Sharing a copy of our recent newsletter, which we sent out by MailChimp email. Featuring Cru Omaha's new Team Leader: Jake Loftis!
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Tuesday, October 29, 2019
Cru Communique Newsletter / Oct. 2019
Saturday, October 12, 2019
September Memories
September is always such a beautiful month with a mix of summer and autumn. With patio planters filled with the bountiful pink begonias of summer, mixed in with pots of the rustic colors of fall mums. It really is the best of both seasons. Some days the weather reached into the 90's, and other days we felt the crispness of the coming autumn season.
It was also a month of a mixture of blessings, of work and of rest. A mix of busy Cru days, of times spent with family and friends, of quiet days at home. It was a good time of year, and I always want to hang on to September a little longer. But it goes by quickly, as each month does.
Sharing some glimpses from a few of our September days ...
Student meetings have started up for a new school year on six of our eight area campuses. It is an incredible joy to meet with students, often right on their campuses! The photo above shows students at Omaha Central High School, meeting as an after-school club on Thursdays each week. In the center foreground you see Seven, our amazing college student volunteer who helps lead, and also coaches the student leaders as they lead. He works closely with Gary, who took the photo. Please pray for these students, representing a variety of countries of origin, as they grow in their faith.
And it's always a blessing when some of our national Cru leaders come to our area. Here you see Bill Kollar, serving on the national leadership team with Cru High in Orlando. He also had served with the Cru collegiate ministry in Lincoln NE in the past. He took us out for breakfast at Paradise Bakery & Cafe on the 20th of September before driving to Lincoln to speak at the Fall Retreat for the Cru students there. It's always an encouragement when we spend time with him.
What would life be like without grandchildren? These two live just a seven minute drive from us. Jake & Cole seem to always have a football, baseball, or soccer ball in their hands! This year they are playing tackle football as fifth graders, and are loving it. We are thankful to have these two close by, along with our daughter Sara and son-in-law Sean.
The rest of our family lives a distance away, though two more daughters and their families are in our same state. Our two sons are in New York City, and our other daughter and family live near Dallas, TX.
And Texas is where we went for a sweet visit the beginning of September! You can see some of our fun in the digital scrapbook page above. It was an absolute joy to spend time with Cristy & Mark, Abigail & Addison (married in May of 2018), Crystal and her boyfriend Braden, Luke (a senior in high school!), and 13 year-old Brianna!
September was a beautiful month, and now here we are already in the middle of October!
Wednesday, October 2, 2019
Our 75/70 Year!
This has been a significant year for us!
Did you notice the numbers in the title for this post - "75/70"? Sometimes we wonder how these numbers can actually apply to us. And then at other times we are very aware that yes, it's true, the numbers 75/70 do belong to us now!
Our family put on a very special birthday party for us the end of July ... in between our June and September birthdays! And we have been celebrating in various ways all year long as a couple.
It is quite significant to turn these ages. And quite unexpectedly we have also been led to make a significant decision in the midst of our 75/70 year!
Just as God clearly led us over 28 years ago to this amazing adventure of sharing His love to middle school and high school students through Cru, He has now clearly led us this past summer to set the date for our retirement.
Our retirement date is set for July 1, 2020!
This 2019-2020 school year is our "transition year", as we are transitioning things over to Jake Loftis (our amazing staff guy who is now the director here in the Omaha area), and also to our wonderful 20+ volunteers. It is already proving to be a busy, and also an emotional year for us, for though it is an exciting transition for us, it is also an emotional time for us as we make this big change.
We will continue receiving our salary checks from Cru until the end of September 2020, and are asking our financial supporters to continue on until the end of September 2020 if possible. Cru will give us a three-month additional period of pay after our retirement date, but only if the funds are in our account.
A New Name: From a Quiet Place
In anticipation of this significant change in our lives, we are making a change to the name of this online blog space. Just as the previous title - Our Cru Communique - reflected our calling as staff, our new title - From a Quiet Place - is a reflection of this transition time in our lives. Our lives are far from quiet, as this year at times seems busier than ever! But yet, in the midst of it all, we are seeking to still our hearts and listen closely to God as He leads us into next steps of following Him.
We'll be sharing more in the months to come about this transition time - sharing prayer needs for Cru Omaha, and for ourselves, and sharing the things that are on our hearts as we will be stepping into retirement next summer.
You are invited to come back here to read a variety of posts during this "transition year", and beyond. Thanks so much for your friendship, love, and prayers for us.
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