It takes guts

When I see my kids battle through the fears and challenges they face, it gives me confidence that they can make it in life.  Last night Aubrey played in the fall small chamber concert at Rollins College.  Aubrey has always struggled with anxiety and fear when trying something new, or performing.  She said that last night was the first time she was not nervous beforehand.  You can watch her performance here.  The musicians all gathered to pray together before they began the program, even pulling in the Muslim student, who felt a bit awkward when the prayers began "Dear Jesus..."

Luke is playing on a high school basketball team that is, frankly, not good.  They work hard and try hard, but they have lost their 4 games by an average of about 45 points.  They are battling through the obstacles of having only eight players, only one just over six feet tall, and a freshman point guard.  To me, it takes guts to go out there and battle when you know the likelihood of success is low. 

In fact, they inspire me to keep taking the risks and moving through my fears with faith.  Life is kind of like David and Goliath...you gotta step up and take a chance.  The only way you know for sure what will happen is by not even taking the risk.

Thanks Luke and Aubrey!

Gratitude

     Have you ever eaten at Chick-fil A?  You may have noticed that if you say “thank you,” the workers there answer “my pleasure?”  It actually makes it fun to say “thank you” because I am always looking for the “my pleasure.”

    Expressing thanks, and being thankful, isn’t always that easy!  Thankfulness requires recognizing that my life involves other people.  When I receive a gift, or am blessed because of the actions of another, it means that someone else has taken action that impacts me.  Expressing thanks is acknowledging that person’s actions resulted in a blessing to me.

    It is easy to see the blessing when someone holds the door for me, or hand me the salt and pepper.   However, there are times when I may not recognize actions taken on my behalf, especially if they take place over time.   This can especially happen in our home...where we take for granted the things others do for us.  

    It can also be easy also to overlook the good actions God has taken for me in my life…the blessings those actions bring to my life. 

    Gratitude requires that we look outside of ourselves to recognize how God’s (and others’) actions have impacted us.

    We want to thank you for your actions that bless us.   We are only able to serve in ministry because of your gifts to God.  This is not “Barrett and Dayna’s ministry”, but it is owned by you and the others who give and pray to allow us to serve Him with Campus Crusade for Christ.

    Thank you for the financial support you provide, along with the prayers, encouragement, and friendship.  We are not alone in the ministry, and we are grateful for that fact. 

    May this Thanksgiving be one where you recognize and express to God and others all they do to bless your life.

    With love and thanks,

Update From Home 

 Aubrey, our 3rd daughter, is a sophomore at Rollins College here in town.  She works really hard at school most of the time, but when she and her friends found this blow up obstacle course, they went all in!  Paste this link into your browser and check out THIS VIDEO

Dayna's Dad

Last month we shared how Dayna’s father had moved down to live near us.  Well, just over a week ago he began not being able to get up on his own.  Because we could not be with him 24 hours a day, it was clear he needed more assistance. 

So, a few days ago he was able to move into  an assisted living apartment where there is always a nurse or aide nearby to help him.  He is already improving and enjoying the people.  It is nice to see him doing better.

Thanks again for your prayers, partnership and friendship!! 

New logo for the new name

When Campus Crusade announced the coming name change this summer, we also unveiled a logo to help communicate the centrality of the cross to our mission.  Soon after we discovered a church in Texas that one year prior had chosen a very similar logo to the one we designed.  It wasn't discovered because the church had not registered it, but we worked with the church to change our logo slightly so they were different enough to help us both.  Here is the new logo:

If I can find a detailed explanation for the components of the logo, I'll post them here.  But I do know a few things:  The word "cru" has no capital letters so that people won't think the letters stand for something (they don't) and so that they won't think it is short for something (it is not)...even though college students have nicknamed CCC cru on their campuses for years.

Here's what our US VP wrote about it this week:

You’ll see it continues to let us tell our story of connection. It communicates how the 4 corners of the world all find new life at the cross. It also communicates our desire to move outward from the cross, to the whole world. The blue palette incorporates our history in world missions while the gold palette states our commitment to diversity and the city as we embrace our future.

There is a tag line for the logo, and it is with the logo below:

 

So, what do you think?