold.

Since joining Campus Crusade in 1998, I have enjoyed serving in various parts of the ministry: writing for Campus Crusade’s magazine, Worldwide Challenge; traveling the world with Judy Douglass (the wife of our president, Steve); Guest Relations at our world headquarters and campus ministry at the University of Colorado-Boulder.

My Current Role

Managing Editor for our Campus Crusade for Christ Staff Web site. I handle day-to-day operations, as well as help plan content and determine future direction.

Why I Do It

I love helping make missionary life easier. For instance, helping connect our staff members to necessary people or resources: reports, evangelism ideas, contact numbers, communication from our leaders, stories from around the globe, reminders of upcoming events and all the while exposing them to things they didn’t even know existed!

I enjoy utilizing communication to help staff members be more connected, informed and effective in accomplishing the mission God has given them. Thus, making the good news of Christ be inescapable for people who haven’t met Him yet.

Want to Know More?

For more about my job, read my January 11, 2006 post in the newsletter section.

January Newsletter

Imagine a staff member working with college students at the University of Boulder-Colorado. She hasn’t heard about the various resources Campus Crusade offers to help staff members regarding ministry. She’s trying to figure out what it means to a missionary. She doesn’t know much about what God is doing outside of the U.S. And, as a result, she isn’t able to expose college women to a greater vision of who God is and how He wants to include them in His adventure.

That staff member was me. And that describes others in our global staff of 25,000 laborers as they see—in many ways—only the field in front of their eyes.

I’m excited to tell you that I’ve taken on a new role, helping provide a solution!

In November, I wrapped up my writer’s responsibilities with the Washington, D.C. article for Worldwide Challenge’s March/April issue. I then transitioned to my new role as Managing Editor for the Staff Web.
[Like all my jobs, God brought this job with the Staff Web out of left field. I have to laugh because it keeps me depending on God as the job propositions always seem to come just when I’ve began feeling like I was “figuring out” how to do my job well. Yet each job becomes a better and better fit for me!]

So, what does this mean? This means I use my abilities to plan content for the Web site. Making it easy to find things they need to do or find: reports, evangelism ideas, contact numbers, communication from our leaders, stories from around the globe, reminders of upcoming events and all the while exposing them to things they didn’t even know existed!

Campus Crusade’s Mission: Helping Build Spiritual Movements Everywhere…so that everyone knows someone who truly follows Jesus.

My Office: Global Media and Communications (I get to stay on the same larger team as Worldwide Challenge is also part of this big-picture communications group!)

My NEW Role: Managing Editor for the Staff Web (planning content and helping determine direction)

Why It’s Important: Helping produce a vibrant online community for staff members where they can go to be informed, exchange ideas, get to know ministry leaders. “Thank you for making our Staff Web site more effective. I use it daily and depend greatly on it” (staff member in Moscow).

The heart behind all of that connecting, ultimately? That everyone knows someone who truly follows Jesus.

I met Ali on the plane from Chicago to Lincoln for Christmas. Ali is a 19-year-old Saudi Arabian to-be freshman at UNL. We had a wonderful conversation during which I asked if I could tell him a few things about Nebraskans that might be helpful. He nodded gratefully.

I told him that he, most likely, would meet Christians; did he know what they believed? He said no, so I had the opportunity read over the “Would You Like to Know God Personally?” booklet with him. His English was very good and he said he understood what we read.

However, Ali’s native language is Arabic so I wrote down the address for the Arab version of EveryStudent.com. A Campus Crusade team designed it to address real life issues for University students, pointing them to Jesus.
As I told Ali about this great resource, I thought, how many staff members, sitting in my place, might not know about it?

My friends and I joke that we are evangelistic about good things we find like Jesus, a great deal on a shirt, a well-written book and helpful information. As I get older, I see how I enjoy almost nothing more than connecting people to people, and people to good resources. Everyone benefits from synergy.

By your partnership, you’re helping staff members around the world be more effective in ministry, thus helping the good news of Christ be inescapable for more people like Ali.