Fifteen Pairs of Hands

Well, we made it to Kansas! Unfortunately, it wasn't quite as easy as clicking our red heels together and appearing in Winfield (an ongoing joke from our Kentucky friends especially), but I do have to say that things went VERY smoothly. One of the things that humbled and impressed me the most was the Church.

Let me tell you -- one of the greatest things about the Church universal is that no matter where you go, God's people will be there, somewhere. I am moved by this truth.

Our sweet friends in Kentucky had a surprise going away party for us on Thursday evening last week (was that seriously a week ago!?). So many of our dear friends came to hang out with us one last time and say goodbye. Before things wrapped up, many of them asked us what time they needed to be there to help us move. Additionally, our country church that previous Sunday asked us what time they needed to be there to help us move. We never had to really ask for help because the Church asked first and showed up ready to go. We packed at 7 AM on Saturday morning and we were not only finished packing everything at 9:30 AM, but we were also finished cleaning the house. We left Wilmore and were on the road to Kansas shortly before 10. As someone who has moved time and time again and has watched others move, 2 1/2 hours is amazing time to have everything done. But, then again, things happen almost as fast as clicking red heels when you have 15 pairs of hands!

We spent two days driving to Kansas and arrived on Sunday afternoon. Of course, the first thing we did was eat at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants here in Winfield -- El Maguey. Hashtag priorities. Then, we moved into our new-to-us bungalow! While we had 15 hands to help us move on the "going" end, we had just as many, if not more on the receiving end. Again, God's Church showed up and even asked us how they could help before we even had to ask them. The move went quick, quick, quick. What a blessing.

John Wesley wrote a phenomenal sermon called "Of the Church" that I read for a class prior to moving. His words have shaped me, especially as we've moved and have been on the receiving end of the Church's love and grace several times during this last month. Wesley notes about the Church:

"How much do we almost continually hear about the Church! With many it is matter of daily conversation. And yet how few understand what they talk of! How few know what the term means! A more ambiguous word than this, the Church, is scarce to be found in the English language. It is sometimes taken for a building, set apart for public worship: sometimes for a congregation, or body of people, united together in the service of God. It is only in the latter sense that it is taken in the ensuing discourse..."

Wesley goes on to talk about how the church is where two or three are gathered together (Matthew 18:20) or how Philemon's household was considered to be a church. For Wesley, the Church is a body that is vocationally called to the services of God. Surely, then, 15 pairs of hands and hearts that arrive at 7 AM on a Saturday morning are the Church! And 15 hands that spend their Sunday afternoon unloading a moving truck are the Church!

I think I will let that speak for itself. All I can say to God and the Church is "thank you;" what happened on Saturday and Sunday should be an expectation for anyone that moves! This is a beautiful example of how the healthy Church should function at all times. Of course, life isn't all about the Church helping people move (unless you're at Asbury Seminary!), but the Church is about helping people period. There's a special type of hospitality in our world that can only be given by the Church and the Spirit. Thank you, Church and Spirit, for giving us that hospitality in abundance these last two weeks. From Kentucky to Kansas, God's Church is alive and well. I learned this through at least fifteen pairs of hands. Amen.

Some of our hands on the Kentucky end! Thanks Isaac Chua for photos of this amazing adventure.

Moving always means leaving people that you love a lot! Lauren and Michelle -- two gems I met at Asbury.

Our new bungalow! Isn't it cute?

The Dads ready to go and pretty proud that absolutely nothing shifted in the trailer during our 13 hour trip. Awesome or what?

