Hello all.

I really appreciate Cynthia’s transparency during this time. (see below)  She shows us all how to practice faith (acting as though what the Bible says about us is true, even if current circumstances, our emotions, or past experiences tell us otherwise.)

Don’t you feel like her at times?…not necessarily this extreme because of the extreme circumstances there, but definitely at loose ends with the world, not knowing where the next step is.

I know I do.  Thank God that our next step is in Him, not the world at all.

God bless all of you as you practice faith.

Love,

Fran

22.Apr.2007, 2:40 p.m.

Taken from Cynthia Thomas' blog <http://campuscrusadeforchrist.com/virginiatech/hopeful/> , staff member at Virginia Tech

I really feel that because of the prayers of the world, and God’s goodness and graciousness, He is granting me an extra measure of grace, energy, compassion, and hope.

I am having a good day, probably the first in the past week. I feel very hopeful and thankful to God, and even a little happy.

This year has been…well…crazy I guess. We only reported to campus a little over a year ago, and it has definitely been a trying year. The beginning of the semester started with tragedy, as the escaped convict was loose on our campus and killed two people (not students).

This threw off our first big outreach of the year, which I was in charge of, but the Lord was amazing through that, and really proved to us how much He doesn’t need us to accomplish His will, though he graciously uses us.

I have also been extremely worn out this year as its been my first full year of ministry. I have discipled 8 women, and honestly i’ve really had to push myself to keep going, just being very tired from pouring out. Now this.

But it's amazing because for the first time all year, I have needed to do ministry, needed to call my girls and greatly desiring to invest in them and spend time with them. I more than want to; I need to, and I have been thankful to get to process with them these past few days. It’s been helpful for me as well to process with them.

I’ve been so encouraged many times by girls sharing scripture that has ministered to them, and that ministering to me as well. I’m honestly not afraid of the week to come, knowing that a lot of students may want to talk to me. I am very hopeful in the Lord and what He is doing, and in the measure of grace He will give me to do what I need to here.

We have had 2 women from our regional team here who are trained counselors who have been a fantastic resource for our students, and the team as well. They’ve met with several students who were interested, and several of the staff team as well, and I think that was really helpful for all of us.

I appreciate them because I, as well as the rest of the team, are not trained counselors, so we can’t really counsel the students, only listen, pray and encourage really. That may be all some of the students need, but there are definitely some who need more, so I am very thankful for them. I am sure I’ll be calling them for advice and more counseling as we continue to process and grieve.

VT has decided to give the students the option of going back to class on Monday and taking their finals, or if they are happy with their grade as it is, they can just take what they’ve earned already.

At Cru, Jeff encouraged all the students there not to leave Blacksburg until they have begun the grieving process. We’re concerned that the students will just hightail it out of here the first chance they get without beginning to process and grieve, and then come back in the fall unprepared for the new school year.

We have been encouraging our students even to just try to go to class, maybe 1 a day, and if they can’t pay attention, just sit there and be in class. We just think it would be really good for the students to get back to some sense of “normal” before they leave for the summer.

So please pray for wisdom for each student as they decide what they need to do for their classes, and how to best grieve and process.

Last week, we found that the students really needed each other and they didn’t seem to be reaching much out to the staff at that point. However, we’re starting to see a shift in this. The students are starting to seek us out to talk and process, which is great.

Please pray for us for energy, wisdom, emotional strength, stuff like that as we begin another week.

I fear things will get worse before they get better around here, and I honestly can’t imagine how it could be any worse, so I have really been leaning on the Holy Spirit and trusting that God will lead us through it all and won’t give us more than we can handle.

I really do feel honored and blessed to be able to serve our students at this time in our lives. I love them dearly.