Confidence.

Hey everyone!

This has probably been my favorite week of project so far. I have a few huge announcements for you...

1. My t-shirt design was chosen to be used for the project! It was the first shirt I've ever designed and it's a pretty good feeling to know that all 100 of the staff and students will be wearing my design :) definitely a confidence boost. Upon request from the guys I changed the colors, but I still am happy with the final result. Here is the finished shirt:

2. All students are given leadership roles for when the staff leave next week. This includes people to lead small group, outreaches, community, etc. My discipler told me on Thursday that I am CROSSROADS DIRECTOR. This is huge! This means that I am taking the place of our staff leader Josh, who is in charge of all the interns, getting work done, and making executive decisions, among other things. So that's what I'll be doing. This is a scary/humbling/incredibly exciting opportunity for sure. Looking back I can see how God has been preparing me for this role, and please be praying as I process through what this will look like and how I can lead in a Godly manner.

3. The winter conference that we have been all working on (IndyCC)'s theme was introduced on Thursday as well. The theme is "Make Me" - focusing on God as a creator who isn't done with us yet. It emphasizes a heart change and how He has made each of us uniquely in His image. I'm happy with the final choice, but our work as interns is only just beginning! We are in charge with all the promotional materials from here on out.

4. Also be praying for our ministries in the city and on-campus. Many of us have been having good conversations and sharing the gospel with non-believers all over the city. Pray for relationships to be built, open hearts, and for us to have the courage to follow through and share Christ with everyone. My friend Maggie and I were able to walk through the gospel with a girl on Wednesday, and we invited several people to our weekly outreach meeting. Hoping that we can follow up with those girls!

Exciting things are happening, and it's only four weeks in. We've been having fun, too :) the last Friday of every week is this huge biking event called "Critical Mass", where hundreds of Chicago residents bike around the city in a huge swarm. Sounds crazy, but it was a blast! And it rained off and on the whole time, which was quite the experience... although I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

All the interns have the weekends off, and my friend Melissa and I played tourists yesterday. We went to the Art Institute, got our first Chicago dogs at Millennium Park, went on an architecture boat tour with some of our friends and staff, and went out to eat at an awesome soup restaurant. It was so fun! I love being able to experience the city in new ways, even if they are a bit touristy. And the Art Institute was absolutely worth the hours we spent there.

This trip has been so incredible, but only because our God is so incredible. One of the staff gave me a worksheet/devotional called "Positional Truth" - basically, it goes through every lie we tell ourselves and counteracts it with scripture. I'm on day four now, and it has helped me so much to find my security in Christ, and given me a Biblical foundation to find truth. So cool, and it's helping me understand the importance and life-giving power of the Word. The community on this trip has been huge too, and just having my brothers and sisters in Christ come around me is such a blessing.

Today we had training for our leadership roles, meetings for campus, and other final things before the staff prepares to leave. This was such an encouraging week, after a challenging couple ones. That's it for now, praying for you all :)

Collage from bike adventures:

Sweet friends: 

Tourist day:

 ^"Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God.  He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." -2 Corinthians 3:5-6

Internship Update

Hey friends! I know I just posted yesterday, but today was an eventful day at my internship and I realized that I haven't updated much about what I do all day! So I decided to take a minute to do that :)

As interns, all eleven of us work together to create the IndyCC conference - that is, theme, design, promotional material, etc. The past three weeks have been endless brainstorming to create a theme. We settled on three themes and pitched them to the conference director (Kevin) last week, and today he came into the office and gave us feedback on the themes. After that, he actually turned the meeting over to us and let us pick the final theme! I can't put it here until it is unveiled on Thursday, but I'm really excited to see what God does with it.

