Goodbye Eagles, Hello Ravens!

"Love that cannot suffer is not worthy of that name."~ St. Clare of Assisi

Hello from week three of FOCUS new staff training here in Ave Maria, Florida! The bugs are flying, the alligators are swimming, and the sun is blazing. So far, it's been a great time here of training, formation, and spiritual growth. But before I bring you down south, I need to catch you up on the end of my time up north!

We finished the school year in La Crosse in a truly blessed manner. Our students had a bittersweetness about them as they looked into the summer while saying "goodbye" to a year that went a little too quickly. Though I knew pretty much since Aaron and I got engaged about the unlikeliness of my returning to La Crosse for another school year, it still made it difficult to part from the roots I had planted there. I spent my last day on campus going up to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe (a true theme for my year there) with a group of my female students from this year. It was a beautiful "send off" as one of them put it... a great way to go as women back to the source and summit of our faith-- our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ and His bride, the Church.

Many of our students have entered their summers with a strong will, devoted prayer life, and spirit of evangelization eager to share their joy in Christ with their friends back home. Several of them are traveling the country, from Ireland to Africa and in between for studies and mission. Though I have said "goodbye" to the women and men at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, it should only bring me tears of joy and gratitude for a year well-lived. I am excited to see the fruits that God will bear in FOCUS' second year on campus.

My last day on campus in La Crosse

Now for some news...... For the upcoming 2013-2014 school year, I will officially be serving as a full-time missionary at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas! Aaron and I will be side-by-side, along with our 8 other teammates, reaching college students for Christ and empowering them to be the future leaders of the Church and the world.  I am excited for this new adventure, having gone from helping start up FOCUS on two campuses to now serving at the first-ever FOCUS campus. Benedictine is a thriving Catholic college who has truly reclaimed their identity over the past 15 years, thanks in part to FOCUS' presence there. I am ready to help reach the lost amongst the Catholic community there and help build up students to reach their peers on a wide variety of levels. Below is a picture of me with my new team on the beach here in south Florida! 

FOCUS @ Benedictine, 2013-2014

Now what? For the next two and a half weeks, I will be continuing my service at New Staff Training for FOCUS. Below is the latest all staff picture for FOCUS 2013-2014. I'm pretty easy to spot in the bright yellow skirt in the front row! :). I will be returning to Colorado for about two and a half weeks in July to hopefully meet up with many of you, spend time with my family, and finish up some wedding plans. Like the St. Clare of Assisi quote I listed at the top, these past six weeks have been full of many changes but have also been graced in so many ways, all in the name of love.