Support Update: The Homestretch

I should very much be sleeping right now.
(It's 3:30am)

But I'm not.

Pretty standard as of late. 

Anxiety tends to keep me up now most nights.
If I'm lucky, I'll be asleep before the sun starts to come up.

Today was a rough day in the world of raising support.

I feel pretty beat up and bruised.

I'm tired.

I'm emotional.

I really feel like crying, but I haven't (yet).

And I have that ever so slight gnawing in the pit of stomach that just seems to linger.

Today was one of those days that I kept asking God those two things...

"Why" and "How".

Two words that are so detrimental.

They provoke so much doubt.

I can't stand them.

I hate questioning God.

And yet I find myself doing it all the time.
Today was a constant struggle for me.

The answer is...
I don't know "why" and I don't know "how".
And that is precisely how God wants is for the time being.
I just have to be patient.

I hate to admit this,
but I am probably the most impatient person you'll ever meet.
Which is quite funny considering the fact that
God always seems to be putting me in situations where all I do is wait.
You think He might be trying to teach me something?...
Yeah, that's what I'm starting to think as well.

In other support raising news:
I am currently sitting at 75.5% supported.
I am only in need of 9 more people to join my team at $100 a month.
We are now into the single digits!
That is less than $1,000 a month folks.

I'm DYING to be done.
I"m DYING to be on campus.
I'm DYING to be with the students.
I'm DYING to see God change lives.
I'm DYING to see what the Lord has in store!

But I can't until I am at 100%.
I'm on the homestretch, I can feel it.
I'm sitting on 3rd base.
And I am just waiting for that last teammate to bring me sliding into home.

And what a happy and joyful day it will be

when that does happen!

If you would like to hear more about the ministry I will be involved in
with Campus Crusade for Christ,
I would love to hear from you!
You can email me at this address:
 rjgordon88@gmail.com

If you would like to make a donation and/or
join my my monthly support team...
You can do that here!



"God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful".
-1 Corinthians 1:9

Support Update: God will Always Meet Our Needs

Our God is an awesome God.

A God who provides what we need.

A God who DOES answer prayers.

And a God who loves us unconditionally.

In the past week I have seen 13 people join my support team!

I am now at 69.8%.

The Lord is bringing me that much closer to being able to report to campus.

Unfortunately, I didn't make it to this weeks staff planning meetings.

But, I am trusting God that this is all in His perfect timing.

He will bring me down to UCI exactly when He wants me there.

I was given another extension to get the rest of my support in by this coming Monday, September 12th.

I'm praying, and asking you pray with me,

 that I can be done with support by then.

September 12 is our student leadership retreat and want so badly to be there.

We will be taking students away for a couple days to equip them and challenge them to be leaders in the movement this coming year.

It will also be a great time for the students and us staff to seek and spend time the Lord.

It would also be a great opportunity for me to build relationships with students.

I'm dying to be there!

Oh I'm praying, praying hard to finish.

I'm so anxious.

Anxious to finish, anxious to make the move to Irvine, anxious to be with the students.

But most of all, I'm longing to be a part of what God is doing,

to share the Gospel on this campus.

I'm continuing to look for people who are interested in this ministry.

People who have a heart for other's to hear the Gospel.

I will be working this next year to help fulfill the Great Commission.

How cool is that?!

I'm still in need of people who want to join my team.

I only need 10 more people to give 100 a month or

20 people to give 50 a month (etc.)

I would love for you to pray about joining my team!

I'm praying that God will be able to complete my team this week.

I would love for you to consider being a part of it, to be a part of what the Lord is doing.

I am so grateful for the team that God has already assembled.

To my supporters, you are wonderful

 and I'm so excited you have decided to trust the Lord and take this step of faith.

I am so thankful for you.

Know that what you are doing is helping to further the Lord's Kingdom!

Please feel free to contact me with any questions

or if you would like to hear more about this ministry.

If you you would like to join my support team all you have to do is...

GO HERE.

This is the link to my personal online giving page.