I am in charge of leading a smaller group to create the Bridges International Conference, and we went through a similar brainstorming process to create design concepts for the theme of "Identity". That has been a big project as well, and we now have a direction to head on that one. We are going with a word-cloud/typographic theme with defining words that will have a silhouette of a person cut out.This is a verrrry rough sketch of what our concept is:

Another big thing is graphics for our actual project. So far we have done a few promotional handouts and graphics, but this past week the focus has been our project t-shirt. We sent four designs out to be voted on by the project, and then we will chose the final design to be printed! Mine is the bottom right :) (click image to view closer)

And we have an animator on our team and sometimes like to have fun, so click the link to see a quirky animation that we put together as a team. It might take awhile to load so be patient! Animation. We are also working on video footage for promotion to be used for IndyCC, the Chicago Summer Project, and our Crossroads internship program so I'll post those after they are done. Here is our finished flyer for our weekly outreach meeting, "Live at the Edison":

Tomorrow is my on-campus day and prayer would be much appreciated! I want to make a difference on this campus, and having boldness and confidence in Christ to do so is a huge prayer. This is something I am called to do on my own campus too, so doing it here is extra important. So please pray! For prepared hearts, opportunities, and relationships to be formed. (and anything else the Holy Spirit lays on your heart). 

It has been SUCH a neat experience to work with other Christian designers for the glory of God. As a Christian artist I try and make everything for Him, but this is unique in that it is directly serving the Cru community. Everything we are creating has the purpose of leading people to Christ, whether it be through a conference logo or a promotional video. Whether or not I decide to design directly for ministry in the future, I'm learning so much about God as a Creator, the creative process, myself, others... the list goes on. Basically, this is exactly where God wanted me this summer, and I'm only beginning to scratch the surface of why. So thank you for your prayers for this as well! Continue to pray that we will rise up with confidence, to work together, and to be open minded to each others' ideas. 

Also, we have a blog for our internship as a whole, so check it out: crossroadssp13.wordpress.com. 

Thank you all and God bless!

Focus Change.

Hey everyone!

My goal has been to have at least one post a week, which (I think) I have been successful at so far! This blog is helpful for you and supporters (and friends and family :) ) and for me too, to help sort out my thoughts in a more legible way than in my journal. So thank you for listening so far!

So many ups and downs come with life, especially fast-pased project life. My project last year was three weeks, so entering into my fourth week here is... surreal. This is definitely a new experience, and the longest mission trip (other than school) I've been on. The novelty and excitement is wearing off as we are all settling into routines and fatigue.

I know I for one am guilty of losing sight of the vision behind this trip. I've been distracted by new friends and exploring the city (which are awesome!) and focusing on that rather than the ministry that God is calling all of us to do. Being an intern is harder because we are focusing much of our ministry opportunity into the conferences that we are designing and training of how to take these things into our major and life after college. We only have one or two distinct days set aside for direct evangelism, whereas every one else has a job and uses that for ministry as well as evangelism days.

But it's been good. I'm definitely learning a lot. I'm one of the younger designers and it has been super humbling to see how far I have to go with my major. But it's super exciting too, because I can learn from everyone and trust entirely in God's provision. He really convicted me this weekend of losing focus, and consequently enough, this week's theme is "Magnificent Community". Coincidence? I think not.

This weekend I've been able to catch up with an old friend (Lauren!) from growing up in Texas who I haven't seen in 2 years. It was such a blessing to spend the day with her and her family, and see how much we've both grown up. She's a graphic design major too (: This Sunday was the annual staff vs. student kickball game, and church. I've made it my goal to be more intentional with relationships too, and get past the surface and talk more about what God is doing in our lives and deeper into our testimonies too.

This has helped with evangelism too, to have more confidence and to truly understand the importance of the gospel. He has given us all different stories, personalities, and strengths and is preparing the way ahead to help others understand who He is. So cool. He has a plan, of that I am certain. If you need something specific to pray for, continue to pray for deeper relationships (in project and with people we are trying to share the gospel with), healing (all kinds), and for strength. These next seven weeks are only going to get more intense.

The kickball game!:

Contemporary Art Museum:

Lauren!: 

Enjoying nature in Illinois: 

All About Him.

Hey all.

As per usual, God teaches me in the most unexpected ways. As a team we are going through Colossians with the theme of "Magnificent ______", as in week 1 was "Magnificent Gospel", week 2 was "Magnificent Faith", and this week is "Magnificent Identity". Every Monday we meet as a team for training, worship, and teaching.

It amazes me that no matter how hard I try, God's will is always supreme. I am so much more comfortable being behind the scenes and letting someone else lead - but that doesn't seem to be the plan the Lord has for me. Much like Moses and Joshua, God is calling me to do something I am not comfortable with. I keep ending up in positions of leadership, all eyes turned on me for direction. And that terrifies me.

