Going to the Dorms

We are excited to announce Cornerstone Christian Fellowship will be planting small groups in the residence halls over the next year.

This spring Marcus will be coordinating with a student host, and an older student leader to hold an outreach oriented small group in the dorms. This will put Christ in front of students in a way they have never experienced.

During this spring session we will be finding out what works and what doesn’t work for curriculum and promotion. By the fall we want to plant two or three more, all with student leadership, all right in the middle of the lives of students.

Polls Page

We’ve added a new page to our site.

We plan on asking random questions relating to who knows what on a arbitrary basis. In other words, it sounds fun to ask your opinion on things, but make no promises as to how often the question will be changed!

Right now, we have a poll on Holiday shopping up, check it out now at Polls.

Thanksgiving!

We began the Thanksgiving Holiday weekend by driving down to Effingham. We had a wonderful time visiting with the Miller family. One of the highlights was being present to see the Miller siblings recieve a gift put together by two of the grandchilden (Emily & Tarne). Each sibling recieved a blanket made from squares of some of their mother’s favorite items. This wonderful time was followed the next day by getting to visit with Marc’s Grandpa Miller and then heading up to Mattoon to spend time with Grandma Hayes and most of the Hayes’ family. We had fun hanging out with each other late into the night.

On Saturday, we drove to Indiana to spend some time with the Hamilton family. We played games, ate more food and enjoyed spending some time with my family. And for fun we spent a little time shopping (well, it was fun for mom and I, but Marc may disagree!), then we headed home Monday morning.

It was a weekend filled with lots of food, great family times and of course lots of driving!

October Prayer Letter/Ministry Update

If you are unfamiliar with this kind of thing, it is a one page publication mailed to our supporters (finanicial and otherwise) to tell them what is going on with us and with Cornerstone here at Illinois State University.  This is this months.  We will try to include them on this blog whenever we make them.

October 2008 (it’s a pdf)

Indoor Trees And Home

Tropical plants do alright outdoors in the Illinois summer, I (we) have a rubber tree and we just brought in inside.

Here’s our tree:

We think our solution is nice.  We can now sit comfortably under a shady tree and rock.

Office Boil Order

The Cornerstone office had this nifty orange flier hanging from it’s doorknob.  I think it was the demolition next door that broke the main.  Today I put my mug of water in the microwave for three minutes rather than two,  because of this boil order.

Campus Destruction

ISU is changing before my eyes.  I walk past what was once called Central Campus which included Walker and Dunn-Barton Halls, Chatters Dining Center, and the mini-Quad nearly every day.  They are starting to tear down Walker Hall now (pictured above), then they will build a new student recreation center directly across the street from the Cornerstone office.

Cornerstone Group Picture

Fall Retreat 2008

Fall Retreat Fast Approaching

Cornerstone’s Fall Retreat is coming up, in only five days, which is fast enough.  Much of the planning is being done excellently by Karen.  It takes a lot to make a fall retreat happen.  Meals must be planned, speakers must be organized, and arrangements must be made with the camp-ground.  Karen really makes it all happen.  We will most likely be writing our next prayer letter about how it went.

One neat thing Karen and I are trying to do is build relationships with our student neighbors.  We did this by crashing a party and introducing ourselves last night.  Though this afternoon they were happily shooting an air riffle into our backyard, I lookforward to getting to know them and showing them the love of Christ.

Kick Off and the First Several Weeks

Classes are underway and so is Cornerstone.  All told, we did four official events to reach-out to students new to Illinois State University.  As a church we are working diligently to follow-up and build relationships with the people God has placed in our lives through these events.

Home Groups are also underway and we are excited to have 35 new students involved in our Home Groups.  Karen and I are also excited to host a Home Group at our house.  It is our hope these students come to know Christ or know Him more deeply as they continue to worship and learn with us.

New Student Month Preparations

Here’s what is happening: On August 13th the dorms open and students flood in. The month that follows is a mad-dash to get students connected in community before the worries and distractions of this life consume their schedules.

In order to make the month run smoothly we do a lot of planning. For Karen and I it started in June with quality control testing of water balloons for a game we will play at a picnic the first weekend after classes. We have been organizing our volunteers to make our first outreach events of the year a good as they can be.

