Bye Bye Colorado

Driving back today from Colorado to Iowa and reflecting on what has been one of the best summers of my life, while looking ahead to our return to Thailand in a few weeks.  We'll have a few days in Iowa with family, then drive down to Arkansas for some time with our kids and then back to Thailand on August 18. 
The last few days of conference continued to encourage us in countless ways.  We celebrated the 60 years of ministry with Campus Crusade for Christ on Saturday eve., and ended with a  final challenge by David Platt. 

A few final photos from Colorado before we move into the land of sweet corn, pork chops, muggy nights, and time with our siblings.

Tried to get an image of the 5000 U.S. Campus Crusade staff gathered in Moby gym at CSU for meetings each day.

We had the privilege of hosting Nok, our Thai national director for three days at the conference.  We gathered together a group of 40 who had been in Thailand  on projects for a delicious Thai meal with him.

My cousin, Betty who works for Winshape Retreats was able to do some marketing at our Ministry Fair this year.  It was great for us to get that time with her.

Final night of singing together and amazing Praise and Worship led by our own Keynote music ministry.

Jen still gets excited when she finds something from her Asian roots.  This particular treat was bubble tea.  It was great to have the time with Jen and Ben sharing an apt., even though we often felt like we were two ships passing in the night.

Was pretty interesting watching all the families packing up at the apartment complexes the last day. Mixed feelings of thankfulness, memories, and sadness that the time had ended.

The staff donated their left over"stuff" that they didn't need at the end of the summer to a non-profit organization that will distribute them to needy people.  We heard that this years container may go to help the victims in Joplin, Missouri.

This is what it looks like when a family of six lives in a summer apartment for six weeks after they get all packed up and ready to drive home! :)

Colorado has an interesting unique culture of it's own.  An example is this chalkboard sign that I passed in front of 'Mugs' coffee shop everyday on our way to class!  We will miss you Colorado, but have enough great memories to last us until we meet again.

Big Thompson River Flood

On one of my drives up to Estes Park this summer, my coaching group stopped to see the memorial from the Big Thompson River Flood.  144 died in the flood on July 31, 1976.  At the time of the flood, the women leadership of Campus Crusade were having a retreat  and seven of our CCC  staff lost their lives. It happened on the opening day of the staff conference, so it was a very sad  conference that year.  I had never seen the memorial although I had heard the stories from some of the survivors several times.

If you are interested in reading more...Videos, photos and stories of the flood are here.

White Water Rafting

One of our group activities during our Leadership Course was rafting the Poudre River.  At the end of our time, we filled out worksheets concerning the faith  lessons we learned.  I honestly do not have any profound life lessons except that the guides 'safety talk' was way scarier than the actual trip.  I considered not even going after he gave us the instructions of how to get out if trapped under the boat. Once we were half way through and I realized it was not that dangerous, I relaxed and enjoyed it so much more.  It was fun and the scenery was beautiful. Mike and I were in the same raft, which was a fun experience for us together. Getting ready to leave this beautiful state and return to Iowa and then on to Thailand- taking a lot more with us than we came with.

Name Change to "Cru"

It's about time that we share our feelings on the name change for our organization.  It was announced to 5000 of our U.S. staff when we gathered together the evening of our opening day at CSU.  To be honest, I was apprehensive.  I am a loyal person and have wonderful associations with the name Campus Crusade for Christ International after working with this group for 33 years.

And yet as our U.S director Steve Sellers walked us through the whys of the name change and how they came up with the decision- I was totally convinced and supportive of it in every way.  It was such good timing to announce the change the first day that we were all together.  We've had a chance to process it together as a big family and I feel it has made our vision and passion to fulfill the Great Commission even clearer.  It was a little sad to me that in the attempt to take the words Campus (we are not just campus ministry)  and Crusade (which has the wrong connotation in some countries) out of the name, that the media focused on taking the name Christ out of the name.  Our sole purpose is still to help individuals experience the transforming grace and forgiveness of the gospel through Jesus Christ.  Just the Jesus Film alone has exposed over 6 billion people to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our name change has nothing to do with being ashamed of the name of Jesus Christ.

Here is a link to the most Frequently Asked Questions concerning the name change. I'd love for you to read it to understand why the change. I already love saying "Cru" vs. that long "Campus Crusade for Christ International" name.

Much has been written and expressed about the change, but instead of me trying to express it all myself,
this guy explains it exactly as I would want to say!  You can click on some of the national media articles in his post, too.

I love the new logo also.  It is so global to me representing what Mike and I will continue to do.  The cross represents going to the four corners of the world and the colors are all the different people groups.