How much do we almost continually hear about the Church! With many it is matter of daily conversation. And yet how few understand what they talk of! How few know what the term means! A more ambiguous word than this, the Church, is scarce to be found in the English language. It is sometimes taken for a building, set apart for public worship: sometimes for a congregation, or body of people, united together in the service of God. It is only in the latter sense that it is taken in the ensuing discourse. - See more at: http://www.umcmission.org/Find-Resources/John-Wesley-Sermons/Sermon-74-Of-the-Church#sthash.gEBD4cRb.dpuf

How much do we almost continually hear about the Church! With many it is matter of daily conversation. And yet how few understand what they talk of! How few know what the term means! A more ambiguous word than this, the Church, is scarce to be found in the English language. It is sometimes taken for a building, set apart for public worship: sometimes for a congregation, or body of people, united together in the service of God. It is only in the latter sense that it is taken in the ensuing discourse. - See more at: http://www.umcmission.org/Find-Resources/John-Wesley-Sermons/Sermon-74-Of-the-Church#sthash.gEBD4cRb.dpuf

Sweet Southern Spring

My second year of seminary is officially over! I am so excited. This semester was very fun, but seminary can be exhausting. I learned so much and when the end of May rolled around, I was glad to finish out strong. In addition to normal life, Kyle and I had such a fun spring doing things around Kentucky! We had an incredibly long winter, so when spring arrived in mid-April, we were stoked. Kyle and I saved up our Christmas money and decided to go on a weekend getaway for his birthday in the Smokies. We went to stay at a B&B, Blue Mountain Mist, in Sieverville, TN. It was so beautiful! We enjoyed roaming around Cade's Cove, shopping and eating some delicious food. Our B&B was also very sweet. The family that owns it is a Christian family so they led us in prayer before breakfast and prayed over us as we traveled. They also made late night desserts and sweet tea for us! We enjoyed cake, cobbler and tea on the patio each evening. All in all, it was great to travel and see Tennessee and Smoky Mountain National Park.

The weekend after our Tennessee trip was Holy Week and we went on a Good Friday retreat with our Church out at Aldersgate Camp, a couple hours away from Wilmore. We had a wonderful time of reflection and fellowship. We also enjoyed hiking up to a cave. We wandered through the cave for a short while until we ran into cave crickets that looked like spiders! There were also bats! It was a fun experience and the weather was perfect.

In late April, I enjoyed going to Keeneland with my friend, Jenny. We dressed up and watched 10 horse races. We didn't do any betting, but we enjoyed the atmosphere. Going to the races is the one experience that made me feel like a authentic Kentuckian! People were all dressed up -- hats included and the horses were beautiful. Going to Keeneland was a blast. It's beautiful. Most would agree it's more beautiful than Churchill Downs. Also, during Derby Weekend we attended a small Derby get together and Kyle made a famous Kentucky Derby Pie. It was delicious -- so delicious that I took the leftovers with us to church because I could have eaten the rest by myself.

Another fun activity we did at the end of April was attend the Highbridge Film Festival at Asbury University. Random fact: Asbury University has one of the best film schools in the nation. Their students go to the Olympics to film every couple of years! How neat. Also, many of their alums have been involved in producing various well-known films. They have movie posters in their Media Communications building, all representative of films that alumni have been a part of in some way or another. Secretariat is one film that AU alums helped produce and film (imagine that) :). So, because they have such a great film program, every year they host a film festival where students show off their work in short films/animations. All the students dress up and attend, along with community members. Going to the festival was incredibly fun, partly because I was amazed at how awesome their films were! They were fantastic -- such great quality. I don't even know how to run a video camera, so to see students put together films that are equivalent to Disney "shorts" is pretty incredible. Plus the evening was complete with an after party and free Chick-fil-a. I mean really, they had me at "film festival" but free "Chick-fil-a" stole my heart.

Outside of Wilmore, in a small town called Nonesuch, there is a fancy Antique store called "Irish Acres." In the bottom of the store is a spiffy lunch restaurant called "The Glitz." All of the food is made in house, fresh, everyday. The experience includes a homemade "Spritzer," an appetizer, entree, and dessert. The menu contains two/three different options for each course and changes every couple of weeks. Kyle and I went with our sweet Kansas friends, Aaron and Rene. The atmosphere and the menu were fantastic. I had stuffed new potatoes for my appetizer, chicken salad on a croissant with spinach/strawberry and almond salad (the strawberry dressing was to die for), and the "Nonesuch Kiss" for dessert -- chocolate/coffee type ice cream with cream, a cherry, and hot fudge all on top of a meringue. Delicious! Also, our awesome waitress let us try the carrot/ginger soup. Again, a home run. I'm so glad Aaron and Rene took us to this fun place.  We had a great day with them.

