Summit Day 6

Today was a BLAST!!! We started off with pick up our car from the shop. $750 in repairs. Such a bummer but we are grateful that it is fixed, it waited to break down until we arrived and that we had an emergency fund to cover the cost. God is good! 

Always keep a husband that brings home southern BBQ. Always. So delicious and included fried okra and sweet tea!  

Today was the day that all the students headed to Fort Bluff. It included the volleyball tournament that was double elimination. Students made up teams and took it very seriously. As you can tell from the "American Rejects" team pictures above. They took third place. 

Jason's team won the volleyball tournament. They were VERY proud and undefeated. Lots of volleyball pride. Including their own cheer.  

The best part was going down a water slide for the first time! I have never been to any water parks and Jason was THRILLED to take me on my first ride. I went down the slide three times and laughed all the way. Good memories.

The view from the top of Fort Bluff was breathtaking. So glad we went up and took some time to revel in God's creation.  

The day ended with a cookout on the lawn. It was beautiful and SO GOOD. Including the freshly made potato chips that I ate way to many of.

Tomorrow is our day off. Looking forward to some quality time with my True Love. 

Summit Day 5

Today we had lunch with two of Jason's old professors Dr Jones and Mr Harle. It was wonderful getting to know them a little better, hearing stories about Jason in college and getting some marriage advice. They are wonderful men and I am so glad Jason had the opportunity to study under them.

You can tell we are reaching the half-way point. Lots of mail from family and friends to the students!

Jason is doing such a great job leading discussions here. I am super proud to be his wife and see how God is growing him in leadership.

The students here are absolutely awesome! This shirt has Jason jealous. We will have to pick one up when we see it. Another student that I ate dinner with today wrote a blogpost on how Summit TN is affecting here life. You can read it here.

Brett Kunkle spoke to the students today on evil and suffering and the goodness of God. During meal times the students were engaging in conversation about how to have a biblical approach to evil and suffering.

Full day. Thankful tomorrow is a half day and we will be headed to Fort Bluff for an afternoon of fun!

Summit Day 4

Josh Bales has been leading us in worship here at Summit Tennessee. Josh has the desire to walk through creation, fall and redemption with every worship set. He uses creeds, scripture readings, classic hymns and worship songs to do this. It is powerful and the students response is always amazing.  Here's a clip of "Hosanna" being sung tonight. 

Dr Ken Turner spoke to the students today on how to read and how NOT to read the Bible. It was a great session full up practical application. 

What a JOY to meet Dr Christopher Yuan and his mother Angela. Dr Yuan spoke on homosexuality and the Christian response. The students were deeply impacted by the time they spent with him. I would highly recommend the book that he co-authored with his mother. 

The goofy picture of all the staff and students. To good not to share! 

Summit Day 3

We started the morning off with a Sean McDowell selfie. Sean McDowell gave his last session today and we said goodbye. He did a fantastic job teaching the students about Atheism, evolution and Intelligent Design. We were sad to see him go. 

Do to fatigue there was a much needed run to Jason's favorite coffee shop here in Dayton TN. Jason spent hours at Harmony House Coffee. It was great to meet the owner who still, after six years, remembered Jason by name. Also, it was one of the best iced lattes I've had since leaving Portland. 

Here's our selfie with my new Catholic crush, Dr Jennifer Roback Morse (or as she prefers, "Dr J"). She spoke to the students on marriage, family and homosexuality. She's the founder of the Ruth Institute and a delight to be with.

It was group picture day! Here's just a snapshot of some of the students. 

It was also staff picture day! Good luck finding Jason and I. Our faces are...hidden.

We ran into one of Jason's old professors Dr Ricketts who has a summer business of running a jumbotron. He offered to set it up for us by the soccer field to watch the Brazil vs Germany game today. It was SUPER fun watching the game on a huge screen with the students. The game however, was just pathetic.

If you think of it, say a prayer for our car. We had to take it into the shop today. It keeps over heating and we do not know why. Pray for a quick and easy fix! 

Summit Day 2

What a full and wonderful day! Jason started off the morning by walking the students through Proverbs 1 and then having them gather in groups to pray for wisdom. It was a powerful moment. 

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This afternoon we heard from Dr. William Brown on what a worldview is and how it affects everything we do. My favorite quote from his session was, "You may not live what you profess but you will live what you believe." This picture is of Jason and I with Dr. Brown and his wife Lynne. 

In the afternoon we have "activity time/sports time". The staff take it very seriously and use war paint. 

Jason leading the students in a discussion on what the had heard and gleaned from the sessions today.

All in all, fabulous day! 

Summit Day 1

What a joy to watch the students arrive today! The quiet college campus is now a buzz of activity. Students ages 16-21 arrived from all over. Including parts of Canada and one girl from Maui. It was a blast to spend dinner going up to different tables and meeting the eclectic group of students that God has brought together.

We went to church this morning at Grace Bible Church of Dayton. The southern accents were thick, the people genuine and the worship definitely had a country twang.  

Jason is an incredible husband. Even while trying to focus on Summit and what needed to be done he still brought me a bouquet/weed of yellow daisies. 

It has been a complete joy getting to know the other staffers. They did a GREAT job with registration today. 

Jason knocked it out of the park greeting the students this evening and walking the through the schedule. The funniest moment was when he introduced me as "Elizabeth Knopp". Nice to know that I'm not the only one that forgets we are married.  

Here is a picture of our delightful townhouse. We are so blessed to have such a beautiful place to stay these two weeks. It's 3x bigger then our current apartment. We are really enjoying the space and ability to spread out. 

Tomorrow is the first full day. We are hearing from Sean McDowell and Dr. Brown. Can't wait! 

Summit Tennessee

We are so excited to be here at Summit Tennesse for the next two weeks. It is my first time traveling and participating in a conference with the position of "Jason's wife". Jason is the faculty host for Summit Tennessee. He will be introducing speakers, starting the mornings off and engaging with students as much as possible. I have to admit, being the wife is pretty chill, I think I am going to like it.  

We drove straight from Minnesota to Tennessee yesterday. It took as a total of 18 hours. We left at 4am and arrived at 11pm. We are road trip rock stars. 

Summit Tennessee is being held at Bryan College which is Jason's alma mater. It's been fun to see the campus through his eyes. Getting to know the other Summit staffers has been great! They have been here prepping for the conference the last three days.  

 Jason has spent most of the day praying, thinking and writing notes on the Summit schedule. It's his job to help the conference flow smoothly and help the student's grasp the "bigger picture". Prayers appreciated as he tackles his new faculty role.

We spent a portion of this evening praying with the Summit staff over each of the 300+ student notebooks in the auditorium. 

I did a double take when they handed me our name tags. I still forget that I am "Elizabeth Poarch" and that I am from Minnesota. However, I do like having matching name tags. That makes me very happy.