I just need to say how amazingly PROUD I am of these certain individuals right now!!!!  JESSICA HASENMUELLER, CARL WENDORFF, LOGAN BRENNECKE, & NATHAN THOMPSON - Congratulations for completing L1 “Leadership from the Heart” this past weekend!

 They just did an outstanding job of putting themselves on the line, trusting in the process to take them to new levels of commitment and dedication - they are some truly amazing individuals!

 For more information about the Life Skills Center for Leadership, go to http://www.lifeskills-center.org/

I am hoping to bring their new college program to Concordia by Spring 2009!  So anyone who wants to attend an amazing event, check it out or email me at coenenr@csp.edu!  THANKS!!!!

This weekend plans kept failing with friends and just didn’t work out like planned,  SO - I decided it was time for me to escape!!!  :)  After I met my friend on Saturday afternoon to get some things from her, I had it in my head that I needed to go up north Wisconsin to our cottage! I got up that morning and Colby looks out the window and says, “IT’S RAINING!” and sure enough, it was - BUT WHO CARES?!!!!!  

I decided to drive the 4 hours there and 4 hours back!! After I did what I needed to Saturday, I finally got out of here about 2:00pm and was there about 6:00pm.  I went to the local Elcho grocery store, IGA, and picked me up some generic Oreo’s, and a frozen pizza!  After that excursion, I decided I would go visit our friends across the lake!  After talking with them for a while, she decided to give me a 1/4 of their pumpkin pie to add to my healthy dinner ahead of me!  

I get to the cottage and figure out the lights/water pump/heater, etc.  (we’re still in the making, not completely finished retreat just yet!)  Well I get all settled in and after FINALLY figuring out that YES, I still needed to plug in the fan to the fire to actually keep it lit during this rainy mist, I sat down and watched some “Will & Grace” while I ate my delicious meal for 4!  It began to be a relaxing evening to myself and I was able to start on some homework and catch up with my devotional books.

The next morning I anxiously busted out the new Fuji bike I bought over the summer and took it around the lake for the first time!  It was an excursion figuring out the paths/roads, but it was just a little work out, so I was able to get back in less than 45 minutes amazingly and take a quick shower.  I then said SCREW IT to all the homework and went out for a pontoon boat ride!!!!!  I felt a little guilty, so I brought my book along to read on the boat!  About 3/4 around the lake I finally realized how cold I was when I exhaled the only warm air that was left in my body and could see my own breath!!!  It was still a nice ride around the lake, because I was about the only crazy one to go out there other than the 2 loons and many ducks I saw!

I got back to the cottage and sat down to my favorite movie,”On Golden Pond” and finished even more homework.  It was ridiculously funny when I decided to cook my own lunch, realizing that I had just come up north FOUR HOURS for not even 24 hours!  To say the least, it was the most relaxing time I have had to myself in a long time.  It was a much needed getaway which reminded me that God is right here - that I can experience/feel God’s presence through the beauty of nature and the cold rushing through my body as I shiver in the cool fall breeze across Moccasin Lake…

I guess that old saying is true after all, “There’s no place like home.”

If you are overwhelmed by the hubbub of school already, I suggest you find out what’s most important… It can easily be stressful and overwhelming with all that needs to be done for classes/graduation - but if I have learned ONE THING over the last 5 years at Concordia, I have learned it is most important to ENJOY LIFE before homework.  It sounds incredibly irresponsible, but in order for me to function with a clear mind, I NEED to get off-campus and explore.  I need to have that free time with friends or by myself.  

It seems all I’ve been doing lately is riding my bicycle instead of doing homework! - Tim can fend for that one!!!  … but I have realized that it is most important that your life is in order before you can begin to focus on the little tasks of life such as homework.  So don’t get too stressed out - things will fall in place if your priorities are in line.  

ENJOY IT!!! 

Philippians 3:13-14

Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. 

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We’re already creeping into Mid-July! I can’t believe it.

Two Things: Harry Potter 7 comes out next week (the movie comes out tomorrow, but I’m not as hyped about that) AND Oklahoma! opens on Friday–the 13th. I’m not too worried. I feel prepared and all. Yes, I even feel prepared to do “authentic Western boot clogging” on stage. You’ll just have to come and witness the spectacle for yourself (mvct.org).
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