We had such a great Spring at Asbury and really enjoyed a little bit of what Kentucky has to offer! The only sad part is Jenny left to move back to Mississippi. I was excited for her, but sad to see her go. We ate breakfast at a Coffee Pub that we had been wanting to go to. It was so cute. And that's a wrap for the Spring.

Baking Sunday: French Macarons filled with Raspberry and White Chocolate Ganache

Jenny and I decided to make French Macarons this past Baking Sunday. Macarons are notorious for being tricky and complex. We had a real adventure! Jenny studied abroad in France while she was in college so she found legitimate recipes (one for the meringue shell and one for the ganache) online because you can't make macarons the American way! No butter allowed. Our first batch of meringues turned out okay, but they were sticky and we couldn't figure out if they had baked long enough. The second time around proved a whole lot more successful. We lightly greased the pan, which was actually really helpful and I turned the oven down to 300F instead of 275F as the recipe called.

In addition to being tricky in general, macarons require you to pay attention to detail. We used the food processor to make our own almond meal and Jenny strained it through a mesh sieve twice. It's important for the almond meal to be very fine. I also learned that when you're making the sugar syrup, you cannot stir it or touch it with a spoon once it has boiled. Stirring it allows oxygen in, and in turn makes the mixture solidify. I was in charge of the sugar syrup and did that! Oh jeez. I learned a baking lesson the hard way and had to re-make the sugar syrup. I told Jenny when we were baking that macarons wouldn't be fun to make alone! I think our total baking time (we made two batches) ended up being 3 1/2 hours or so. But the little jewels were well worth the effort and it was a lot of fun. Our second batch wasn't too shabby! Plus, the raspberry/white chocolate ganache is to die for. And now we can say that we've made macarons. Ladies and gents, our baking has ascended to a new skill level and that's a good thing, too, because the semester is almost over and Jenny is going home! What am I going to do without her? I told her we will have to have Skype Baking Sundays. Otherwise, I'm trying not to think about her going back to Mississippi :(.

I know it seems silly, but Baking Sunday has been one of best ways that I've experienced God! It's been so fun to anticipate fellowship each week and create. Baking Sunday often reaches farther than Sunday, too. It enabled me to make a GREAT friend (Jenny), have some really fun and meaningful conversations along the way, and to share our baking goodies with others in the Asbury community. My bosses at work benefit the most ;). Baking Sunday has truly been nurturing for my soul. What a wonderful sabbath activity it has been. 

Besides what I listed above, I have no extra critiques about the macarons. I am just going to leave you with links to the original recipes that we used. They worked out pretty well for us. Enjoy!

 - Recipe for the meringues here
 - Recipe for the raspberry ganache here

Bon appétit my fellow Sunday bakers!

Baking Sunday: Lavender Cupcakes with Cream Cheese & Honey Frosting

I am so, so, so excited to share this Baking Sunday recipe with you! And I'm SUPER stoked about my pictures this week. I was getting fancy with my Iphone and VscoCam. Things have been so crazy in seminary lately that I haven't had much of a chance to blog about all of the delicious things that Jenny and I have been making -- scratch that, baking. From cinnamon rolls to key lime pie, banana bread bars, black bean double chocolate chip cookies, it's all been good, people. But these lavender cupcakes are the pinnacle of our baking, in my opinion. They're so creative, unique and dreamy. I've literally never tasted anything like them. The combination of lavender, honey and vanilla is too good.

