And it was back to Texas for us...

This past weekend Sophie and I had the wonderful opportunity to travel back to Houston to help staff another renewal weekend with the Presbyterian churches there. We made some amazing new friends, got to see God move in powerful ways, and were once again reminded that we are loved for who we are, not for what we do (which is always an important reminder when your whole life is spent in an academic setting with people constantly grading you...) We are both SO thankful for the community there and for the ways God has used them to love, encourage, and bring us joy. Here are some photos of our recent adventures and our new friends.

One of my responsibilities was to ensure we collected enough home baked fudge and cookies from people--so here I am our first day in Houston helping collect baked goods from folks.

We have a storage facility to store all the items needed to put on a weekend, and so on the day the staff heads to camp folks have to load the storage unit onto a uhaul trailer. Sophie and I were given the job of standing at the gate with the code to let people in. We got a little bored because no one showed up for awhile. So we played with the self timer on her camera. Welcome to Palacios, Texas! A beautiful gulf coast sunrisetwo of our staff members hard at work on various projects before the participants show upPutting together a tray of cookies at about 7 AMI was also given the job of making coffee for all the staff and participants...and after a few disasterous pots I got it figured out :) My spiritual advisor and I -- she gave me lots of moral support as I fought with the multiple coffee pots I was trying to keep going!us staff members receiving our marching orders from Courtney, our wonderful moderator!one of my very favorite pastors of all time, Anne Beall, was on staff this weekend. I had the chance to meet Anne and her husband Jim while I was a participant two years ago and since then she has held a very special spot in my heart and has set an amazing example of a woman who has an unbelievable gift of preaching and communicating.our three spiritual advisors--Hawley Wolfe, Anne, and Sophie--otherwise known as Grandma, Little Red Riding Hood, and the Big Bad Wolf!
LaNoe and I--LaNoe was the head table cha and I was her co-head...luckily she knew exactly what she was doing because I didn't have a clue! But she was wonderful and patient teacher! She and her husband, Robert, also put up with Sophie and I and housed us, fed us, and drove us to both training and to camp--they have a very special spot in our hearts!
me with little red riding hoodour musicians goofing off one evening
we got to see our friend Sam! Sophie bought me a new butterfly t-shirt as a present and gave it to me Sat. morning, and then asked me to help her serve communion Sat. morning, so we looked like twins up there...which is kind of a Cursillo tradition, we usually end up in the same butterfly t-shirt at least once during each weekend!my new friend, Tim, and I--we got to serve as table chas together all weekend
Sophie and I
my wonderful team having fun
I think they are with the band....
Sophie had no idea what Steve was doing until she ended up upside down! I think they were supposed to be helping with clean up on Sunday--they look like they are working hard... Sophie got to wear her robe for the first time! She looked so official!I was so proud of her--she's a real pastor! (Ok she'll be really official on Aug. 17th when she is actually ordained!)