Chilled Blueberry Soup

I had lunch yesterday at Cafe Bluebird with my sweet friend Kitty Hurdle. They were serving chilled blueberry soup as their special for the day so I decided to try it. It was absolutely delicious and so refreshing in the summertime! Of course we asked for the recipe, but the chef was "too busy." So, I googled it and found one that looks really good. I will definitely be testing it out soon. I would love to use some blueberries from my blueberry bush, but those darn birds ate them!

Yield

Makes 4 Servings

Ingredients

4 cups fresh blueberries

1 cup orange juice

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 pint half-and-half

Garnish: mint sprigs

Preparation

Bring first 5 ingredients to a boil in saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring often. Remove from heat, and slightly cool.

Process blueberry mixture and lemon juice in a blender or food processor until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides. Cover and chill until ready to serve.

Stir in half-and-half just before serving. Garnish, if desired.

*For a creamier soup, add a dollop of  plain yogurt to each serving. (This is what the cafe had done and I highly recommend it.)

Pray for the Italians

Before our 10 mile hike, I enjoyed a delicious breakfast at Vern's with a lovely friend who traveled all the way from Rome to attend Crusade's national conference. Debbie and I became friends through the partnership that Ole Miss Crusade has with Rome. Debbie has really loved on our staff team and the Ole Miss students when we have traveled to Rome. She has always welcomed us and is great about opening up her home to us (she makes excellent lasagna). Debbie is just one of those people that you could sit and visit with for hours because of her pleasant personality and gentle spirit. It was so great to see Debbie and hear about what the Lord is doing in Rome. She shared with us that after we were there this Spring Break, they finally have students that are meeting with them on a regular basis and reading the Word. Our prayer is that these students will really take another step in their faith and become disciples of Jesus Christ, and begin sharing their faith with other Italians. This is really the major obstacle that we face, and the biggest hump for Italians to overcome. But, we do serve a God who can move mountains and nothing is impossible for Him! Please pray for the Italians and for Debbie as she continues to serve the Lord in Rome. Debbie, thanks for your friendship and for the wisdom you have imparted into my life. I hope to visit you again in March! Much love to you!

Meg, Debbie, and Me

Cinnamon Roll at Vern's

It is world famous!

Rain, Snow, Shine, or Hail....WE HIKE!

As if 6 miles was not enough, we did a 10 mile hike yesterday! If you know me at all, you know that I am not really the outdoorsy type. Don't get me wrong, I did work at a summer camp for two years in a row with no air conditioner, but I would much rather be shopping! :) So, this was quite an adventure for me. I have to say at the very beginning I considered turning around. I injured my foot a few weeks ago, and it was hurting pretty bad. That coupled with the fact that it was raining, and we were going straight up hill made me highly consider not going any further. I decided to persevere though and I am so glad! It was a beautiful hike and we got to see some wildlife! The company was wonderful too! We went with the Jenkins and the Hurdles, who are both very dear friends of ours. The Hurdles are on staff with Crusade at South Carolina, and we do not get to see them too often, so we really soak up the time with them! By the way, it never stopped raining on our trip and it one point it hailed! We were definitely some troopers, or the only idiots out there! I now know why those people wear those rain suits and carry the poles...they are the smart ones! Hope you enjoy these pictures too! 

When we started the hike Kitty did not

have a rain jacket. She debated on wearing

the grocery sack. They soon bought ponchos.

Bear Lake

This is when it started hailing.

What were we thinking?

Hanging out under a tree...praying the hail stops!

Wow!

There is a waterfall in the distance.

Elk...Isaac, the hunter, spotted these.

We may be smiling, but we were really cold.

That's Isaac and Meg 

in the far distance

Still hiking and still raining!

Isaac, Joel, and Kyle at the halfway point

We saw this deer near the end of

our hike. She was so pretty!

For the Chocoholic

Last night I had dessert with several of my Crusade staff friends at The Chocolate Cafe. All I can say is yummy! I had the Chocolate Ravioli and it was delicious! It was warm chocolate and hazelnut in a crisp wrapper, dusted with sweet cocoa, and served with butter pecan ice cream. Wow! It was so fun to spend time with these girls and enjoy some chocolate!