When I told one of my friends at church that we were baking lavender cupcakes she made me nervous. She told me that her mother-in-law had made lavender cheesecake once and it tasted like a candle. Then, I was reading some of the reviews for this recipe and some people said that the dried lavender they used was tasteless. Let me tell you, we didn't run into either problem. The cupcakes don't taste like candles and they aren't tasteless. They're delicious! So, I feel like we hit the jack-pot. Please make these, okay?

Recipe courtesy of Jessie Next Door
*I've cut the frosting recipe in half because we had SO much left over. Unless you want to OD on cream cheese and honey frosting (which, hey, you might and I won't judge you) I think my adjustment covers the amount you'll need.

What you'll need for the cupcakes:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla 
• Purple, or red and blue frosting, tint the batter to your liking. We made ours a light lavender color. 
• 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 2 1/2 tablespoons of dried lavender buds (I found mine at World Market...Whole Foods didn't have any, neither did Mejier and I didn't check at Trader Joe's)
• 2/3 cup cold milk

What you'll need for the frosting:

• 1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)
• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 2 cups of confectioners' sugar 
• 1 tablespoon of vanilla 
• 1 tablespoon of honey, and more for drizzling

To Bake:

• Preheat oven to 350 F. Line muffin tins with cupcake liners or grease the tins with butter. 
• Chop the dried lavender buds into fine pieces and set aside.
• Using an electric mixer or a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each egg. Mix in the vanilla and the food coloring. 
• In another bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, salt and chopped lavender buds. 
• Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and beat together, then stir in the milk. 
• Scoop the batter evenly into the muffin tins. 
• Bake for 18-24 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
• Let the cupcakes cool in the tins for 5-10 minutes and then move them to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the Frosting:

• In a large bowl (or in the stand mixer), beat butter and cream cheese together. Add the powdered sugar, one cup at a time, mixing on low, until the frosting is smooth and creamy. Beat in the vanilla and honey. 
• Scoop the frosting into a piping bag or ziplock bag and pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes in the way that you see fit. 
• After you're finished frosting the cupcakes, drizzle some honey on top (this is a great opportunity to use your honey spoon if you have one ;))!
• Garnish with some dried lavender, if you want, and enjoy

 *Store leftover cupcakes in the refrigerator since they have cream cheese frosting.

Wrestling

Last week I took an intensive course. Asbury has a January term every year and it's a great opportunity to pick up some credit hours before school commences again in February. This January I took United Methodist Doctrine and Polity. Sounds really exciting, right? That's what I thought, too. However, it turned out to be a really great class, partly due to my professors and partly due to yes, the Doctrine and Polity that we studied. I honestly thought the class was going to be extremely dry, torturous even. However, it really was the opposite of that. The only torturous part was sitting in a chair from 8:00 - 5:00 for a week straight and staring right into my computer screen. Other than that, though, I found that (to me at least) Doctrine is really beautiful thing.
One of my assignments for the class is to answer nine questions from the United Methodist Book of Discipline about what I believe to be true. These questions will be used one day when I go before the big and scary board of ordained ministry in hopes of being ordained as a deacon in the UMC. The questions range from "What is your understanding of evil, as it exists in the world?" to "How do you plan to teach, affirm and apply United Methodist Doctrine in the area of ministry to which you have been called?" One thing that I've discovered about this assignment is that it is not easy. I don't know if I was expecting it to be so. But, you all know me. I'm a writer. Writing is my thing; it's easy for me to do; I love it. It brings joy to my heart. However, yesterday, writing my answers to these questions was not easy and it certainly was not fun. It was making me mad, actually. I was stuck in my own writer's block -- 100% stuck, woven in, tangled up in my own mind. My writing, or lack thereof came to a halt. I ended up taking a break and then went back to press through and answer the first two questions of my assignment. Then, I quit. Later that evening, I sat in bed screaming, in my head, "God, PLEASE help me write what I believe about you." I went to bed exhausted, defeated, begging and pleading with God that today might be a better writing day. Ha. Alright, that last sentence was a little dramatic. But I really did feel a bit defeated. I've written credo after credo about what I believe about God, but somehow these ordination questions became very difficult for me to articulate.
They say joy comes in the morning so this morning I woke up with a spring in my step, ready to prance five feet to my couch in order to answer more questions. I said a little prayer and then I began writing, answering question after question. Today was an easier writing day; by the grace of God I began to think I might actually believe a thing or two about the Almighty. Ha.
Really, though, how important it is to wrestle with raw thoughts about what we believe. I am thankful for yesterday because it led to me to today. That thinking and wrestling was not in vain! The further I press into this assignment, the more I realize how everyone should have to answer these questions, not on account of mere torture, but because we are transformed when we are forced to articulate what we believe. We are able to know the difference between something that's orthodox and something that's heretical. We are able to articulate exactly why Jesus had to come and die, what that even means to us today and why it should even matter. Someday (Lord willing) I will teach others the beliefs of the faith. My wrestling is not only to my benefit, but to theirs, too. What a privilege it is to wrestle because wrestling leads to articulation and articulation helps us to worship right; it helps us worship more fully and grow into who we are meant to be. Perhaps wrestling is a true and pure form of discipleship. So, today, I encourage you to wrestle and to take heart in tomorrow; because tomorrow will bring a new light, a new articulation. I take hope in this: surely we reap from wrestling.