It is really easy to donate online.

In fact, I have had a few people who have commented saying; 

"they wished all things in life were that easy".

To all of you prayer warriors out there--

please pray that the Lord will provide all the support that I need and I can finish strong this week.

That I can be able to be a part of the leadership retreat this coming Monday.

And that ultimately, pray we will see changed lives this coming year at UCI.

I'm anxiously awaiting the end of the season of support raising

so I can be a part of the awesome staff team that the Lord has placed at UCI.

The UCI team.

If you would like to, feel free to contact me through my email.

rjgordon88@gmail.com

I would love to hear from you!

Thank you!

"And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus".

--Philipians 4:19

Support--Where I am At

My oh my, where to begin.

The past week has been and absolute roller coaster.

I feel that I have never had to trust the Lord more than right now.

It is now September and my original deadline for support has come and gone.

I just received a week extension to try and get the rest of my support in.

The Lord has brought me so far, but there is still a ways to go.

I hate using this word,

It has such negative connotations.

But who cares, I'm whipping this bad boy out.

I am DESPERATE.

I am desperate for the Lord,

relying on him to provide what I need.

He always has and He always will.

Something that I have seen and firmly believe in.

There has been a lot of time during this summer
when things have been at a stand still.

Times when I literally have no idea what to do.

I will see a chunk of support come in, but a week will go by
and then there will be nothing.

It is a constant battle in my mind remembering that this is all in God's timing.

Last week, I was having a very rough day.

I was so overwhlemed.

While my mom was out of town, she sent me a text message to see how things were going.

I told her I was on the verge of a breakdown.

Her response is one that spoke so much truth....

"Rachel, this is just one of those times where you just gut it out and follow the plan.

Thank God for the ups and downs.

He is not stagnant even when circumstances appear to be!"

Preach it mamma!

Needless to say, I have kept her message.

I look back at it every day...multiple times a day.

So here is exactly where I am at:

I'm 60% supported.

In the past couple days I have seen 6 more monthly supporter's join my team!

I have 40% left to go.

I am still in need of $1400 monthly.

All I need is 14 people to commit to give $100 a month and I'm good to go!

----------

I now officially have a place to live in Irvine.

I signed my lease and borrowed all the money to cover my first months needs. 

I have no way to pay for anything beyond that.

And I will not receive a paycheck until I've reached 100% of my support goal.

 I have a place to live, but no way to pay for it.

Definitely an ideal situation.

But at least I have great roommates, right?

----------

My official start date is next Tuesday, September 6th.

Once again, I can't be a part of anything until I've reached 100%.

My heart aches at the thought of missing our staff meetings next week 

and our student leadership retreat the week after, but God has a plan.

I long so badly to have support raising behind me (I'm not a huge fan).

To finally move into my apartment, get settled in and spend time getting to know my roommates better.

To be a part of the awesome staff team at UCI and be at our staff planning meetings.

To be with the students, the one's I have met and the one's I will be meeting.

To begin this adventure and see what in the world God has in store.  

The Lord has blessed me with with an awesome team of supporters so far!

I am so thankful for each and everyone of them.

If you have ANY interest in this ministry,
I would love for you to join this team!

Feel free to check out my online giving page here!

Like I said, I only need 14 people to give $100 a month,
 then I can begin working.

Sure, to our human minds that can seem like a lot.

But just remember that we have a God who sent His only son to die for us
on a cross and then rose Him from the dead.

Yeah, this is pretty much no big deal for Him.

Sweet, Sweet Surrender

For those of you who know me really well,

 you know that the Rachel Gordon 5 years ago

and the Rachel Gordon now are two completely different people.

That college girl from a few years back is someone I would  love to forget completely,
along with all of the mistakes she made.
But, through it all I have learned about redemption through Christ,
and I wouldn't trade that for anything!

My life is now drastically different.

God saved this sinner's life.

In Him I am a new creation.
I am forgiven.

I am free.

