How to Eat Fried Deer

(I know it's actually called venison.   "Fried deer" is just so fun to say.)  

Last night we had the privilege of hosing a "Beast Feast" at our home.   My only job was to do some tidying up and then get the girls out of the house.  No room for estrogen at this manly soiree.  

I did manage to sneak a few photos, though. 

Cinderell-o sweeping up.   Trent is a wonderful cook and a pretty good cleaner. I wish I could hire him on a regular basis.   

Trent's brother drove down to help with the pre-feast work.  Thanks Uncle Bradley!

 

More importantly, Bradley recruited his friend Kyle to prepare and cook.  

Kyle is like the Julia Child of wild game.  

Thanks, Kyle!  We couldn't have done it without you!

Mmmmmm.....quail wrapped in bacon. 

A little closer look at that bacon......

Thanks for the quail and pheasant, Jim B.!

 
 

The venison in the buttermilk batter.   So very Southern.  

Thanks for the venison, Bo!

And what do we have here? 

Venison stew.  Nice and steamy.  

And, yes, many moons ago we bought this table from Dollar General for $15. We're just keeping the price tag on it to add a touch of class to all of our get-togethers.

The tasty charred remains of an enormous wild hog shot by our friend Bo. 

The men gathered. 

They ate.  

And they stood around with full bellies.  

We girls made it back just in time to do a little chowing ourselves.  

To read the full story behind this event, visit http://www.gtcrossroads.blogspot.com/ later today. 

Slinky Day

Saturday + a link to a good article = Slinky Day.  

A friend from college, Chrystal, posted this link on her FB page tonight http://www.worldmag.com/articles/17198.    I particularly loved that, while everyone else was posting about college football (it was a big, messy day in the SEC), Chrystal was posting about the glory of God.  What a rebel!

I'm not necessarily anti-football, but it's easy in the South to get a lot more excited about football than about God (yes, the God of the Universe)-- or at least it's easier to express our excitement about football than it is to express our excitement about God. 

  

I'm not ashamed to say that my own family enjoyed the thrill of the Georgia Tech homecoming festivities today......old and new friends were gathered in anticipation, the drum line was pounding out one fantastic rhythm after another, college girls were were fabulous in combinations of gold, white, and navy. 

Our hearts were thumping. We were all eagerly awaiting the arrive of the officer-escorted football team.    We didn't know when, exactly, they would be there, though.   It was "any minute" for a long time. 

Then it caught us off guard.  Suddenly, the authorities swooped in, sirens blaring and lights flashing.  These "heroes" filed, almost regally,  off the motorcoach, into the stadium. 

It was a big deal, and we had fun getting caught up in it all.  

But it whets my appetite for an even bigger deal, and the arrival of Someone even better! 

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,

The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;

The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,

Even so, it is well with my soul.

A Fresh Perspective

Speaking of perspective......Trent was gone over the weekend to an event planned to give college students a little perspective.  The event was called:

They got away, indeed.  And they may have frozen a little bit (one student, who left his tootsies au naturale in an open-air cabin,  actually started experiencing frost bite symptoms -- we are thankful that all ten digits are still intact and attached).

For the most part, though, the students and campus ministry staff found the cool weather refreshing, and they enjoyed having their minds and hearts refreshed as well.   It always surprises me how much leaving your daily surroundings, even for a few hours, can impart valuable perspective.  

Like us, many of our students spend every day of the week in the concrete jungle.   And like it or not, the din of trucks, horns, and sirens is the soundtrack accompanying our daily lives. 

Add to this the reality that (in the city) we are constantly interacting with strangers, but we have little time to spend with people we actually know, and getting away to the country for two days with real friends becomes quite a treat.

The staff and students on Fall Getaway got to do this: 

and this (notice the green space): 

and this, and this and this: 

And of course, they were able to soak in hours of God's Word, brought to them by:

Justin.  

The fun connection with Justin is that he came to know the Lord when he was a student involved in our ministry (back in the 1900s :-)).   About 13 years have passed since then, and Justin, along with his wife and son, is now planting a church not too far from us.  What a privilege it is to see God change Justin's life and now change the lives of others through him!

But back to Fall Getaway.    The students gathered.  

   They listened, took notes, sang, prayed, and meditated.   Sorry -- no photo of those activities!

But I do have photos of these activities:  

Not sure what's going on here, but the guy at the mic is named Cecil.  The girl in the white hoodie seems amused, so I'm guessing that Cecil is saying something funny.  

And I don't know this guy's name, but I do know that those bags he's sporting don't even remotely qualify as "man bags."  Sorry, guy.  It looks like he's having fun, though.  Way to be a good sport, Guy Wearing Purses! 

As Trent was looking at the pictures on this post, he started telling story after story about these students....of lives changed, students praying for unbelieving parents, students sharing Christ in hard places.....of the Lord and His work.   

You can find some of those stories soon on his blog:  GTcrossroads.blogspot.com

Orphans

Last Friday morning Trent and I had the rare opportunity to go to the gym on campus together. S and L were at school. K was at parents' morning out. And Trent and I actually had a conversation or two. It was amazing!

After we had worked out hard for thirty five minutes or so (we're total animals), we strolled through the gym lobby which overlooks the fitness area.

I took a deep breath and said, "All of our kids are in school right now. Wow!" And Trent looked down at the empty treadmills and said, "Yeah. I guess they all have ten o'clock classes."

I laughed. "No, I mean our biological children are in school. But yes, it looks like our Georgia Tech children are somewhere else too."

Our exchange reminded me of God's specific ministry call on our lives. Why did He compel us (the McEntyres), four years ago, to leave a great neighborhood and lots of friends in order to live one block from Georgia Tech? Was it just for the 'cool' city life? (We actually prefer the country.) Was it for a better house? (Our current house is older than our first....and has bars on the windows.) Was it for the 'night life'? (Umm....I'm in bed by 10pm.)

God moved us down here to be spiritual parents. He called us to be father and mother to students who have no Christian father and mother. He called us to pray for students who have no praying parents. He called us to preach the Word to students who have never seen their biological parents open a Bible.

God moved us down here to minister to the spiritual orphans of Georgia Tech. He sets the lonely in families (Ps. 68:6).

Of course we won't even meet all the spiritual orphans on this campus of 20,000, but we are called to meet many. Just like caring for biological children, we are called to love these children and lay down our lives for them. And we are thankful that we don't do this alone......we are just a small part of Go

d's plan for this campus.

Please join us in praying for the spiritual orphans of Georgia Tech. Pray that by the time they graduate and become the leaders of our city, nation, and world, many will know the love of the true Father.

"But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons." Galatians 4:4&5

One Body, Many Parts



Nagib and Trent

 ""Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it...." This beautiful passage in 1 Corinthians 12 goes on to describe the body of Christ as made up of "apostles, prophets, teachers..." etc.

What about grillers? College students are hungry, and we often find ourselves praying, teaching, and feeding them into the Kingdom (by the Lord's grace).

This also reminds me of 1 Corinthians 9:23 "I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some." Please pray that we would live sacrificially among college students that some might be saved for the Lord's glory!