Well, that's precisely how I felt yesterday.

The Time Proved Rich

Since going to seminary, Kyle and I look forward, very much, to Christmas. We enjoy Christmas like everyone else, for all the common reasons, but since moving, we especially enjoy it now because we know it's a time (and sometimes the only time during the year) when we are going to get to see our family members and friends. This year, we really hit the nail on the head. We saw just about everyone we could see in Kansas. And for that, we're grateful (and I'm proud!).

For some reason, though, this Christmas, when we were bouncing around from one place to the next, every time we had to leave, I felt a sudden, quick wave of extreme sadness. And as soon as it swept over me, it was gone. Then, that sadness was replaced by a deep sense of satisfaction. That satisfaction brought me great joy in the end.

Now, let me explain all of that, because the more that I've reflected over all of it, the more I've been extremely grateful to God for all of the blessings he's put in our lives.While I was sad to leave so many of our family members, I'm glad that I experienced that sadness. It made me realize how blessed we are. I've realized that good, deep, kind relationships leave us with a deep and rich sense of satisfaction even when we do have to go. Our time with our family was good. And even when we had to leave, we left feeling even more grateful, even more satisfied with time that we were given together. The time proved rich.

Living so far away has helped me to experience hospitality to the fullest. When we leave one place, we're always welcomed, with open arms at another. This is a blessing in life, and I realize that many others do not have this same blessing. Perhaps these are the types of relationships that God longs for us to have with others, especially our families -- deep, appreciative relationships where we value, in a rich way, time, conversation, and laughter. Where we welcome one another with open arms, at all times, and value, deeply, the time that we have together.

It was a Merry Christmas for us indeed! 

The Komlofske Sibling Clan

The Just Crew

Christmas Letter 2013

Christmas Greetings!

With Thanksgiving running later this year and finals taking over my life, I didn't have a chance to write a Christmas letter and send it out prior to leaving Wilmore. So, I thought a Christmas letter on the blog was a great alternative :). Without further ado, here is the Just year in review!

As many of you remember, last Christmas around this time, Kyle was offered a job at the Providence School, an alternative school here in town, literally a mile or two from our house. That was such a blessing to us! It was a constant job for Kyle, which is exactly what we needed. In March or so, we started thinking about what to do during the summer. Kyle needed a summer time job and I planned to take summer courses. However, mid-March, we received a call from Project Transformation asking us if we'd be interested in applying to serve with them in a couple of different leadership roles for the summer of 2013. The opportunity came at just the right time and was way too good to pass up. I was hired on as a house pastor and Kyle was hired on as a leadership training intern, working mainly with high school students.