For example: I signed up for Cru leadership last year with the expectation that all I was good for was weekly meeting team, where I would be running powerpoint slides and greeting people at the door. Low skill level, low commitment. Instead, I was asked to lead a freshman small group. What a blessing and challenge this year was because of it! It was hard and definitely out of my comfort zone, but God used those girls in my life more than I could have ever expected, and I hope they can say the same of me. Next year I am taking over the ASU Cru website and designs, as well as doing publicity for our campus chapter of IJM (International Justice Mission). I have a feeling those things are only just beginning.

Here, I was first selected for the Crossroads Internship - which blew my mind because I've only taken one class in my major! I work on campus as a designer too, but even with that experience I still felt inadequate. Then Josh asked me to be an emcee for our weekly meeting. I said sure, thinking that would be the end. And THEN, he told me that I was headed up the design group for an international conference called Bridges - what?! SO much unwanted responsibility fell on my shoulders.

But you know what? It doesn't. The Lord of the Universe has it all under control, and He is obviously preparing me for something... I just don't know what yet. Every uncomfortable meeting, gospel presentation, etc. is part of His divine plan, even though I don't know what yet.

And today on campus I met with my discipler Whitney, and she encouraged me so much with what she has seen God doing in me in the few short weeks that I've known her. And something I'm realizing is how to put God the center - not art, not other people, not me - God. He doesn't need my works or good deeds. He just wants me, and He loves me no matter what. My holes and failures and need for affirmation is filled in Him. So much encouragement!

My identity is found in His love and what He did on the cross. I may need to be reminded of that every five minutes, but it's still such sweet truth!

But I'm definitely tired and have a LOT to process through this week, so prayers would very much be appreciated! For my team too, because I'm not the only one feeling this way. Thank you and God bless!

My sweet Crossroads family!:

Bean fun:

Being short: 

 Finding hidden places:

Logo/animation we did for Monday nights:

Free.

Hey everyone!

I'm not even sure where to start. This week has been totally different than last week's - in a good way! It was definitely busier with responsibilities. At my internship we began working on creating a theme for Cru's local winter conference (it's called IndyCC - you can see last year's site/theme here) and we've been researching and brainstorming like crazy all week. The office is covered with names and phrases... and we're still not done yet. On top of that, we started individual projects and I am on the leadership team for our weekly outreach meeting... whew. Like I said, lots of stuff all over the place, but I like it :) it's such a blessing to be able to serve in this capacity. Oh, and I'm going to be emcee (the announcer) for all of our weekly meetings! Crazy, right?!

Ministry-wise, this week was SO encouraging! My discipler Whitney and I went on UIC's campus on Wednesday and were able to share the gospel with a Chinese exchange student named Fay - so cool! She didn't accept Christ, but she is interested in meeting again, so pray for that :) we also met a local Christian group on campus, which is further evidence that God has a heart for this city and is moving and breathing here. Many of my fellow teammates have had similar experiences and a few have led others to Christ! So much to be happy for.

I think the "theme" of this week (if you want to label it that) is to be joyful. Christ died and set me free to live in that freedom, and not carry around the weight of the world. It's an ongoing struggle, but day by day He is freeing me of the chains I have built around myself. Living in this freedom changes everything. I am full of life, joy, the presence of the Creator - instead of doubt, fear, and sadness. This world doesn't need more darkness; it needs the light of the God.

This isn't to say that every day is perfect and that everything will be great from here on out. To walk with Christ is a daily choice, and I'll be the first to admit that when I'm tired, I'm cranky. I'm not perfect, but He gives grace.

This weekend was "2nd Friday" in the Chicago Art District and a few of us went to go see some awesome artwork in a bunch of eclectic galleries. So fun! I love this city and these people more each day.

Art District:

Cool art:

 

Navy Pier: 

Being silly on the beach: 

 Reflection:

Rescued and Redeemed.

Hey guys!