Campus Crusade or CRU  is still the same organization that Mike and I owe much to.  We were discipled by CCC as college students and that got us excited about seeing peoples lives changed by Jesus.  It is still the same organization  which gave us a desire deep in our hearts to give our lives to proclaiming Jesus name throughout the world. Our mission and vision remains the same.

Tonight is our last night of the staff conference.  We are tired  and filled up full with speakers, ideas, and encouragment and yet ...sad for it to end. This past month has equipped us and refreshed us in many ways and we are getting eager to return to Thailand in just a few more weeks.  We love you CRU for taking good care of us this summer!

One on One

It's been a full week here at our bi-annual U.S. Campus Crusade staff conference, and we have just two days left of meetings.  I am feeling so spoiled with the greatness of this summer.  There's no way that I can blog about it all.  There are just too many blessings. Francis Chan, one of our speakers was great and the Lord met us all in a special way during two of his sessions.  We laughed our heads off with Tim Hawkins last night. The praise & worship times are indescribable.  The reunions with special friends have been priceless. Changing our name has added much excitement and discussion concerning the fact that we are still as committed to proclaiming Jesus name to the whole world as ever.  We totally agree with the reasoning behind the name change, which will be a post of it's own real soon.


Besides all the great teaching we've had the privilege to partake of this summer-- we have enjoyed time with our four grand kids.  Because our time is usually limited with them, we typically are all together at once and it honestly can get real crazy and  difficult to focus on each other.

This summer we have really enjoyed having some one on one time with the grand kids  on the weekends.  It has given us more of a chance to talk and listen with them individually.  As it has rotated around to each of them having a turn, they too have felt so  special for getting that one on one time with us.

Last weekend, we had to make an airport run to get Hilary in Denver and decided to take Summer with us.  Before the flight came in, we spent some time with her in downtown Denver.

We walked from one end to the other of the downtown infamous 16th St. mall.

Stood on the "ONE MILE ABOVE SEA LEVEL" capitol step.

Got caught in some weather so had to sit for awhile and watch the rain blow over.

It was okay though because we enjoyed watching the beautiful clouds.

The capitol was so pretty contrasted against the dark blue sky.

We love you Summer darlin' and want you to know that you are our favorite 5 year old granddaughter!

The Best Reunions

The US Campus Crusade Staff Conference has begun and we could not be happier!  I teared up through most of the opening meeting with gratefulness to get to be here for it. Imagine over 5000 staff singing "Holy,Holy, Holy" and other praise songs together in the huge Moby Arena of CSU!

I will say that the reunions are one of the best parts of it all for us.  We have worked with this organization for 33 years now and developed many relationships with co-workers.  Most of those relationships are from working with people in the Philippines or Thailand.  Living away from our real family, these fellow staff become like family to us.  We raised our children  together or we have been like adopted parents to some singles living away from their parents. When they move back to the USA, it's hard to keep in touch and yet the memories are strong.  Getting together here with all these old friends is honestly one of the best reunions ever. Our memories and experiences of living and working together in a foreign country are ones that have bonded us together for a lifetime.

Our first 20 years on staff with Campus Crusade, while living in Asia we were only able to come to this bi-annual conference twice.  It was always so hard to be away and miss it. For the past 10 years we have been able to attend every other summer- and we are so thankful for the chance.  It is such a time of encouragement and we never want to miss it.

The opening night (last night) was once again a huge staff family reunion.  They open the first night with a County Fair party especially for the families and kids- but also a time for us all to reconnect again.  It was such a fun evening, but we went home exhausted from so many hugs and hello's.  What a treat to share the evening with our grand kids, too.

Most every meal is a time of reconnecting with old teammates from summer projects or long term assignments of years past!  Each of these people are special and have taught us much!  Hoping we have the stamina to take in all the sessions and reunions (in our older age now!)  We are blessed and grateful!

Leadership @ Altitude Graduates

Last Friday we finished our Leadership Course.  When it was all over, I felt sad and did not want it to end.  It has been one of the best summers of our life.  We have learned allot and just enjoyed every aspect of being here.  I have felt spoiled by God in his love and care.

This is our coaching group, for one last photo together.

Mike had a coaching group too-- they did more guy bonding type activities which he enjoyed  also.

The last day we had a final lunch celebration!  We are so grateful and thankful for this summer-- it has been so rich in many ways!

Mrs. Bright

60 years ago, Bill and Vonette Bright began the ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ on the campus of UCLA.  I am so thankful that both of them listened to God and obeyed his call back in 1951.  They have both always been heroes to me.  This year we are celebrating the 60 years of ministry here.

