5-40-106 Challenge

Things are winding down here at Arcadia. Today is the first day of finals and many students will be gone by the end of the week. It has been an amazing year in so many ways. Our fellowship has almost tripled in size, several people have come to know the Lord, and those who already knew Him are seeking and longing to know Him more. What more could anyone ask?

Please pray for these students over the summer. It is easy to look at summer vacation as a break from everything. We think about trips to the beach, or lounging by the pool, but not usually about using this break from school work as an opportunity to spend more time in the Word.

That is why Greg created this challenge called 5-40-106. (You can click on the pictures to make them bigger)





Looks pretty cool, Huh? :)

Quote from the challenge:

120 days between finals and fall semester. How do you want to be different 120 days from now? Do you want to return in 120 days exactly the same or closer to Jesus?
Don’t let 120 days away from God turn you into a shadow of who you are right now.

In the challenge the students commit to pray for 5 of their friends, memorize 40 verses of Scripture, read 106 chapters from their Bibles and stay connected with someone who can keep them accountable.

Please pray for our students this summer as they take on this 5-40-106 challenge!

Whew...

Whew...are we tired! It could have something to do with the 90 degree temps for the past few days but here is the rundown of the weekend.

Saturday I took 8 girls to our church's annual spring brunch. In addition to an AMAZING buffet we had the privilege of hearing Anita Keagy share her story. A few of the students I took were brand new believers (and one girl who is still searching) and the Lord touched their hearts in an amazing way! If you get a chance, I encourage you to check out her website or pick up her book.


We all left the brunch with a renewed desire to seek God first and to trust His plan for our lives even when life's consequences seem unbearable.

After the brunch, Caed had his Upwards basketball awards ceremony. It was fun. They had a kids comedian dancing around stage and making the kids laugh. After the ceremony we had our own little family celebration over a few cheese steaks!

Sunday we went to church and then I (Ashley) went to a bridal shower.

Whew. I need a nap just thinking about all the events of the weekend. No such luck...I am off to the grocery store. :)

Two Peas in a Pod

Caed really is the sweetest big brother ever.



This picture makes me smile.

Raspberries...

Bear with a mama for 30 seconds... Cole just discovered how to make raspberries. Seriously cute. He gets his whole face into it!

Praying for Stellan Today

He is in surgery today...

April Newsletter

We are about to send this out snail mail to many of you, but here is a sneak peek! You can make it full screen by clicking on the box in the right hand corner.:) Sorry it is a bit blurry... If you have never gotten one of our newsletters and would like to please email me at ashsov@hotmail.com.
April 09 Newsletter

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Enjoying the Breeze

As we started the 21 day challenge of reading through John a couple weeks ago I had no IDEA what the Lord was doing. It seemed like a good idea, so I went with it... When I read John 3 that first week I was intrigued by the idea of the Holy Spirit moving like the wind in our lives.

WELL... the title of this post "Enjoying the Breeze" is definitely an understatement for the past few weeks! (But enjoying the GALE force wind didn't have the same ring!)

I told you a couple weeks ago about the student who accepted Christ the week before Easter. Evidently that was just the wind picking up! (Ashley's entry)

(Greg's entry)
Last Thursday ACF held an outreach event on campus. I needed to be at a CCO training event 4 hours away was but was able to participate for the first couple hours. While there, I was talking to 2 student when someone else tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around to see Blaise.
I first met Blaise a year ago. It was a warm spring day with lots of students hanging out on the soccer field in the middle of campus. I heard Blaise playing guitar outside and introduced myself. We talked about music and guitar stuff for over an hour. That was the last conversation we had until Thursday.
B: You're a campus minister, right?
G: Yeah. What's up?
B: Do you think we could get together to talk and pray sometime?
G: Sure! When are you free?
B: How about Sunday?
We exchanged numbers and agreed to connect on Sunday.

Later in the day Ariella was engaged in conversation with one of our ACF students at the outreach. They wrapped up their conversation, but Ariella decided she still had a few more questions. She approached Greg Baker, another campus minister who helps out on Thursdays, to talk more about Jesus. He invited her to the fellowship meeting later that night and immediately after the meeting told Greg Baker that she wanted a relationship with Jesus Christ! They prayed right then and there. Since Ariella already knew several people from ACF, she felt comfortable enough to come back to our apartment where we host the AfterParty. She announcement to everyone that she just accepted Christ. That was Thursday.

On Sunday I texted Blaise about getting together. We met up at 7pm and sat in a corner of the Castle (yes, there's a real castle on campus!). He commenced to share what was clearly the work of the Holy Spirit in his life. He wanted Jesus and knew His resurrection and victory over sin were the only way to the Father. We got on our knees and he prayed to receive Christ!

Begin praying with us for Ariella and Blaise's new journey! And praise Him, too!

What a weekend!

I don't know about you but I need a weekend to recover from my weekend! Friday we went to the Spring Blitz (see previous post). Saturday morning we went to a local park for a picnic and then we came back to Arcadia for the Woodstock concert they had on campus all day. I think the kids have had more snow cones and cotton candy in the past few days than should ever be allowed!! We are all a little pink from the sun, but we had a great time. Here are a few pictures from the park.