I look back a couple years ago and I see a God who fully pursued me, 

a God who wanted so badly to have me,

 and a God that never gave up fighting for me.
He was always by my side, telling me He loves me.

Even when I spit in His face and tried so hard to push Him away.

Until finally, by His Grace I somehow surrendered. 

And now I truly know how sweet surrender can be.

As some of  you readers may, or may not know, 

this coming year I have been given the opportunity do to something so great. 

I am interning with an organization called Campus Crusade for Christ.
 (The new name Cru will take effect in 2012).

 It is a non profit, christian missions organization.

I cannot be more excited for this new adventure in life!

It was through this organization that the Lord changed my life
and lead me into a true relationship with Him.

Without my involvement in Campus Crusade in college,

I am not sure where my relationship with the Lord would be today. 

Sure, God could have used plenty of other means to get my attention.

But He didn't, He specifically chose this ministry!

And now the Lord has given me an opportunity to be a part of something big.

If you know me, you also know that I am more of the quiet type, I'm shy.

But now, I cannot sit and be silent.

God has been gracious enough to save me and I don't deserve it.

He has given me a gift and a passion to share it. 

And that is just what I get to do this year.

I get to share God's saving grace and love with college students at UC Irvine.

 Students who are most likely going through situations similar
 (and some not so similar) to mine.
I get to be there for them, to love on them and encourage them no matter where they stand.

I get to share with them, that there is a God who loves them unconditionally more than they will ever know.

A God who died for them, so they can experience freedom from sin and death.

A God who desires to know them and be in a relationship with them.

I have never experienced a passion like this in all my life.

And at this moment, I am in need of people who share any or all of these passions with me.

People who desire to see changed lives.

People who have also been impacted by Campus Crusade.

People who have a heart for college students.
People who want everyone to have a chance to hear the Gospel.
People who have kids in college.
Even people who went to UC Irvine!

I am currently raising the financial support I need in order to begin working in
September and complete my one year commitment to Campus Crusade.

Support raising has been a rough journey, but the Lord continues to give me miracles.

Providing support in places I would have never expected and bringing me to about 50% of what I need so far.
And He is not done yet!

Right now, this very minute, I am in need of both prayer and financial support.

Both which are equally important!
If you want to know more about Campus Crusade for Christ you can check out their website here.

If you have, or know anyone who could have, a desire to be involved
in this ministry and join my team, please feel free to contact me.
And if you would like to make a donation to help me reach my support goal you can follow the link below, it's quick and easy:

My Online Giving Page

I must continue to surrender to the Lord,
surrendering my fears, my worries and
 all my discouragements during this process.
I have tasted it before and know the sweetness of total surrender.

I have 11 days to bring in the rest of my support.
But the cool thing is, God doesn't work by our deadlines.
His timing is His timing.

I am fully confident in the Lord, that He will provide what I need.
He always has, and He always will.

Bring it on!

I am in Love

Today, I spent the day laying in bed feeling icky.

Sick in the summer?  

Really?

 Seriously?

Lame.

So I did what any other girl would do, 

sat in bed on my computer looking at pretty things.

Hoping that it would somehow make me feel better.

And if you know me, you know I love flowers (duh) 

and that I have a special place in my heart 

for weddings and design.

Today I stumbled across quite a gem and it's needless to say that I fell deeply, madly in love.

What a beautiful, summer inspired shoot.

Filled with everything that I love, and then some.

Ranunculus, strawberry flowers, oh my!

I'm smitten with EVERYTHING about this bouquet. 

I'm drooling over the black Dahlia's and white Astilbe.

I love old books.

Loving the vases.

My only thought is to maybe mix in some blackberries,

which would tie in nicely with the black dahlia's.

I love everything about this.

The flowers, the colors, the photography, the outdoors....

Gah, if only I was planning a wedding!

If you want to view the rest of the shoot...check it out here!

Well, that icky feeling is beginning to grab hold again.

Time to sleep. 

At least I know I'm going to be having sweet,sweet dreams.

