In the past few weeks God has been doing so much work in the hearts and lives of the girls in my bible study! It is so hard to know where to begin! We had a girls night a few weeks back where we went to a U of I volleyball game and cheered on a girl in our study who is on the team. Talk about a FUN time. We played the game Hilarium and bonded over food: taco dip, pumpkin cheesecake, hot drinks. What more do you need?

We had a bible study bonding night two Mondays ago. We got together at my house and made homemade pizza. For any of you who have seen our house- picture 10 lively girls in my kitchen and dining room and you will get a picture of the fun we had! We then painted our favorite bible verse on canvases and shared why we picked that verse.  These girls are getting excited about the word of God!

Many of the girls attended our fall conference this past weekend and were impacted by the speaker, the workshops, and the time to get to know other women who are living for the Lord. Getting a chance to be away from the distractions of campus and out in nature is an amazing thing for busy college students. One of the girls in my study, Meghan had quite the weekend as she and I spent a majority of it in the ER.  She was in excruciating pain all weekend and ended up getting her appendix removed on Saturday night. It was her first surgery, not only that but she was away from home and from family and in an unfamiliar place. It was definitely an exhausting and stressful weekend, but the Lord was so good!

To top it off last night at bible study we had a testimony night, where we all shared our testimonies and took time to pray for each other.  I can't tell you how excited I am about the community that is forming in this group.  These women are amazing people and are totally drawing near to God together! I would love to sit down in person with all of you and tell you the details of these girls lives! I could go on for hours about the exciting ways that God is working.

Unfortunately, we don't have that luxury. But I will tell you that almost all of the girls in my study were not walking with the Lord two years ago and they are now on a journey to know Christ and make Him known! Is this not the most exciting news? The gospel has come to these girls and has literally changed their lives.  Two years ago they were stuck in patterns of drinking, apathy, depression, being charmed by the vain things of this world and now they are following Christ. 

Praise the Lord!  To Him be the Glory!!

Please enjoy a few pictures of all of the fun activities we have had over the past few weeks!

To all of you who read this who also support our ministry, I want to say a special thank you! Being a part of what God is doing is a true joy. We simply couldn't do it without you. 

To all who read our last update, the pumpkin is now almost GONE! There is a thin layer of the base of the pumpkin but the rest is all completely gone-- in the stomachs of the local squirrels. Ugh. Good thing we learned this before we spent hours carving a masterpiece pumpkin!

We are home from a fabulous weekend in Platteville. We had a baby shower for my sister and her baby. (She is due in December). We also enjoyed a special treat- Carla our foreign exchange student from Venezuela in 2001-2002 came up for a visit!! What a fun time we had!! Good times with lots of family and a few good friends from college. Thanks to all who spend the weekend with us!

If you live in WI where the squirrels are NORMAL, you should take a minute and be thankful for them.

We were all excited to get pumpkins for our first home... and went to the pumpkin patch to pick them out.

Well, our excitement didn't last long, when a few days later our pumpkin now looks like this....

Seriously?! Take it from me, these squirrels are nuts!!

Happy Fall to you all pumpkin or no pumpkin :)
(Or should I say Happy Winter to all of you up North?? :)

It has been a busy place these last few days. We are sooo thankful for our home and the way we can use it to bless others!!

I have to compliment Noah for what a great host he has been! While I was gone in Memphis, he hosted a bunch of students Friday night till way too late at night and then cleaned up and hosted again Saturday night for some people from our small group.  Sunday he cleaned it all up yet again before I came home. And then tonight he hosted his bible study for dinner and the game.  Three nights of hosting on your own in a period of four days is a lot for ANYONE..

Not to mention that today about 2 hours before his guys were coming over we had a flood in our basement and he had to spend the entire 2 hours cleaning up the water that had gotten ALL OVER! Thankfully he thought to go to the neighbors to borrow a wet vac, but it still was a big job.

He has done a great job, but how about we wait a few days before having people over again :) Okay, maybe we'll wait until Friday when it's my turn to host for a GIRLS NIGHT:) YIKES!

It is a very exciting week for Noah.  Although it is an odd combination, this week it looks to be a good combination... you see, Noah is a Packers, Badgers and Twins fan. The Badgers beat Minnesota on Saturday, the Packers are going to beat the Vikings tonight and the Twins are playing tomorrow to break a tie and see who gets to be a part of the playoffs!

Tonight Noah is hosting his bible study here as they watch the big game and enjoy bbq's.  His biggest dilemma is what to wear today (Packers Hat? Badgers sweatshirt? Twins shirt?) It's a rough life :)

This weekend I (Katie) got a chance to visit my best friend from high school in Memphis! It was a big adventure to drive there on my own, but pretty fun that we live close enough that I CAN drive there!! It was reminiscent as I saw many places that I remember driving past when we went from Eau Claire to Florida as a student. It is hard to believe we really LIVE here in Illinois!

I had a really great time seeing the sights, enjoying time with Lindsey, meeting her friends, and of course the delicious food! It was also a nice little getaway for me, although I am of course glad to be home now too :)