A Lesson

This past weekend we had a retreat for students at Loras. The retreat was held in Placid, IA. We were  with 70 students and missionaries, literally in the middle of no-where Iowa, at a small church across from a cemetery and surrounded by cows.

The topic of the retreat was the Holy Spirit. We went last year as participants and this year we had the privilege to help lead the retreat. Tyler gave a talk and played his djembe for the praise and worship band and I was on the prayer team and had the opportunity to pray with students during the weekend, specifically for two prayer sessions on Saturday.

Before the retreat started on Friday evening I was exhausted from a busy week of preparation and I didn't really want to go. I felt selfish because basically I wanted to be served instead of serve. However by God's grace I was able to offer that to Him and ask for his grace to serve others.

One thing I learned this weekend was that in contrast to my expectation of it being exhausting to pray with people for several hours on Saturday, I found that the time of prayer really gave energy. I was expecting to be physically and emotionally exhausted but what I learned goes to show that the Holy Spirit is what gives us life and energy, not anything we can do.

On Saturday morning I was ready for it to be the end of the retreat, but during the prayer session on Saturday night, even though it was around 11pm and we had been praying with students for over two hours, I could have kept going! It was such a gift to be a vessel of love to others. To let Jesus work in me to tell others that He loves them and wants to be in a relationship with them. It was humbling to see students open up and ask for specific prayer intentions, and then to see the Holy Spirit work in their hearts and to see them open up to the love of God.

What is something you learned this week that was possibly different from what you expected?  I can't wait to read a lesson from my dad of what he learned this past week. It's beautiful to share these experiences with others!

A Special Place

For this week's link-up our theme is a special place where we live. Check out my dad's special place in Lincoln.

Tyler and I have had a lot of special times here in Dubuque and one of our favorite places is up on a hill overlooking the Mississippi River and the town.

Last Sunday evening the weather was beautiful and we went for a drive. We found ourselves up on a bluff by a beautiful look-out of the river and the city.

We had been here once before and as we took a few minutes to admire the view we were reminded of how much we like Dubuque. It's quite a random place, who knew we'd be living in Iowa for two years, but we'll already remember it and are thankful that God brought us here!

Our apartment is the red building in the middle of the picture under the tree branch

Week 2: Dinner

For this week's blog post, dad and I decided to pick a dinner we cooked one night and blog about it. Tyler and I take turns cooking, we each have our specialties, and last Tuesday night I cooked shrimp and quinoa. 

If you remember my previous posts about quinoa, you'll remember that I called it my "new favorite food." Well, I haven't cooked with it much since then, and I think if I went on Chopped and had to prepare quinoa, the judges would say a thing or two about it. Hopefully they'd give me some helpful hints, because all I know is to add chicken bouillon to give it a better flavor. However, for dinner on Tuesday night I prepared it to the best of my ability and it was okay. I say that because even with the chicken bouillon the quinoa had an interesting aftertaste. Tyler went back for seconds so that says something!

So if you are feeling adventurous, get some quinoa, saute some vegetables, cook shrimp and throw it all together and let me know what you think of it!

SEEK 2013

Talk about a long over-due post! This past January Tyler and I, along with the other Loras FOCUS missionaries, took about 40 students down to Orlando, Florida for the SEEK 2013 conference.

We stayed at the Swan and Dolphin Resort in Disney World and this is the sight we saw every morning going to the conference center. It made me smile!

The Swan and Dolphin Resort

Every morning started with Mass and the first one was celebrated by Lincoln's new Bishop Conley

There were over 3,000 people and two large ballrooms with live feed from each so you could choose which room to go to and you'd see either the live speaker or the speaker on a screen. It was a very good set up!

After Mass we split up into a men's and women's sections for the first speaker. Here are some women from Loras!

From left to right: Sammy, me, Ryenn, Kate, and Mandy (the last three are girls in my Bible study)

Tyler gave a talk at a Varsity Catholic event during the conference to invite athletes to get involved in their faith!

The guys from Loras eating lunch outside.

Students eating dinner. We ordered tons of pizzas at least two of the nights, as well as a huge Chinese take-out order one evening. We're pretty sure we were the only ones with Chinese that evening!

Depending on what time we got into the ballrooms, we'd sit in the back. It was amazing to be with so many people all the time!

Eating lunch outside and enjoying the beautiful Florida weather!

One night there was a 20's Swing Dance and the girls from Loras enjoyed going all out for it!

My favorite picture of the weekend: Tyler and Stacey were so exhausted they decided to rest on the floor...enough said!

Week 1: Easter

Here's the first of a new tradition of weekend blog posts. I am linking up with my dad (check out his blog here) and we're going to help each other be accountable to blogging more! I want to give a shout-out to my sister Ashley, who is much more savvy when it comes to the world of blogs and introduced us to this idea. 

For week one our topic is Easter. Tyler, Frannie, and I went to Lincoln for our spring break which happened to fall over Holy Week. It was such a gift to spend a week in Lincoln, and the first few days brought back wonderful memories of Christmas because it was cold enough to have fires and dad had some wood left from this winter!

And what's better than fires with basketball? Not much, if I can speak for my husband. Before I forget, the prime time of March Madness was the week we were in Lincoln, so you can imagine how much basketball we watched. Oh yes, I believe Tyler watched every game. I tried my best, and enjoyed a lot of it, but there does come a point when enough is enough. Thankfully there was a break between the Sweet 16 and the Elite 8, so mom and I got in a Hallmark movie during the lull. And I want to give credit to dad and Tyler because they watched the movie with us (and enjoyed it!)

Frannie loves being in Lincoln. Of course mom and dad have grown in their love for her since she's spent many a weeks there!

Frannie with mom last Christmas

She really is a perfect dog, except that she sheds.

Tyler and Frannie played fetch a lot in the back yard. Most of the times Frannie would fetch, but occasionally it would be Tyler. We love to see her run and of course she had her times of chasing squirrels and birds.

On Wednesday night Ashley, Alex, and our two adorable nephews, Michael and Liam, joined us in Lincoln.

Video-chatting the day before they came to Lincoln.

This was the highlight of our week. Even though it was Holy Week and I was trying to really pray and meditate on Jesus' passion, the boys brought so much joy to us all that it felt like we were celebrating all day every day.

Michael is just over two years old and has quite the personality! Our favorite quotes from the week are, "What doin 'Ne? What doin' Ty?"

 Frannie enjoyed his company too, and it's fun to see she is so good around children.

That little guy is our second nephew Liam! He is five months and has an adorable smile! He seems like a very happy baby and I think his parents will mostly agree!

Hanging out with Uncle Tyler watching basketball

You'll have to check out dad's blog for more pictures and stories of our time in Lincoln for Easter, and get excited as we continue this tradition of weekend blogs!