Friend Spotlight: The Cousin

It has been a little while, but I'm bringing back the Friend Spotlights.

This one is LONG overdue.

Meet my cousin Lauren, she's awesome.

She loves the Lakers.

Lo and I go way back.

We were belly buddies.

Our mom's (who are sister's) were pregnant with us at the same time

and we are only about 3 months apart.

I came in May and she followed shortly in August!

Her and I were lucky enough to grow up with each other,

becoming very good friends from a very young age.

When we were little I actually thought she was my sister.

I mean our parents did dress us in matching outfits most of the time.

We were even flower girls together.

Lauren and I grew up, but never grew apart.

As we've gotten older our friendship has grown into something beautiful.

I honestly don't know where to begin, Lauren is all around amazing.

I guess for starters, she is freaking hilarious!

She causes uncontrollable laughing, 

which leads to crying, then follows the stomach pain 

and then a quick sprint to the bathroom due to the loss of bladder control.

I'm not kidding, she can make you literally pee in your pants.

She is a rockstar athlete.

She played volleyball all throughout high school and then for UCSD where she attended college.

She's got some mad skill on the court.

She is genuine.

She loves deeply.

She truly cares for people and she is a great example of how to be 

a faithful friend.

I admire this about her.

She lives her life for the Lord.

She is a great example of a Godly woman.

There is no denying that the joy of the Lord shines through her.

I love that every time we see each other we just pick up where we left off.

I love how we can share things with each other and 

know that what we share is safe.

I love how much fun we have together, but I love even more that our friendship goes deep, beyond the fun.

I love that we have gone from this...

to this.....

and I'm very much looking forward to this...

(completments of)

You mean the world to me Lolo.

I love, adore, and truly admire you.

I am so blessed that the Lord gave you to me as a cousin, a dear friend, and a sister in Christ.

My life would NOT be the same without you.

Here's to the last 23 years of friendship and the next 53 years to come!

A Few of My Favorite Things

For starters...

1. My roommates from this past year.

Rach, Aubs, Bre and Steph.

2. A good cup of coffee.

3. Sweetarts, my all time favorite candy.

4. Lavender.

5. Jane Austen.

6. Maidenhair ferns.

7. My frog green sweater from Old Navy...I wear it all the time.

8. The place where most of these pictures came from....Pinterest....check it out!


9. Boba... seriously love this stuff.

10. Mammoth Lakes, CA, my favorite place.

College Confessions

Things are definitely about to get real here.

Confession #1:

I didn't ever want to go to Cal Poly. 

I had my heart set on UC Davis, but I didn't get in.

 But somehow I managed an acceptance to Cal Poly? 

Weird.

 I was heartbroken and quite angry I had to move to San Luis...just ask my parents they were the one's dealing with my attitude issues.

Confession #2:

I went to college fully expecting to receive my "Mrs. Degree".
Alright ladies, I know most of you were thinking the same thing...

I was going to find a wonderful, Godly man and get married when I graduated. 

After all that's how it happened for my parents and one of my sister's right?

Cal Poly had a 4 to 1 guy/girl ratio when I entered, you would think the odds were in my favor... 

After a pretty cruel heartbreak my second year, I slowly started to realize this may not happen the way I planned it to.

Confession #3:

I thought college would be a piece of cake.

Ha-this one makes me laugh.

Confession #4:

I assumed I would graduate in four years.
Don't ever assume anything.

Confession #5:

Five years ago when I started college, I was a stubborn, grumpy and extremely immature 18 year old 

who had her own plan of how the next few years would go.

Confession #6:

I had no idea my little world would be rocked to the core. 

I had no idea that God was going to take my plans and make them completely obsolete.

It is obvious that nothing about my college experience was part of my "plan".

The first word that comes to mind when I think of my time in college is 

HUMBLING.

A word that wasn't in my vocabulary 5 years ago.

The Lord used my time at Cal Poly to show me that His plan is so much greater than mine. He showed me that on my own, I am NOTHING without Him. Cal Poly was a rough place for me and I never felt that I truly belonged there, even after 5 long years. But, I can look back on it all and see God's faithfulness shine through it all.

