Road Tripin' to Orlando-Orlando Project '12

Last week, Brett, Caden, and I packed up and drove to Orlando for our first road trip together since Caden was born. No, it was not a vacation, though it was refueling once we arrived. Caden was such a good traveler, but it was a hard trip for the little guy and therefore a hard trip for daddy and mommy needing to stop every 2.5ish hours to feed, change, and cuddle with the little guy.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the specifics of our lives, we have an uncommon and honestly, odd lifestyle to some. I say this in part because most summers, we spend a great portion of the summer away from our home and live out of a hotel room along with other staff and 50-150ish students depending upon which summer project location it is. Summer projects are a huge part of Campus Outreach ministry...and both as a student and now staff, I love it! Basically, the summer project is a ten week "training opportunity" designed to help students grow in their relationship with God. Throughout the week, students from various college campuses work at Universal Studios, Chick-Fil-A, or SeaWorld throughout the day and at night take part in rallies, learn how to share their faith, study the Bible, live in community with other believers, and just have a lot of fun! It honestly is very hard to describe the specifics of the Orlando Project in a way that encompasses how truly challenging, encouraging, and difficult the summer is. From personal experience, when I was a student at Tennessee Tech, I attended the Summer Mountain Project in Gatlinburg, TN and hung out with Dolly Parton at Dollywood (I actually never even saw her) for the first time the summer after my junior year. It really was a turning point in my relationship with Christ and the vision I desire I had been blessed to have a relationship with Christ for years at this point, but really wanted to experience deeper intimacy personally as well as learn more how to share my faith with others for the rest of my life, not just in the college environment.  The decision to go that first summer really impacted so many later decisions, which I wouldn't trade for anything. For this reason, I get so excited when college guys and girls make the decision to step out of their comfort zones and make an investment into their future which is out of the norm for most college students choice of summer vacations.

This summer is obviously very different for us, as we stayed at home for the first time in a very long time it seems. It has been so good to slow down a little bit to transition and focus on taking care of Caden, but we definitely miss Orlando Project this year. For me specifically, our visit consisted a lot of me hanging out in the hotel room with Caden and some friends who are at project since Caden is still so young and susceptible to stuff. Nonetheless, we were glad to be able to go visit the project and be encouraged by how God is working in the lives of students of all different backgrounds...and thus dream of how the places they return post project will be impacted by individual lives resolved to live for something bigger than themselves.

To follow this year's OP happenings-check out http://orlandoproject2012.blogspot.com/

Caden swimming with the sharks in FL!

My first Summer Mountain Project as a student, along with my college discipleship group.