Well, there area about 140 noses in the above picture (I just counted – that’s a lot of noses, BTW)! We were gathered a few weeks back at a retreat center in the Phoenix area. This photo is a slight misrepresentation of InterVarsity GFM due to quite a few guests in the mix. If you dive into Workday our org chart officially lists 100 Graduate and Faculty Member staff workers currently on staff. Several GFM staff weren’t there due to being volunteer status or part-time (there were only two of team of 9 who were able to be there with me this time). Old-guard staff who attend our national gathering can always be heard spouting that they still have quite vivid memories of when GFM was a brand new thing in InterVarsity (in 1987, the year I first joined staff with undergrad ministries).

I gotta level with you. This time through, I felt very low on energy. We usually don’t have a national staff conference right at the end of an academic year. On top of that I never quite acclimated to the two hour time zone change during the four days I was there. But it was terrific being with team mates and hearing ministry stories from across the entire country. There were workshops and meal-time conversations. So many staff brought their ministry A-game, talking through what they are learning and sharing their resources (How to Survive a Toxic Department is just one example – below). We had truly wonderful teaching from Dr. Dennis Edwards who gave three talks on the meaning of Living Hope (1 Peter 1:3).

I can’t help it – this also happens when I travel…

Being in Arizona for the first time in my life gave me the chance to snap some pics. Between sessions and on breaks I walked around with my Pixel 9 looking for new stuff to shoot. Pics like these wind up in my blog, my family text chats, my team emails, and on the cover of all those note-cards I send. So let’s wrap this post up with a couple of galleries of interesting flowers and plants I saw at The Franciscan Renewal Center in Scottsdale, AZ. YES, lots of these are going to wind up as cards in the coming months!

Hope you are having great summer. Thanks so much for your prayers!