Before this sprint to October begins, Karen and I are also trying to settle into our new home. It is closer to campus than most student housing and we will be hosting a Home Group there, so we must be moved in and ready to receive up to forty students (by our most scientific estimates). Forty sounds wild and believe me it is wild to have any more than ten young people come to your home every week.

Please pray that all of our efforts have an impact on the incoming class for the glory of Christ.

The Brickyard

Karen and I went to the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard last Sunday.  And it was pretty cool, and also loud.

Here we are protecting our ears and getting sunburned.  The cars were fast, the teams were disciplined, and I was impressed.  That is about all I can say.

Domicle and NASCAR

Karen and I have found a place to live!  We are in the process of closing on a house near campus, and look to move in this Friday.  The location is perfect for campus ministry and it is a real gem of a first home.   I would be happy if this is the last house I ever live in.  There is some radon in the basement but they say it is easy to mitigate.  I will give the address and post pictures as soon as we close, as I don’t want to post a house which isn’t yet ours.

This weekend we are going to the Brickyard 400, and I am psyched to see my first NASCAR race.  Karen assures me it will be awesome.  But NASCARs recent decision to place regulators on the new Toyota engines seems to be punishing excellence.  I hope to use that piece of information will allow me to seem knowledgeable to the people around us in the stands.

Profound Picture of Our Nephew

That is Conrad standing in front of a picture of Conrad.  I thought it was neat, then I found this one:

This gives you an idea of how many pictures of him are on display at my sister’s house.

Dogs We Know

This summer we have stayed with many people as we travel doing the work of Ministry Team development.  All of these people have dogs.

We first went to East Moline and stayed with my parents.  Pictured above is their dog Lacy.  They got her when I was 13, which makes her 13.  She was once one of those yippy dogs, now that she is effectively deaf, she doesn’t bark at cars outside, or any noise like she used to.

Next we stayed with my sister and her family.  This is Molly.  She makes up one third of my nephew Conrad’s universe.  She is a gentle dog of 80 pounds.  She is great with kids, and Conrad loves her and feeds her vegetables.

This is Griffin.  We are house/dog sitting for Karen’s friend Allison in Seymour Indiana.  This dog sheds everywhere and hates to be alone.  So much that if he is out side of the bedroom at night, he barks and whines until we let him in.  Once in the bedroom he likes to jump on and off the bed and chew his rawhide bone loudly.

We are not staying at Karen’s parents house but they have two little dogs.  Trouble is above and he is the older and smarter one.

This is the second of Karen’s parent’s dogs.  Blacky is of slow mind and wit.  But he has a sweet or neutral temperament (sometimes I don’t think he knows people are petting him or talking to him).

These are the dogs we know

Tent Camping

This past weekend was the Triennial Hamilton Family Reunion. So rather than spending $60 per night on a hotel, we bought a tent. It is actually the largest purchase we’ve made since we’ve been married. We are so very excited to be tent owners.

Being tent dwellers is alright too, in small doses. We still have not found long-term housing in Normal, but we are resolute not to live in a tent in a friends backyard.

Meeting my new extended family, was good. I might even remember some of their names. Overall we had a good time, and we have the mosquito bites and campfire scented clothes to prove it.

We are spending the Forth Normal, then we are off to beautiful Indiana to work and play for a few weeks. Maybe camp for a night or two.

Summer Plans.

Seeing how this summer is the beginning of our marriage (a time of forming a solid foundation and constructive norms in our life together, a time of delicate meshing of tastes and habits), we have decided to spend it traveling around Illinois and Indiana finishing our support raising.

We just did a stint in East Moline and, after over-nighting in Normal, are headed to the Chicago area this afternoon.

Please pray for our travels (safety and expenses), and for God to lead people to us who are as excited for missions as you are. Also pray for Karen and I personally as we define how we do life together.

New Chapter In Life, New Journal On Web

We have transitioned our site here to be a more personal/professional site. You can still see our old Journal and Wedding Website, but there will be nothing added to it or changed.

This current journal will be our ongoing personal/professional journal. We are also looking to make jump to a more flexible web format, seeing how I have the know how to do just that.

Check this site everyday, because Karen and I are the most important thing in the world.