So this first week and a half has been a whirlwind. I'm filled with love for my new friends and this city, and it brings me so much joy to be living in community with such wonderful people... even though they all have Midwestern accents ;) This city is incredible - and so lost. Amidst the artwork and crazy architecture are a hurting and broken people, and God is slowly changing my heart to be broken for them. And not just to be broken for them, but to do something.

I've been a Christian for a long time, which don't get me wrong, is a huge blessing! But somewhere along the line I lost my childhood sense of limitless faith and wonder, and replaced it with a sense of bitter apathy. I played the Christian role when it was easy and convenient, and didn't reach out much outside my "bubble", because it was hard. I can see now how selfish that was. As a part of my time here in Chicago, we put aside at least one day a week to spend doing ministry on local college campuses. This is something I am not comfortable with and am terrified about - by in my weakness He is strong, and is glorified. I can no longer be selfish and keep this good news to myself!

As the project has gone on and my friendships have deepened, so have my convictions about sins I needed to admit before the Lord. And wow, He has truely rescued me and redeemed me! My story isn't one that I consider dramatic, but I was still rescued from sin and darkness, and better yet He washed me clean once and for all. These things for some reason are just hitting home so much more now than ever before, and I am so grateful for a closer look at what it means to follow Christ.

We are studying Colossians, and it is so full of truth and encouragment! One passage I love:

⁹ For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,^[e] 10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, ¹¹ being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, ¹² and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you^[f] to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.¹³ For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, ¹⁴ in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

So. Good. Our Papa is so faithful. I'm praying for everyone reading this, and I thank you for your prayer and support! 


Fun sculptures in Grant Park:

Silly faces: 

Fun with focus:

Love the harbor at night:

Wonderful roommates:

Talk to you soon, Meg :)

It Has Been a Week

On project, and it's been everything like I expected and nothing like I expected. Since I haven't blogged all week, let me try and fill y'all in...

I intern with Zero Canvas and a team of 10 other interns (graphic designers, video editors, animators, writers - everything!) Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 9-5. We had a week of orientation and getting to know each other and share our work, but we also got to work on some things related to Project. Thursday nights we have a big meeting for everyone on project, but it is also indended to be a place to invite new people to come and hear the gospel. The space is a big industrial-looking room, and with lots of time and revision we decided to name it "Live at the Edison". It's actually my handwriting in the lightbulb, so that's my claim to fame :)

Wednesdays are our campus ministry days, so I went to UIC (University of Illinois at Chicago) to do outreach. Summer school isn't in session yet, so it was a bit discouraging because so few people were there but we had a few good conversations with international students, and we're hoping to grow those relationships! 1 in 10 people in Chicago have a degree from UIC, so it's a very strategic place to do ministry. So excited to see what God's plans are for this campus.

The rest of my nights are busy - we have weekly meetings on Monday and Thursday, small group on Tuesday, and Wednesdays we have "Jesus time" and worship. Luckily Friday and Saturdays are going to be free for me and the rest of the interns, so I'll FINALLY be able to see more of the city! We've done some exploring (Millenium Park and the Bean don't dissapoint, especially at night), but I'm excited to get to know the city even more.

It's been good, harder than I expected. I think I underestimated the discomfort of going to a new place, with new people, and a rigid schedule. Last year in New York was verrry different, so I'm trying to be open and flexible to God's plan. Easier said than done. I think this summer is going to be one of me going back to the roots of my faith and who Christ is, which is awesome, but will be a lot of breaking down the walls I've put up over the years. Absolutely worth it, just hard in the process. He is good though, and He will never leave me :) And we have worship almost every day - the views are amazing!

And that's a very brief summary! It's going to be a whirlwind of a summer, but I'm so excited to see what God does!

The first days

have been a success so far! Lots of meeting new people and getting our bearings, but nonetheless really fun :)

Today we did orientation and a photo scavenger hunt of the city - so cool! I know there's tons more to see but it was nice to see Chicago at a glance and get to know more people. Tomorrow will be church and afterwords is our first meeting as interns! I think I've met everyone but it will be neat to be together officially. After that is our first evangelism time in the city, and then the week starts on Monday.

So lots of new things, but all good things. I'm definitely where I'm supposed to be this summer - God has made that very clear, and He has worked in really cool ways to get everyone here. I'm excited to really get to know everyone in the weeks to come.

 More to come!