Life in Campus MInistry

Emily and Bonnie

I am going to attempt to tell you about Campus Ministry in one post! And I am going to start at the beginning for us. Back in May of '09 Josh and I drove up to Muncie, IN for an interview. Mind you this job never crossed our minds until a professor at Ozark started talking about this position. Josh just thought he would work in a church since, well, that is what he is trained to do. So anyways we had the interview, dinner with some students and a meeting with Mark all in a 24 hour time. By the time we left for Joplin (home at the time), Josh had a job and we were moving in a month!
Now through the interview and talks with students I was realizing that Campus Ministry is very different than working in a church. It was going to require 60+ hour work weeks from Josh, we were going to only have people in our church for four years (except those students that just love us so much they make it five!) and I was told we are not a package deal so I could do as little or as much as I wanted. Since I want to see my husband I went with the "MUCH" part!

My first accountability group, they are all mostly graduated

Honestly it has taken us three years to figure out how to make a family work in ministry. I know that seems like forever but we really had to figure out the groove of things and how to say "NO." In those three years I have had a job, we added Cadence and now I stay home with him. Josh has had to learn to say no to staying out late and I have had to be willing to go up to the Campus House to have lunch or just hang out with Josh for a little bit. We have had to balance family time and student time. And also there is always this shock of having Josh around all summer and then home in the fall only to eat and sleep!  So finally, I think we did it. Now don't get me wrong it is still an adjustment, but one we are both willing to work on it.

The N. Ireland Team May 2012

Let me tell you a little of what we do at the Campus House.  Josh got hired to run the Worship and Men's ministry part at the Campus House. That is working with the praise team (remember, that changes every year!), retreats, bible study, occasional preaching, always planning Sunday mornings, Men's activities, discipleship groups, tech support and of course whatever else that may go on during the week (service projects, international student meals, etc). Honestly that is just naming a few. My man is a man of many talents so he is just well...excellent at his job!
Since I have chosen to be involved in the Campus House, I help as well. I have two accountability groups, one student I meet with one-on-one and all the regular women's and worship team activities. And I enjoy all of it!! Being in a college ministry is so different then we ever thought. But I can't imagine us doing anything else. We have grown to LOVE the ministry and the students. A lot of our students come from a Christian homes so there isn't a ton of evangelizing with them, but we are given many opportunities to serve the campus and community.

Holly in Ireland!

I think one of the biggest things we tend to see with the students (I need another name for them!) is that for the first time they are away from parents and it is time for them to choose their faith and how they want to live it. They are becoming adults and have real life situations they have to figure out on their own and along with that comes their belief in God. They can choose to not go to church, grow their faith or even be a good influence on others while at school. We get to help guide them, but still allow them to make those decisions on their own. Along with growing up in the church though, a lot of them still have made decisions they regret, parent issues and really just reality finally hitting them. They still have to learn how to forgive, forget and move on in life. They still have to be shown God loves them no matter what friends or family tell them. That God has grace, forgiveness and unconditional love they just have to choose it.

Guys this is seriously a very small part of what we do (mostly Josh!). I am not going to go into the mission trips, retreats and daily conversations we have had over the last three years. I can just tell you that we love this ministry and it is needed on every secular campus in the world. There are prayers needed, finances needed (we are a support-based ministry) and just love for these students needed!

Couponing is My Job Part 2

 I know you guys are just super curious about all my "amazing" tricks on saving at the grocery store, right?

RIGHT!? Anyway....

Well I am here today to share a few basic ideas and try to show you how it works.

First off, I want to show you my stock-pile. I want to prove to you that I am not a hoarder,  but that I buy things my family needs and then donate the rest to a local charity Josh and I support. The top picture is my personal hygiene items. It is one shelf in my hall and I didn't pay more then $1 for any of it...most of it was free! (CVS is my secret for those items!) The bottom picture is a small portion of my canned goods. I know you are thinking seriously who needs that many canned tomatoes! We actually use all of it pretty quickly. I have to use 2 cans for every single batch of salsa and four when students are around for a double. I also paid 20¢ a piece for those, while retail is $1.20. The green beans were all 20¢ a piece as well. The BBQ sauce was all free and I will not be buying any for a year or more. So my point is you should have a fully-stocked, well organized area for food and hygiene products, but don't go overboard.

So lets get started on some tips. First, buy a newspaper every week! This is where you will get coupons for both Proctor & Gamble and General Mills products. Second, print coupons online @ coupons.com, smartsource.com, and redplum.com. These sites all have great everyday coupons. Lastly, look over the ads and decide a game plan. DO NOT go to every store, you'll end up using more gas than coupons! Pick the one with the best deals – one grocery store and one drug store is  a great beginning.

I will start with the "CVS" game. They do this great program called ECB (Extra Care Bucks) Where you get "money" back to use on another transaction. For example this week they have Oral-B toothbrush for 5.99 with $2 ECB. If you use the $1 off coupon in this week's paper, you will pay $4.99 for the toothbrush and receive $2 ECB to use another time. So it is like paying $2.99 for a battery-operated toothbrush! Now what I would do with that $2 ECB would be to buy the mouthwash that is on sale for $4.99 and receive $1 ECB. After a coupon, plus $2 ECB, you will pay $1.99 OOP receive $1 ECB for the future... so it is like paying 99¢ for Crest mouth wash! Yeah I know that this is confusing but really the concept is to roll your ECB to the next week. Like all true couponing, you have to be able to see this ECB program as money... free money! Everything in my hygiene shelf above is from CVS, so trust me it is worth trying to play the game.

Second place is Target. I love this place! You can go to target.com  and print off coupons directly. You can then use a printed Target coupon with a manufacturer coupon on 1 item! Plus, they also have the Target Debit Card, that is connected directly to your checking account – every time you use it, you will receive 5% off your total purchase. Plus free shipping at all times online!

My last big thought is PLEASE do not stress about this! Pick the stores you are comfortable with or shop already. Start small. For example, start by shopping the sales. If coupons just aren't your thing, you can at least buy the items that have a good sale price. If milk is on sale this week it won't be on sale next week at the same store, which means buy two gallons while it is on sale. A lot of times when chicken is on sale ($1.99 lb) I will buy a month's worth of chicken. You can save money for your family and not have to buy all the off brands!

Any questions on the methods? Any thoughts on how to improve my strategy? Let me know if you want more tips on these areas.