We also moved into new seminary housing in May. We had to be in Dallas for leadership training at the end of May for PT, so we finished out seminary/work and moved during finals week. Then, we packed up and went to Dallas for the summer. It was a crazy couple of weeks of studying for finals, packing,  unpacking, repacking and traveling, but we made it! We enjoyed our summer in Dallas very much and enjoyed working with Project Transformation again. We were so blessed to meet and minister to/with so many other students from across the United States and catch up with old friends. Kyle and also discovered that, over the years, we've spent almost one full year of our lives living in Dallas. I don't always love the city, but I could totally see myself living in Dallas someday. It's so trendy and we have so many connections there. However, Kyle doesn't think he can see himself there. So he's quick to veto my ideas, probably for good reasons! All that to say, we enjoyed our time in Dallas and count ourselves blessed to have worked with Project Transformation. It really is a huge part of our lives. We wouldn't be the same without PT and all of the awesome experiences we've had in Dallas over the years.

At the end of the summer, prior to returning to Kentucky, we dropped by Kansas for a wedding! Our great friends, Isaac and Anna, got married and Kyle was a groomsman. The wedding was such a fun end to our summer because all of our friends from college were there. And, we enjoyed celebrating Isaac and Anna, of course! Right when we returned to Kentucky, Kyle headed back to work and I spent most of my remaining time off organizing the mess from moving in May. At the end of August, our house was finally a home. It became a home just in time, too, to host tons of visitors. My mom, sister, Trista, David and Jessica have all been to see us since August. And my parents and aunt plan on visiting in May of 2014 for the Kentucky Derby, too! We feel well-loved and have enjoyed showing our friends and family all around Wilmore and Lexington.

Otherwise, we've enjoyed everything that Kentucky and Asbury Seminary have to offer. Most of all, we've enjoyed our community. We couldn't ask for better friends here. We love living down the street from our friends; we love being able to pop into friends' houses at the drop of a hat or running over to grab a cup of sugar or sprig of cilantro. We love sharing meals with them and holding their squishy and perfect newborns. Most of all, it's a total honor and privilege to grow in Christ with them and the community at ATS. I honestly think everyone should go to seminary, if only for this experience! There's no season like it.

There are so many more things that I could say about 2013, but the main thing to say is that God is constantly faithful and ever-present in our lives. Kyle and I have experienced his loving kindness and pray that you have, too. We pray blessings over you in the coming year. May you all experience great expectation this advent season as you await the celebration of Christ's birth.

Cheers!

Kyle and Molly Just

A good fall photo from a birthday party!

Some of our seminary crew in Wilmore.

Our dear college friends at the Chua Wedding!

Isaac and Anna Chua -- we enjoyed their wedding and we enjoy having them live in our village at seminary, too!

Eyes Open

One of the things we practice daily here at Asbury is the Eucharist. A daily Eucharist service takes place every day of the week in Fletcher Chapel. Then, on Wednesdays, the Eucharist takes place during the chapel service. Ever since I was little I can remember being fascinated by the Eucharist. I grew up in the Catholic Church so, in worship jargon, the Eucharist was always the climax of the service. It was so beautiful. I always loved the liturgy and the act of going and being served communion.

Communion is still one of my favorite sacraments today. I especially love communion on Sunday mornings. It's so awesome to think about how many other people in the world are celebrating communion. It's such a representative feast of joy in the church and it really ties the ecumenical church-at-large together in a powerful and spiritual way.

My absolute favorite part of communion, though, is watching others receive it and be blessed. I have never been one to kneel at the altar after communion -- not because I don't want to, and definitely not because I am not thankful. I just can't wait to get back to watch others take communion. It's the embodiment of joy and sacrifice. It often brings me to tears watching others accept the love and grace of Christ. It makes me so  thankful. As each person takes communion I whisper in my mind, "Thank you, Jesus." Accepting communion is such a true form of worship -- I love watching grace unfold in the community's midst. That's why I keep my eyes open.

