Transitioning

I never thought I would say this.
Literally never.

But...I miss my life in San Luis.

I don't miss school and I don't miss living there.

 I miss the relationships and the community I had.

Especially this group of young women...
Thursday nights were the best nights of the week by far.
Coming together to be in the Word and build one another up.
This bible study got me through a very hard year.

Love this study!

I was in such a rush to get out of SLO,
 to move on with my life
and to leave behind the 5 years of grueling obstacles

 that were attached to my academic career...

that I didn't stop to think about what life
was going to be like without community,
without those amazing relationships.

Like the relationships with these wonderful women.
Who each played a huge and very specific role in my life and growth this past year.

Oh and then there are my Horticultural gals.

I could be nerdy with them all day and all night long.

In fact, I was.

We were busy doing nerdy plant things by day,

and trying to finish our senior project by night (all night).

I was with them all day every day.

I really miss them.

Dani, Beth, & Carrie.

5 years together.

I'm going to be honest.

Transitioning has been really hard on me.

A lot harder than I was expecting.

I have been emotionally, physically and spiritually drained for weeks.

Trying to figure out this new life of mine.

A new life where I am working a full time job in ministry.

Where I am no longer a student.

Where I am constantly surrounded by people who do not know me.

Where I know no one.

It is crazy that I can be surrounded by people all day long,

but feel completely lost and lonely.

I have to laugh.

God faithfully raised all the support I needed.

Then instantly I am back to trying to rely on myself.

And I am once again brought back to my knees,
having to fully rely and trust God.
A place I should always be.
But seem to always fall so short.

Despite the difficult transition, I want to say that I do love it here!
I love my roommates.
I am loving my new church.
I absolutely love my job.
I love that I get to openly pray and spend time with God at work.
I love that I get to share Christ with students.
I love the women I get the honor of discipling.
I love my freshman bible study.
I love my staff team.
I truly admire my discipler and I love that she pushes me and challenges me.
And I love that I'm learning new things about my Savior daily.
Just to name a few things.

Knowing full well how faithful our God truly is,
I know that in time He will provide me with the community I need.

I'm honestly so excited to see what He has in store.
I'm excited to see how He will build, grow, and cultivate relationships.
I know building relationships and community does take time,
but I know that they will be worth waiting for.

"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven"

-Ecclesiastes 3:1

Meandering Around Mammoth

October is almost over.

Summer feels like ages ago,  where on earth does time go?!

My summer was challenging (to say the least).

There was not much I enjoyed about it.

BUT...

Amidst the stress and pain (physical, mental, spiritual) of support raising,

the Lord provided me with the perfect little pick me up.

He knows me so well,

He knows exactly what restores my weak and achy soul.

This summer I was able to spend two weeks up in the Eastern Sierra's with my family.

It's a summer trip I've taken every year since I was born.

So many memories up there.

The sights, the smells, the secret places, the hikes, the plants, I love it all.

God's personal touches are everywhere.

A gentle reminder of the majesty of our creator.

Give me a pair of hiking boots and I could run around the mountains for hours, days, weeks...

It's up in the Sierra's, where I come alive!

Turning Our Apartment Into a Home

I have wonderful roommates.

Not only are they beautiful, sweet and so fun to live with...

But they completely accept me for who I am.

A plant lover.

And they not only accept me and my love affair with plants,

but they encourage it!

I was excited to find out that one of my rooms also thinks terrariums are cool!

(I mean, obviously they are).

She bought some really neat glass jars last week

and asked me if I would put some plants in them.

This is an opportunity I would never pass up people.

Let's be real here.

We have a very naked and open corner sitting behind our sink.

Our thought....

To fill it with some cute terrariums.

We are still trying to make our apartment into a home.

Little by little, we are making progress.

Here is our kitchen corner makeover!

Glass Jars-Home Goods

Soil/Rocks-Home Depot

Activated Charcoal-Petsmart

Maiden hair fern and succulents (Echiveria & Sedum)-Home Depot

Moss-Michael's

Candle-Ikea

Twigs-outside our apartment complex.

Candle Holder.

Succulent terrarium.

Fern terrarium.

I had so much fun making these.

And I loved having my rooms around me ooohhing and ahhhhing 

and getting excited as I sat on our porch putting them together.

Here is our cute little kitchen corner...

Washing dishes just got that much better!

 What shall we make over next?!

UCI--The Beginning

I've been scatter brained, overwhelmed, up, down...

So many different emotions all rolled into one.

I have been exhausted and running on pure adrenaline for the past week.

I'm not completely settled into my new home yet.

Moving has been quite the experience.

Everything happened so insanely fast,

I didn't have time to actually pack.

I threw my belongings into trash bags and tossed them into my tiny car.

(Something I learned from my best friend Jodi).

I left my bedroom and bathroom at home in complete and utter chaos.

(Sorry mom).

And I'm still waiting for my bed to make its way down here.

I've been sleeping on the floor that past week and a half.

I have to admit,

I'm completely out of sorts.

I have moved away from everything that I know and the people I cherish.

All to start a new job I don't quite know how to do (yet) in a totally new place, 

with people I do not know and who don't know me.

I honestly feel like a freshman in college all over again.

Timid, quite, scared, unsure, and getting lost A-L-L the time.

I am quite the newbie.

Ugh.

I completely forgot to pick up my camera most of last week.

But, I did get a few pictures from my very first week on campus!

The Rooms.
Jill, Erin & Margo.

Cru Involvement Fair Booth.

