"Dating in my grade is like sharing colored pencils. Maybe holding hands in church. Like during the Our Father."

Today I'm loving...

New stationary that arrived in the mail from the one and only, incredibly talented and thoughtful Miss Ellen Baker. She colors or paints each image, make copies on card stock at a copy shop and then folds them into cards. She's brilliant and they're my favorite letters to send. 

Early morning discipleship with my team of HS Wyld Life leaders. We see each other at YL and WL too, but this is the only time we really get to be in a small group and I love it. I'm thankful for their hearts and questions and time together. 

FBC Gang-- year after year I'm so thankful for the girls who show up to FBC and that after a long day of teaching for me and doing school for them, we just get to hang out. I love when WL leaders like Gidget show up too and spend time getting to know these girls.

These are some of the greatest kids I know. They're the best.

Birthday week! This past week we got to celebrate Senior YL girls Sophie Sams, Washie and Madeline. On Friday morning we took over Perkins for pancakes-- our whole Wyld Life cabin came, Hools and Han were home from Bama and Mal Pal came too.

Halloween Young Life Club

As per usual, I was incredibly impressed with the costumes of our YL kids tonight at Halloween Club. 

Grey's Anatomy found Meredith Grey.

My personal favorite costumes of the night:

There was no shortage of creativity and fun from this group.

Tonight's events included a trick or treat hot potato pass, anatomy mix-up, cross over mash up, Guess the Leader, mystery box and a talk from JD about faith and sacrifice.

I love Young Life and Shannon and silly costumes and weird games and spontaneous dancing and all of our leaders and real talk about Jesus and hugs from Ellie and Lucy's laugh and Monday nights together.

College Gameday Wyld Life Club

Welcome to College Game Day Wyld Life Club. 

We tailgated before the coverage started-- posters, grilling out, music from the Jeep, tossing the football.

Dairy Queen donated all of the hot dogs and Mr. Gerig volunteered to come and be our Grill Master for the night.

"Cause I got a really big team..."

Knock-out with two representatives from each time...

Football drill warm ups with Coach Cam...

Musical Chairs with our Junior Refs...

Washburn gave the Club talk at the end of the night and shared about the communities that she's gotten involved with and how they help her to grow closer to God.

 Many of our leaders finished the night together at Dairy Queen after the big game Club.

It's never too late.

Tonight at Young Life something amazing happened. Gidget and Fudge brought four of their Senior friends with them to YL for the very first time. Reagan, Claire, Lucy and Gracie are some of the sweetest girls you've ever met. I had them as students years ago and still see them at meets during the year, but they've never been Young Life girls. Tonight Gidget and Fudge couldn't have been  more thrilled to have them at Campaigners. It was obvious they were nervous when they arrived to the Barn, they weren't really sure what to expect. But when they left at the end of the night they told me they were so glad they came. 

It reminded me of some other friends first time at the Barn-- Abby and Ashley and Cassidy. They're all girls who didn't step foot into a Young Life event until they were Seniors. They each had friends who had been doing YL all along, but for some reason they never came. But their friends were persistent and didn't give up. Each of those girls, Abby and Ashley and Cassidy, all ended up saying that they wished they had come to YL earlier.

Two things I'm thinking about...

It's never too late. Be the person inviting. You never know when that friend will end up saying yes. They just might change their mind and join you. They just might love it. They just might say they should have come with you years ago.

It's never too late. Be the person who shows up for the first time. If you've been holding back from checking something out because you're nervous or afraid you won't fit in or you're just not sure what to expect... go for it. Be brave. Take a chance. Step outside your comfort zone. Trust your friends. You just might end up loving it. It just might end up changing your life for the good.

Fall Break Marathon

Big Fall Break Fan over here. These days, HSE gets an entire week off and I couldn't be more excited about it. I love that everyone doesn't automatically go to warmer weather either-- I had students and co-workers traveling across the United States this past week.

Justin and I ended up traveling to/through 9 different states over the past week in all of our adventures.

New Hampshire: My grandmother Mary Keeley passed away this past May and the entire extended family gathered to celebrate her life this past weekend. It was a beautiful service and testament to the life of service and selflessness that she lived. Through stories from family and other residents at Kendal at Hanover, where she lived the last 26 years, it was so clear the incredible positive impact she's had. I'm so proud to be her granddaughter.

Grandma's friends have become our friends and it was good to get to spend time with residents like Carol Allan while we were at Kendal. Most of my memories with grandma happened in Hanover and I will miss our trips here and how this place has become one of our favorites.

Salem, MA: Justin and I picked a random detour spot on our way South and ended up in Salem, MA. The town was booming with tourists, many of whom were dressed in witch attire, and we wandered around checking out the Witch House, touring the Ropes Mansion next door and the downtown.

Wickford, RI: My aunt and uncle and cousin and his wife all live in Rhode Island near the coast. Lucky for us, we got to stay with them, have dinner and go on a night walk to the pier. I don't see this side of my family very often so it was such a treat to spend time together.

NY, NY: We've both been to New York City several times but this was our first city adventure together. Alli Kenney, one of my Camp Tecumseh friends, teaches in the city and let us stay with her in Manhattan. Once we unloaded our luggage we got right to exploring-- brunch at Citizens of Chelsea, the High Line, Chelsea Market, all the subway stops, dinner at Ruby's Cafe and Washington Square Arch at NYU at night.

Day two in the city started with making a new friend, Barbara, at breakfast, strolling through Central Park, soaking in the sun on a park bench, getting hot dogs from a street vendor, exploring the Upper West Side to find the Shop Around the Corner...

helping a lost Argentinean in the park reunite with her family, Xi'an Famous Foods, making our way through Macy's to find a Christmas ornament (our tradition is to get an ornament for each trip we go on), Times Square...

the 9/11 Memorial because I hadn't seen it yet, Westfield World Trade Center Mall and then back to see Waitress the Musical with our friends Abby, Alli and Tony.

Our friends had to go home because they had work early the next morning, but Justin took me to the Top of the Rock (aka Rockefeller Center) to see the city at night. It was freezing but so beautiful.

Day three started early by living a day in the life with Alli Kenney and riding the subway to Brooklyn where she teaches 2nd grade at Success Academy. We got breakfast sandwiches and coffee at her favorite deli, Justin put on an orange tie just like the kids wear and we got ready to greet them at the door with a handshake when they climbed up to the 4th floor.

Justin and I both shared books with the class, experienced Community Circle and got to see how Alli's students love her and this structure of school.

We got to find a donut shop, walk through a Farmer's Market and explore some more before heading back to the Rockefeller Center to meet Sarah Fitzpatrick who works at NBC. She gave us a tour of the news floors and then took us to lunch across the street where she takes all of her sources. Sarah and I met as Day Camp counselors over a decade ago. Our lives couldn't be more different these days but she's still one of my dear friends.

Holland, MI: At the end of the week we drove up to Holland, MI to see my family. Friday night we got to be part of Supper Club at my sister's house, introduce them to Secret Hitler and play with my nephews. Saturday morning we all ran in Hope's Homecoming Donut 5K and then watched Lincoln and Redford play in their soccer games. Justin and I spent the rest of the day with my dad celebrating his upcoming 70th birthday!