Food for Thought

As you can imagine, I run into a lot of really great people here at the seminary. Seriously, it's amazing. It's like you throw all the awesome people together in the world and *BAM,* here they are. One of the things that I absolutely love, whether at seminary or not, is hearing peoples' stories. In one of my classes, we have been split up into small groups where we share a ministry and vocational journey together for a semester. The other day, I was talking with my group and we were sharing our journeys of how we ended up at Asbury. One story especially stuck out to me and I knew right then that it was blog material.

The question was asked: if you could do anything in ministry, what would your dream job be? When we got around to one particular person, they said, "I would love to go live by myself in a cabin in the woods and minister to people through writing. I feel like I have been burned by people, burned by the church. I am starting to trust people again, which is how I ended up here, but it took awhile." He then went on to explain how prior to seminary, he had been extremely involved with a church. The leadership of this church, however, hurt more people than it helped. He then noted how he left the church and decided to attend culinary school (I told you people at seminary have good stories!). He excelled in culinary school, enjoyed it a lot and went on to work in a restaurant. He said, "You know, I was so sick of a church that hurt people. I worked with food because I was able to be a part of something that brought people together, slowed them down and had them listen to one another." Can you just imagine a chef, peering out at his restaurant from his kitchen? Watching people truly enjoy one another's company? You know, there is that couple over there in the corner on their first date, getting to know one another, wishing time would slow down. Then, there is that couple in the booth, to your left, who is celebrating their 35th anniversary, remembering all of the times they've had together and celebrating life. After that, in the back room, at the long table, there is that annual company meeting. These folks join together to discuss annual goals and progress and to identify where they are going to go, business wise, this year. Then, you have your normals, going out to eat because it is mom's night off. In all cases, food brings people together, and as a chef, that's something to be really proud of. To me, the mental image is really powerful. My new friend ended his story with this line: "I hope the church can slow down like that." Hmmm. Food for thought. And, I think it's like "Olive Garden" food for thought. Yeah?

Jiving

Are there ever times in your life when you sit back and just realize that you are totally and completely jiving in God's plan for you? I had to take a moment to write this week because I have been overwhelmed by God's faithfulness and generosity to us here in Wilmore. For the last couple of days, Kyle and I have been going through new student orientation at Asbury. When I first saw the schedule for NSO, I was automatically excited (which isn't normally the case for school orientation!). I knew the experience was going to be great -- and it was!

First, I have to say, the staff here is beyond exceptional. They have gone out of their way to know our names  and to connect with us on a personal level. Each and every staff person that we have met, from professors to housing directors constantly repeat, "We are here to serve you. Please, let us know how we can do that. We are here for you." It's made the transitional process so much easier. Also, the students are all that we dreamed. During NSO we had the opportunity to meet so many different people that are different ages and all of them have stories about God's faithfulness in their lives. People here embody and embrace the term "community." Here are just a few things that we experienced at NSO that we really enjoyed! 

• Obviously, meeting people has been one of the highlights; from single folks to married folks to toddlers and babies, we love all those who we've met so far! 
• Chapel was an exhilarating experience as the entire community prayed for us, commissioned us and welcomed us into their community. 
• Dinner at the President's estate at Rose Hill has to be on the top of my list. We enjoyed a nice garden party and got to tour the house! That was one of my favorite parts. 
• We enjoyed lunch with the faculty today.
• My absolute favorite part happened this morning during breakfast. One of the alumni coordinators asked us to raise our hand if we decided to come to Asbury because we were influenced by an alum. I looked around and almost everyone had their hand raised. That, to me, spoke volumes. When you have something good, word of mouth will be your best marketing tool. 

Rest assured, we are being taken care of here. As we transition into this stage of our ministry, Kyle and I would appreciate your prayers, as always! We also want our family and friends to know that this has to be one of the greatest places to be, so come and visit :). We are so excited to be a part of such a Spirit-filled community. We can't wait to live this story so that we can share it with others someday. Surely, God is with us!