Sudanese

I have just started getting to know this group of Sudanese refugees who live in San Diego. My coach Dan used to help them out/give them food/hang out and share Christ with them when he was in high school. He took Hilary and I down there to introduce us to these people, and to see if we can get something started with the Biola soccer team and students.
These sudanese refugees came to the US escaping a horrifying civil war in their country. They have poor living conditions, and not enough food to make it through each month, yet they have the biggest smiles I have ever seen.
I'll be posting more about them as I continue to make trips down to SD and as we get the Biola team involved in bringing food, teaching the Bible, and helping the kids with school.
In the meantime, pray for them, pray for peace in their country, and shoot me an email if you want to help in any way (When I asked what we could do to help, they said...well thank you so much. We just need some food, maybe some rice to make it through the month, and towels and sweatshirts would be really great, our kids get cold at night).

I am hoping to get my church involved, and maybe the Student ministries at Biola. It's crazy to see such need inside of such an affluent county.

to read more about these people google "lost boys of Sudan" or "Sudanese refugees"

Home Sweet Home

I'll be home for Christmas...

Well it is really nice to be home in Bend for Christmas. Something just isn't right about hearing Chrismas music playing in the nicely decorated starbucks and seeing palm trees out the window as people in tank-tops and flip-flops walk by. It's great to wear fleece jackets and beanies, and sit by the fire and drink hot chocolate.

I went cross country skiing yesterday with my mom and her friends and soon realized my body is not quite ready for that kind of exercise. I suppose my body deserves a day of rest for each day it took a beating during soccer season. Which means...I still have at least another month to sit around and watch movies.

The high school team I am an assistant coach for is doing pretty well. We won again on tuesday, putting us at 5-2-0 so far this year. Not bad for a little private Christian school. I am having a blast coaching them. It's fun to try to impart to them all of the things I have learned about soccer and about Christ on the Biola team.

Speaking of the biola team, here are some pictures of my soccer banquet-

well, that's it.

new question:
What is your favorite Christmas tradition?

Well. Casey taught me how to make these cool photo slide show thingys...so now I am a blogger and a techno-picture-savvy kid. Thanks Cas -

The thing is... I miss soccer already. that's what the slideshow is about... I miss playing, and being done with my college soccer career reminds me that I am really really close to being done with my entire college student career. Life as I know it is going to change bigtime really soon. I have been a student for the past eighteen years. (yes preschool totally counts). It has been a really good ride. Biola was definitely the place I was meant to be for the last four years. God has met me in incredible ways, I have learned lessons I never could have learned any other way, and I have made friends that I will have for life.

amist all of the nostalgia, and craziness of ending so many things at once, I've entered into this really fun and exciting season of life where my days are filled with dreaming. I've never before been in a place where I am so free to dream about the future and how God might want to use me. It is so weird to have so much freedom. I'm not really tied to anything, no commitment to a job, no boyfriend, no school schedules after june...
It's exciting to sit and dream about going to the nations, maybe spending time working with my (honorary) brother Brent and Virginia in Uganda, or interning at my church learning how to pastor, recording a worship CD, leading small groups or diving into outreaches... I dream about all kinds of jobs, from teaching to coaching to barista-ing, to working in a youth group, to worship leading, to being a missionary. It all sounds good to me. I dream of living back in Bend, I dream of living in Idaho with Danny and Jamie, I dream of living here in Southern California, I dream of living in Japan or some other far-off-country that needs to hear about Jesus.

this conversation inevitably leads to the question, "So Keri...what are you really going to do next year?" And really, I don't want to jump straight to answering that yet, I am enjoying the season of dreams...
but if you must know... I am plannig on interning in my church at least until November (but coming home to Bend for part of the summer - Kristin's wedding, and to be with family), and working on staff with the Biola Soccer team (coaching goalkeepers), and trying out some substitute teaching in the public schools.

until next time...
what are you dreaming about?

BLACK FRIDAY

this is a lovely picture of my brother and me at 5 in the morning waiting outside of staples to buy doorbusters on the morning after thanksgiving...aka. Black Friday.
It had to be like zero degrees outside. we were freezing! But, sibling bonding doesn't get much better than that, fighting the crowds, freezing in line, hoping that there are still some cool things left in the store, and strategizing on the best way to sell these on ebay, and what we'll use the extra cash for.

Besides my awesome trip home for thanksgiving, not much else is new... I am trying to finish out my semester, and make it through finals, with christmas vacation always in sight.
I am excited about what God is doing in my life these days. I am constantly amazed by how He is moving in my church, and giving me more opportunities to get involved in worship and missions and leadership. I am starting up a small group on my campus next semester, so you can pray for that if you think of it. I'm also excited to see how he opens up girls' lives for me to speak into them when I coach them. I am coaching at Whittier Christian high school, and I totally love the girls. I love to hear their joys, and problems, and high school drama. I love to see them catch the love for the game, and to learn new things, and more importantly I love to see them grasp a love for Christ, and His love for them. I hope that this year, I can be more than some coach that makes them run or do drills, but someone who points them to Christ and shows them what a life lived with Him looks like.

well, it's almost Christmas, and down here I can't tell that by the weather, but I can tell by my roommate Shannon's decorating. She found "the christmas box" my mom gave us with a bunch of random christmas trinkets, and I realized that the season is in full swing, when I walked into my bathroom and found a christmas tree skirt around the bottom of our toilet...well, when you don't have a tree...


that's enough blogging for tonight.
merry Christmas

and the new question is... (there's two...can you handle it?)
what is the most Ridiculous Christmas gift you've ever recieved? and...
what is the most meaningful/memorable gift you have ever received?