Cal Poly is where..

 Most importantly, I found my true identity in Christ.

I met amazing sister's in Christ who have encouraged me every step of the way.
I formed beautiful relationships with classmates, coworkers and roommates.

 I found that even with learning disabilities, you can still graduate college...booyeah!

 I learned to push myself harder.
 I learned to handle criticism and then do something about it (this one took a little while).

I discovered that grades, though important, are not the most important thing in life...at all.
And on that note, going to office hours will get you the better grade (in most cases).
I learned how to stick up for myself and how to fight for things I believe in.

I realized no matter how desperate you are in a situation, God will ALWAYS pull you through.

I learned to truly appreciate and respect my parents, my biggest advocates in life!

I realized how much of a nerd I really am and how much I LOVE plants.

There is a reason why I didn't end up at Davis. 

There is a reason why I didn't find "Mr. Right".

There is a reason why college was extremely difficult.

There is a reason why it took me five years to complete my degree.
In fact, there are probably multiple reasons why each of these happened!

My biggest fans--Dad & Mom.

But, all I know is that I'm thankful my plan didn't happen.

Because God's is so much better than mine!

Build Your Own Terranium, Wait I Mean Terrarium

Rewind to a few weeks ago.

I got the most adorable birthday gift from my roommate Stephanie.

A Build Your Own "Terranium" Kit.

Clearly she knows me well.

My adorable roommates were all introduced to terrariums when I moved in.

Stephanie can never remember what they are called and refers to them as "terraniums", ha I love it!

Check out how adorable this kit is!

She picked out rocks from a beach town 30 miles north of here.... 

Heart shaped rocks.

These past few weeks have been crazy with traveling, midterms, finals, moving out, etc.

and I've been having a hard time finding the right time to put my terrarium together.

But, today was the perfect day!

My adorable succulents, picked out by Stephanie and Bre.

Adding the pebbles and activated charcoal.

Layering on the soil and prepping to place the plants.

And walaa, my bubble bowl terranium, excuse me, I mean terrarium :)

 I even had a little extra material to 

make a miniature mason jar terrarium!

Thank you for the sweetest and most thoughtful gift ever Steph, 

you are so wonderful!

Now its time to get back to cleaning, packing

 and maybe studying for my last final....

Lord, Thank You For....

My current roommates

My new roommates for this coming year

Good music

The past year with my bible study

My beautiful family

Your timing

My new supporters

Unexpected relationships

New beginnings

Adventures

The excitement I feel about what's ahead

Skype

My planner that goes with me everywhere

Falling asleep to the sound of rain...in June

My cap and gown that are hanging up in my room

Good dreams

Finishing and submitting senior project

Last minute trips

Good friends marrying the men of their dreams

Everything I learned this year

My car

My running shoes

Always pulling me through

Fields full of pretty flowers

I'm a Garden Moocher

I don't have a garden of my own (serious bummer).  

One day I will, I'm crossing my fingers.

So until I do I'm just going to be a garden moocher, gardening in other peoples gardens.

 If you ever need anything done, you know who to ask!

This past weekend I got to do some gardening in my Great Aunt's backyard.

She needed some work done and I was more than glad to whip out my gardening gloves and "dig in"!

My Aunt could not understand why I liked getting my hands dirty.

I can still hear her saying in her adorable southern, Alabama accent,

 "Oh my, I can't believe you".

"I like doing dishes...you like being in the dirt".

Ha, little does she know I love doing dishes too, but that's another story.

While working in her backyard I dug up some soil and did some cultivating.

Planted some pretty (thorny) rose bushes as well as some African Daisies.

I also transplanted, diagnosed, fertilized, and watered.

It was the perfect day to spend out in the garden.

Those few hours went by too fast.

My great aunt Betsy.

All finished.

I can't help but day dream about what my garden will be like.

I really do hope that my dream comes true one day...or at least something close to it.