Chocolate Ravioli

Kitty, Austin, Katie, Rachel, and Me

Hiking in The Rockies

If the Word of God alone does not refresh your soul, you can rest assure that the beauty of His creation definitely will refresh you. Yesterday afternoon we went hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park with our dear friends Isaac and Meg Jenkins (Isaac is the campus director at Ole Miss and our boss)! It was such a delight to gaze upon the beauty of God's creation as we hiked through 6 miles of the park. As I was hiking I was reminded of a quote by Darryl Smith, the National Director of Student Venture. He said, "You need not look at the mountains or the ocean to see a masterpiece. All you need to do is look in the mirror." This was based up Ephesians 2:10 which says, "For we are his workmanship." It is almost hard to wrap your mind around the fact that God created these beautiful and massive mountains, and yet we are the masterpiece. Hope you enjoy viewing some of God's creation in the pictures below! We laughed at the end of the hike because the Jenkins basically ran a marathon while the Coles went for a leisurely stroll (not really though...it was 6 miles!).

What A Refreshment!

Over the past month I have really just been wrestling with the Lord about where He has us right now. I absolutely love my job and feel that Kyle and I are incredibly blessed to be able to pour our lives into college students! That said, raising your own financial support is a daunting task and something that has never come easy for us.  This summer has been extremely hard and I think it has caused me to question being in full-time ministry and I have just grown weary. So, as I prepared to come to our national conference in Colorado, I prayed that the Lord would really refresh my spirit with His word and that I would be reminded and excited about the great calling I have received as a Christian. 

Well, we are 3 days into the conference and I can already say that my soul has been greatly revived and refreshed. If I could think of one word to describe this conference thus far it would be REFRESHING! It really is neat to see that the Lord will meet us right where we are at. 

Yesterday morning we were able to hear from Pastor Tim Keller again. This time he spoke on The Gospel for Non-Christians: How to Use The Gospel. Keller did an extraordinary job of explaining the mission, message, motivation, and method of the gospel. I am not going to summarize this message in detail because I really want you to watch it online (link listed in post below), but I will say that the Lord truly spoke to me through Keller. His message was out of Luke 10 when Jesus sends out the seventy-two. Verse 20 says, "Rejoice that your names are written in heaven." This should be our motivation in sharing the gospel with others. Our names are written in heaven (past tense) and because of this we can rejoice. We do not have to work so that our names might be written in heaven, they ARE written in heaven, and for this reason we share the gospel with others. Keller said, "I think what Jesus is saying here is this is where you ought to rest your heart. I am your great high priest, and I stand before the Father, and your name is written over my heart, and when the Father looks at your name he sees nothing but an absolute beauty, and I want you to live on a platform of the joy of knowing who you are in me. I want you to rejoice that your names are already written in heaven." 

What a beautiful picture this was to me and a reminder of my position in Christ. That when the Father sees my name, he sees Jesus. It really goes back to what Keller spoke about the first morning. That I don't have to worry about my performance, acceptability, or worthiness because in Christ, I am freely justified. How refreshing it was to hear all of this! Please listen to Keller's messages if you get a chance. I trust that the Lord will refresh your heart also.

All 7,000 staff members gathered in

Moby Gym to hear from Pastor Tim Keller

"Campus Crusade has been and is an enormously big part of what God is doing around the world today, and if you went out of business this week, I know that the wisest and most circumspect leaders of the Christian church would have to reinvent you. We would have to immediately recreate you--that's how important you are!" Tim Keller

What a high complement to Crusade and what a reminder to me that it is a privilege and honor to serve the Lord through working for Campus Crusade. 

Happy Birthday Molly Kate!

And this is the last (but certainly not least) family birthday for a few months! Today is my precious niece's birthday! Molly Kate you have brought so much joy and love to our family! When we think about you, our hearts smile because you are such a delight to us! We love you so much and we have so enjoyed spending lots of time with you over the past few months! We are very proud to be your MamieKyle! Happy 2nd Birthday! 

CSU 2009: U.S. Staff Conference

"Set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God." Colossians 3:2-3

For the next 9 days Kyle and I will be in Fort Collins, Colorado with Campus Crusade attending the U.S. Staff Conference. At this conference, around 7,ooo staff from across the nation gather to worship the Lord, and gain additional training and development. The conference kicked off this morning as we had the privilege to hear from Pastor Tim Keller. Dr. Keller is the founder and pastor of New York's Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan. In fact, his church has been named one of the Top 25 Most Influential Churches in America. So, it was indeed a privilege to hear him teach. This morning he spoke on The Gospel for Christians, and a sharp edge of the gospel that we tend to blur...that is free justification. I will try my best to summarize everything that was said, but he definitely brought light to my view of justification. Speaking out of Romans 3:21-28 Tim outlined why we need free justification, what is free justification, and how do we receive it? 