Last week, Marisa and I had the privilege of spending some time with Mrs. Bright in her  apartment here at CSU and listening to her share from her life experiences.  I want to be able to learn all I can from her and felt honored to be a part of this small Bible Study group.  Most of the time was spend in Q & A, and she shared allot of stories with us about those beginning days that were difficult yet exciting times.  She just turned 85 this month, and is  so full of wisdom and a wealth of life experiences as her and Dr. Bright have walked with God leading an organization of this size.

I want to be a women of faith as she is.  She shared with us how some of the ideas that Dr. Bright came home with seemed so crazy to her and yet she knew that God wanted her to fit into his plan and live by faith with him.  She desired to always be at his side as a support to him even when she did not understand.  I enjoyed listening to her so much and often felt that her words of encouragement were just for me.

Thank-you Mrs. Bright for listening to God, obeying his call and continuing to share your wisdom with us!

Coaching Groups

One of the highlights of our Leadership Training these past four weeks has been my coaching group.  We met together every week to process principles we were learning and more than that, to just share our lives with each other. 

I enjoyed the diversity of our group alot. From right to left we are: Kristi- who works in another Asian country near to me, Sherry- our coach who is from California, Kelley- from Canada, Karen- from Orlando and me.  We are all in different phases of life and from different ministries within Campus Crusade and yet had alot in common as we shared our lives with each other.  Each of these ladies were a huge encouragement to me and I learned from them.

Our coach Sherry was one of the best.  Each week she would choose a new and creative  place for us to go for our lunch meeting. This week we were having tea at the Lavender and Lace Tea Room in the  small community of Eaton, Colorado.

Today we went to the historical Baldpate Inn near Estes Park.

We loved looking at the keys in their key room which has such an interesting story.  You can read the legacy of the keys here.

 They now have nearly 30,000 unique keys brought to them by the guests who have stayed at the inn.

Each key is labeled with a note from where it comes and most have a story to tell.

Today was our last time to meet as a Coaching Group. Since we had just taken our final exam and turned in our projects, we were  feeling a sense of relief.  We ended up sitting on this porch with rocking chairs and  a porch swing sharing more of our lives with each other for hours.  It was relaxing and insightful to share "take-aways" of what God was teaching us. I enjoyed the community with these ladies so much.

Humming birds hovered over us all afternoon. Thanks ladies,  for a great summer of sharing your lives with me.  I have learned from knowing each of you!

Rocky Mountain National Park

Last Saturday, we finally got to drive up into the Rockies.  After being here in Colorado for five weeks now, we were really itching to not see them off in the distance- but to climb and touch them.  Eleven of us,
(Seiler's, Foltz's, Erin, and us) enjoyed the majestic beauty of the mountains together. Don't know why I have no pictures of Mike, Ben, Hayley, and Nathan-- I will add that we were dodging rain showers off and on throughout the day.

It was COLD!

Summer rode with us and kept saying "WOW" as she looked out the window!

Just made us feel like singing, "The hills are alive......"!

Saw a wedding shoot happening!

How exciting to come across these two huge elks!

Love this one of Summer peering in her sister's candy store on Estes Park main street!

We love the mountains in all their splendor!

Week #3

The "Responsibilities of a Leader" was the theme for most of the talks during out 3rd week of "Leadership @ Altitude".  It was another great week of learning, growing, and processing.  Mike and I are personally benefiting so much.  The time has gone by so quickly, it's hard to believe that we have just one week left. The more we learn - the greater our challenge becomes in figuring out what will be transferable to take back with us to Thailand.  We need wisdom!

Cow Appreciation Day

Today was my first day to experience Cow Appreciation Day!  Since  Chick-fil-A is one of our favorite restaurants and we don't have them in Thailand (and only few in Iowa)-- we had to get in on it here in FO-CO! I know I look like a big heifer-- but it was fun to join the fam for a free dinner! I also obviously  had some cow ear problems.

Erin is visiting the Foltz fam this week, so we loved having her join our herd!

It was such a fun party atmosphere when we got there- with free face painting for the kids.

Did ya ever see such a cute little calf?

Sister Holsteins!

Even Collin wanted to join in.

We bumped into so many other friends from Campus Crusade - it was a party!

Calf siblings!

The best part was all the free meals... 9 of us ate for free....hmm.... I wonder who had to pay?  Baby Nathan can't eat 'Chikin' yet- so he did not need to dress-up- but I love that face! 

Thank you Chick-fil-A and you can move to Thailand anytime you want! We will be good supporters!