My old roommate from SLO was on campus too, working with Epic.

Ashleigh and I with Peter the Anteater.

Our first Cru weekly meeting of the year!

I'm really looking forward to the coming weeks.

-Getting better acquainted with the campus.

-Getting to know each of my teammates. 

-Getting to know the students.

-Spending more time with my roommates.

-Finding a church and getting involved with a small group.

-My freshman girls study--that I already love.

-Beginning discipleship with 6 very wonderful women.

-Fall retreat preparations.

-And hopefully, feeling more comfortable and settled.

God is already doing amazing things here at UCI.

I can't wait to see what else He has in store.

Support Update--Lessons Learned

Yes, it did in fact happen.

God did it!

I am fully funded and a officially a Crusade staff member at UCI.

God absolutely, positively BLEW my mind in the process.

I wish I could say exactly how and when all my support came in.

But it happened so unbelievably fast, I'm not actually certain when it did.

What I can tell you is that I have never in my life experienced God in this way.

I am still in awe of the things He did.

The miracles He gave.

But mostly, I am in awe of the fact that He poured out

 so many blessings when in reality I deserved none of it.

I spent my entire summer in fear, stressing and worrying.

Completely doubting the Lord's faithfulness.

Doubting He would provide for me.

It makes me sick to my stomach really.

And yet, in His perfect timing, He provided ALL that I needed.

Lesson Learned: 

The Lord provides.

God will provide for me exactly when and where I need it.

Nothing more, nothing less.

His provisions are perfect.

The support raising experience I will never forget.

It is one that I will probably have to revert back to when I start doubting.

It will most likely one day be a story for the kids!

Lesson Learned:

The power of prayer.

I honestly should have spent more time in prayer in the earlier weeks of the summer.

It was only when I reached desperation, that prayer became the thing to do.
But even though I fell short, like I so often do;

I can honestly say that God answered every single one of my prayers.

Every specific detail, He nailed it.

God does hears us and He answers.

Lesson Learned:

Yep, I still hate talking on the phone.

I honestly thought support raising would break me of my irrational phone phobia.

Nope, not at all.

I still hate making phone calls, more than ever in fact.

Lesson Learned:

How awesome my supporters are.

I don't want to brag or anything,

But I have the greatest team of supporters, hands down, no questions asked.

A team of family, dear friends, old friends, new friends, my friends friends.

People I knew a long time ago, people I know now and people I have never met before.

People who are close by and people who are literally across the world!

 I am so thankful to each and every one of you.

Thank you for taking a big huge step of faith.

Thank you for joining me in this ministry to bring the Gospel to the lost.

Thank you for being bold and trusting God.

Without you I wouldn't be where I am.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

My heart is continuing to overflow with joy and love for each and every one of you.

I am praying, and will continue to pray, that the Lord will bless you
and your giving beyond anything you could ever imagine!

I am so excited to have you alongside me in this ministry.

Support Update--Only 13.3% Left to Go!

The past 3 days have been rough.

Things have been at a slight stand still.

I have felt hopeless.

I have been praying, pleading and begging God to give me miracles.

After countless phone calls only to get voicemails and hundreds of emails and 

facebook messages to people I know well, slightly and not at all...

I felt that there was nothing but silence form the Lord.

Ugh, here we go with the waiting again...

Why is patience so painful for me?

Yesterday I woke up bruised from the days before,

but determined to keep pushing forward.

Determined to get this done.

I spent some time with the Lord asking that He would bring me to 80% by the end of the day.

I worked all day with absolutely no progress (that I could see that is).

I was still sitting at 75%.
My heart was aching.

I then got a phone call from someone who is overseeing my support raising.

She gave me one last and final deadline to get my support in.

This Friday the 16th.


It was a difficult conversation.

But, she spoke such encouraging words and prayed for me.

She didn't (or at least I think she didn't) know
that I was balling my eyes out while she was praying for me.

All I could think to myself was this is it, I'm done, there is no way I will finish.

I had to get out of the house.

I went and ran 5 miles, it was a gorgeous evening.

I spent those 45 minutes talking with the Lord.

I continued to ask Him for a miracle.

"80% by tonight Father, 80%, You can do this!"

Well I'm here to tell you God answers prayers,

and gives us miracles.

I came home from my run and my night completely changed.

I went from crying tears of worry to crying tears of joy.

Last night my support reached 86.7%.

The Lord brought me up 11% in just one night!
Not only did He bring me to 80% but exceeded it by 6%.
Sometimes I feel like God likes to show off.

Last night I went to bed feeling...

I felt so full of the Lord's Joy.

I was in awe of our God who provides for us in unexpected ways.

Who blesses us beyond anything we deserve.

Who DOES hear our prayers and answers them.

Who's timing is perfect, despite what we think.

I only need SIX more people to give $100 a month.
SIX!

Then I can meet up with my team and dive into this campus ministry.
It is very important I finish by this Friday.
Next Monday marks the beginning of welcome week for the incoming students at UCI.
This is where we will get to meet the thousands of incoming freshman.
My heart longs to be able to be a part of it all and to see what the Lord has planned!

I'm praying for you six (or more) people that the Lord has called to be a part of this team.
I'm praying that the Lord will bless your decision to be a part of this ministry,
That the blessing of your gift would be given back to you to supply your needs.

If you would like to join me in this ministry of reaching the Lost with the Gospel.
you can join my team HERE.
Please feel free to email me, I would love to connect with you!
rjgordon88@gmail.com

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!