Campus Daughter Doings This Weekend

Rewind.......
Back in May 2006 when we were up in Indiana to visit Chip and attend his graduation from Southern Seminary, we were also privileged to hear him preach at a high school graduation. One of the girls in his youth group (Emily shown on the left) was in Chip's student ministry group at church and that was his connection in being asked to bring the graduation message to the grads. Notice the girl shown on the far right..................................

Fast forward to September 2007. Chip had called us a couple of weeks earlier to tell us that a friend of Emily's was coming down to go to college here. Chip knew that we have "campus daughters" which is a program of the college whereby church families "adopt" freshman students and give them some much-needed support and love shown during their freshman year of college. From talking with Chip, we had a new daughter even before school started. We made a contact with this girl (Jennifer, the girl on the right in the picture above) and made plans to pick up her at the airport and drive her to the college upon her arrival from Indiana. At the airport, we had "spied" another girl who looked like she might have just flown in for her freshman year as well, so we inquired with her and, since we already had Jennifer in tow, asked this girl (Jessica) if she would like a ride over to the campus with the three of us. She did.... and she became another freshman daughter. We took them to the college, treated them to a meal at the campus grille, and they were on their way. That is Jess next to me and Jennifer next to Richard.


Fast Forward to the present: Jennifer did fantastic in her freshman year of music and it seems she has been recognized as having great talent. Anyway, she was hand-picked to perform in a "Strings Concert" on this pastSaturday night so Richard and I attended. There were eight students who played a solo. Jennifer's talent was so evident as she played "Synropation" (no, it wasn't entitled "sycopating") on her violin. She played eloquently and her grace and beauty on stage didn't hurt a thing either!!! We were blessed to be there and to watch her in concert. There weren't any pictures made during the concert, but this one was of Jennifer with her sister Sarah, her parents, and with Richard and me after the concert. Sarah is in the long black dress:


At the Saturday night concert, we met her parents from Indiana: Bill and Lee Stone and their eldest daughter, Sarah, who came to hear Sarah and spend the weekend here. We had emailed them a few pictures each time that we had an activity with the campus daughters and they emailed back a time or two so we knew each other briefly that way. It was a delight to meet Bill and Lee at the concert and to put faces with their names!! In talking to them, we learned that they were staying at the motel on campus but that they had to find another motel for Sunday night as they weren't able to get the third night at the motel on campus. We immediately invited them to come to our house on Sunday afternoon and to spend their last night in their home.

On Sunday, we went out together for Sunday lunch (which they treated us to ~~ we weren't expecting that but enjoyed the blessing) and then they came over and we had good fellowship with them all Sunday afternoon long. Jennifer was able to get a nice long nap here which was a needful thing for her so that was a blessing. On Sunday afternoon as we were leaving for church, I snapped their picture out on our front porch. L-R: Jennifer, Sarah, Bill and Lee:


After church that night, they took Jennifer out for a last meal together and then returned her to the college. By the time they got back to our house, we were ALL tired and didn't visit too long before we turned in.

We had a leisurely Monday morning breakfast and then they took off on their long drive back to Indiana. We shall be praying for them throughout the day for safety and a good return trip home.

Those were our campus-daughter doings this weekend, and we are fully blessed!!