we actually did it.

Well, we pulled it off!

Yesterday 29 new students (and their parents, siblings, even a grandparent or two) moved onto campus as the newest class of our growing college. 1 more moves in this afternoon.

It was a blessed day. And it's been a crazy several months, weeks, and days leading up.

From scrubbing furniture to hanging pictures to setting up classrooms to organizing orientation schedules/folders/nametags it has been a constant stream of work for many months, growing ever-crazier by the day.

I am grateful, so overwhelmingly grateful, to be part of a team - this team - who loves God and loves students. It brings us to tears (quite literally - my boss choked up during Orientation) that parents would entrust their precious children to us to mold, disciple, shape, challenge and influence for 18 months. It is a weighty responsibility and a privilege. And I love my job.

A couple families pulled me aside yesterday and told me that I am the reason their child is at Rivendell. How humbling. How encouraging. And the truth is that this is so much more than a job for me; this is a calling. God has placed me here to help guide students through the process of transitioning to the next stage, to excellence, to better.

So thankful for a job that calls out my strengths and assembles a team that is strong where I'm not. So thankful for parents and students who are understanding, coworkers who are tireless and unflappable, and friends and family who are supportive -- even when I work 40 hours in 3 days.

Here's to our ever-growing "family" and all the richness therein.

Yep, therein.

never say never

Never say never to God's timing.

I feel like someone needs to hear this today. And maybe it's me.

I just listened to the father of a prospective student tell us the story of his 7 children. 2 are biological, 5 are adopted, and only 2 of those adoptions were "planned," according to Dad. One adoption was finalized in 24 hours. They're not celebrities or millionaires, just regular people who follow the leading of a magnificent God.

At the end of his incredible story of timing, faithfulness, and ways greater than our ways, he said to us: "Never say never. God's timing is always right." How simple. How profound.

Maybe you needed to hear and listen to that message today. Maybe we all do.

SSP

If you haven't caught wind of it yet (which is doubtful because I've orchestrated a veritable fire storm on Twitter, Facebook, and our website), I'm now getting paid to write blogs for my company, Rivendell Sanctuary. It's all very exciting.

This just might be as good as it gets: getting paid to do something you love.

And this is what my blogger friend Allison would call shameless self-promotion, or SSP:

Read our blog (and my introductory post) at: Rivendell Sanctuary Blog.

P.S. There are a record 5 hyperlinks in this post. If you click on all 5, you will not only boost traffic for all of these lovely people and organizations, but you will get a thousand cool points in my book. Win-win, really.

help wanted!

Part of my new job is brainstorming ways to improve our current Facebook ad campaign. Our goal is a high click-through rate.

That's where you come in.

I need to know how you feel about the following questions. Please give me some feedback!

1. Which ad element makes you most likely to click through: headline, image/graphic, or text?

2. In regards to the headline, which is most important: it grabs your attention, it's catchy, it addresses you directly (ex. "Hey YWAMers!")?

3. In regards to the image, which is most important: clarity (recognize what the picture is), relativity (relates to ad subject), color/attention-getting?

4. In regards to the text, which elements are most important: words/phrases, complete sentences, numbers, calendar dates, symbols?

Examples are welcome, as are multiple responses.

Thank you for helping me do my job well!

EDIT: I also need help/resources for SEO information. If you have any links that might explain it/how to do it in non-tech language, I will kiss your hand. Thanks!