Why do we need free justification?

Keller said, "Righteousness is like a VPR - validated performance record. A VPR is what validates you, and makes you worthy of your position. The world today is based upon works righteousness--people present their moral resume (performance record) to God and try to earn their salvation. According to Romans 3:21, there is a different way to approach God...through Jesus Christ you get a perfect record (VPR), you stand righteous in Christ. This is the end of your struggle for performance, acceptability, righteousness, value, and worthiness. This is utterly different than what the world has engrained in people! Jesus has got to be your righteousness!"

What is free justification?

Keller said, " It is not just forgiveness. It is way beyond forgiveness. Forgiveness is a pardon, meaning you are free from punishment. It says you may go. Justification says you may come, you are welcome to all my love. When the righteousness of God comes to you, you get the record of Jesus. When God looks upon you, he sees Jesus Christ--that is way beyond forgiveness."

How do we receive free justification?

Keller said, "To understand it, don't look at your sin but look at what you boast in. What do you boast in? What is your justification? The Pharisees always repented of their sin but never repented of what they boasted in. Don't make a list of your sins. That will lead to a path of works-based righteousness. Turn to what you boast in. Repent from false salvations and justifications. If you can teach people the gospel this way, you will see life-change."

"The only person in the universe whose opinion counts delights in you!" 

Tim Keller

If you would like to listen to this message or any other sessions from CSU, you can download individual MP3 sessions or purchase the sets at http://csu.audio.com. I highly encourage this and think it would be well worth your time and money!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Yes...July is filled with birthdays in our family and today is my wonderful Mom's birthday! Happy 55th Birthday Mom! When I look back upon my life, I would not be who I am today without your constant love, encouragement, guidance, acceptance, and patience (really the list could go on and on). Thank you for teaching me some of life's most valuable lessons and for letting me figure some of them out on my own. Thanks also for always having a listening ear. I know that I can call you any day at any time and you are ready to listen. You are so precious to me and I am thankful for the 27 years that I have had the privilege of being your daughter. I love you Mom and I hope you have a delightful birthday!

Happy Birthday Hubby!

Today is my sweet husband's 28th birthday! Happy Birthday Kyle! I will be forever grateful that the Lord brought you to me but also that He brought you into this world 28 years ago. You are one of the greatest gifts I have received in this life and I am so thankful that I get to share this journey with you. Your enthusiasm to live life to the fullest is contagious and your love for our Savior is inspiring. I love you so much and pray that your birthday and the coming year our filled with many blessings from the Father! Happy Birthday!

We Have Produce

You may remember that a few months ago I planted some herbs and a tomato plant. Well my basil now looks like a bush and I picked my first tomato today! If you are in town and would like some fresh basil I have plenty to share!

Basil

Tomato Plant

The first roma tomato I picked. I took 

the picture here so you could see its size.

What a SURPRISE!!!

My birthday was July 12th, but on Thursday night my sweet husband threw a surprise party for me. I was definitely surprised! We had dinner with the Daniels at Newk's to catch up on life and hear about their honeymoon. They have been moving so we stopped by to see their place and then headed home to play games (at least that is what I thought). Once we got home, I stopped to pull up some weeds that were growing in the front flower bed. They all three kind of looked at me strangely and Kyle simply asked, "Honey, what are you doing?" I said, "I am pulling up these weeds real quick, the door is unlocked, ya'll can go on in." Well they just kept looking at me so I finished and hurried inside. Of course as I opened the door everyone shouted, SURPRISE!!! I just stood there totally shocked and laughed because I was holding a handful of weeds! :) The party was so much fun and I enjoyed getting to visit with good friends! Thanks to all that came to celebrate with me! Each of you are very dear to me!

Morgan, Me, and Carmen Rae

Jeffrey, Mary Melinda, Me, and Kyle

Ellen, Mary Catherine, Morgan, Carmen Rae,

Me, Rebecca, and Missy

Craig, Missy, Me, and Kyle

Thomas, Zach, Me, Kyle, BJ, and Jeff