Bridge to Joy

Bridge on Lake Winona (East Lake)

"Restore my joy in your salvation; sustain in me a willing spirit." Psalm 51:14 

What joy these past couple of weeks have brought! The beautiful fall colors are in full bloom here in Winona, which provides for a vibrant backdrop to the colorful life I'm living.

A Brief Recap of Happenings (pictures below):

• September 30th: Men's and Women's Small Group LARGE party
• The FOCUS team hosted a party at the women's house (mine and Mary's) for all the people in our small groups as a chance to get to know one another and have fun. We had between 30-40 students show up!

• October 1st-2nd: FOCUS team trip to Mankato, MN 
• The four of us took a road trip to visit our fellow FOCUS team at Minnesota State University in Mankato, MN. We spent Saturday enjoying life in Mankato and on Sunday took a trip to New Ulm and Schells Brewery. 

• October 5th: Caramel Apple Party for my Freshmen Women's Small Group
• I "kidnapped" my Wednesday night small group from our regular meeting spot in the dorms and shuttled all 12 of them (with Mary's help) to my house, where we made caramel apples and enjoyed fellowship with one another.

• October 7th:  South Dakota State University visits the WSU Newman Center 
• A group of 9 from SDSU, including two FOCUS missionaries and Fr. Andrew, visited us in Winona on their way to a Shrine in Lacrosse, WI. We hosted all six women at our house for the night, and had everyone over for breakfast the next day. 

• October 8th: Women's Night
• Mary and I planned and hosted the first of our monthly Women's Nights. We had about 20 women show up for an evening on the virtues and joys of womanhood.

Team WSU and Team Mankato at Schell's Brewery

Impromptu dance party around the campfire at the Small Group LARGE party

Delicious caramel apples

Some other exciting news: Curtis Martin, the founder of FOCUS, will be heading to Vatican City, Rome this Wednesday to meet with His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI at a preliminary meeting for the Extraordinary Synod, which will take place a year from now in Rome. The Synod is a gathering of Bishops and other leaders within the Universal Church. They will be discussing ways to further the New Evangelization (which, if you're unfamiliar, is basically the spreading of the message of Christ to all---- FOCUS is a direct response to the call for a New Evangelization in the Church). It's extremely exciting that FOCUS gets to be a part of such an important event within the Church! If you could remember this meeting in your prayers this week, that would be great! Here is a video message from Curtis with more details:




I hope you all are enjoying this lovely fall so far, and finding just as much joy in life's beauty as I am. Thank you for your prayers and support!

God Bless,
Emily