Spring Blitz

We had a great time at Spring Blitz today. All of the clubs on campus have a table along the "walk of pride" on campus. They set up all kinds of activities like face painting, art projects, makeovers, and everyone's favorite GUITAR HERO! ACF's table featured art with recycled items like toilet paper roll bird feeders and Cereal box magazine holders. Abby made a bird feeder.



We also enjoyed LOTS of yummy treats. The kids had popcorn, cotton candy, snow cones, and funnel cakes. Here is a picture of the kids eating funnel cakes. (The other children are friends from our apartment complex)



One of the big events of the day was the JELLO tug of war. Luckily this was only for Arcadia students! It was a funny sight! This is a picture of one of our friends who was on one of the losing teams!



There were also a few inflatables on the soccer field. Caed and his friends played gladiators!



It was such a fun day! Thanks to all of the girls who helped me out with the kids today! (Greg was out of town at a training so I took the kids by myself!)

Cole's what NOT to do

Cole is demonstrating the inconvenience of only being able to scoot backwards....Poor kid! (If you can't tell, he is half under the ottoman!) The good news is that he doesn't seem to mind a bit!

Rain, Rain GO AWAY!

Today makes 3 days in a row that it has been rainy. We are all about to go out of our minds! Here are my three monkeys who are about to start climbing the walls!

Spring!

One of our favorite things to do when the weather gets nice is to go hang out on campus. There is a huge field right in the middle where the kids like to run around and roll down the hills. Last Thursday was the first day since fall that I took the kids up there. Here are a couple pics.

Here is Cole hanging out with on of or favorite Seniors, Babs! (Hopefully Aunt Mary Anne is sending some bigger hats in her next shipment of clothes!)


The Arcadia mascots we walking around campus that day too...The town crier and the Knight! Silly pic, I know.



It was a nice afternoon. Several students stopped by to say hi and chat for a bit. This Thursday Arcadia is hosting their annual Spring Blitz Carnival. Check back to see pics later on in the week!

Apartment Update 2:

We got a call this morning from Arcadia's property regarding the amount of rent we would be charged for the bigger apartment.

DRUM ROLL PLEASE....

It is only $150 more than our rent now!!! This is AWESOME! We need to actually see the apartment and talk about when we can move before it is official but it is looking good!

Thank you so much for your prayers. God is so good!

The angels are rejoicing...

One more name was added to the book of life today! A student Greg has been building a relationship with this semester confessed his need for a Savior and prayed to receive Christ today!

This morning I specifically prayed for God to show us another "piece of the puzzle" of our lives. I prayed for encouragement, that we would see God's hand moving...UMMMMM, WAY TO GO GOD!!! Talk about prayer being answered beyond anything we could ask or imagine!!

Rejoice with the angels!!!

My sweetness

This is my nickname for my sweetest little boy. OK, so I know this nickname cannot last forever but look at this face! There really is no other word that describes him better right now!

Trusting the Lord's purpose today...trying not to make my own plans :).

Apartment Update:

Greg sent out an email to several friends this week asking for prayer. Just in case you did not get it...here it is.

Long story short, we live in an apartment complex owned by the university where we are serving in campus ministry. We live in a 3 bedroom apartment and LOVE having students over for meetings, Bible studies, and fellowship times. The space is okay for our family, but has quickly become inadequate for all the gatherings we host.
The property manager just forwarded my request for us to move into another apartment--one that used to house the maintenance manager. It's almost twice the size of our current apartment, with a fourth bedroom, 2 extra bathrooms (more than we need!), a bigger kitchen, and a living room twice the size of what we currently have! This space is more than we need, but is just right for the vision we have to see our student fellowship grow in depth and size.
This other apartment is currently in "circulation" for students to lay claim to it for next year. It would need to get pulled form the list of available student apartments. A decision will be made soon by the Students Affairs office. I'm just asking you to pray with us for His provision!

Here is the update...

Greg spoke to the property manager this morning and she said that she got the green light from student life to release the apartment to us! PRAISE THE LORD!!!


Go ahead and do the happy dance with me and Elaine!

We still need your prayers though...They need to adjust our rent for the extra bedroom. We do not yet know what the rent will be, they are trying to figure that out now. This is already an expensive place to live, but we happily make the sacrifice because living among the students is a HUGE part of our ministry as we live Jesus in front of them.

Please pray that the Lord would be in control of it all. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills and is more that capable for providing for our increase in rent! Pray also for wisdom. We do not want to be irresponsible with the Lord's money.

Thank you dear friends for interceding for us!

21 Day Challenge

Today I (Ashley) start the 21 Day challenge. I am reading through John in 21 days with a group of Acradia girls. I am excited about our journey and can't wait to see what the Lord is going to do. I will keep you posted...no pun intended...well, maybe a little ;)!

Whose idea was that?

You guessed right! This was Greg's idea for a quiet activity while I took a nap on Sunday. I guess I can't complain, it was a great nap!