Mardi Gras Outreach

Just a quick reminder: (if you are interested in the details, contact Matt -504.909.1428- or JohnRoger -504.439.0372-)

Friday: Party & Parades in Metairie

Saturday: Work projects in Waveland, MS and Chalmette, LA

Sunday: Worship gathering and work project in New Orleans

Monday: Work project in New Orleans

Tuesday: Uptown parade(s) and a shindig of some sort

Laissez le bon temps roulet!

The Gathering & Mexico

It's that time of the month again! Time to gather Chi Alpha friends from all over the city: Xavier, Tulane, UNO, Loyola, Delgado (maybe even some new friends...), and reconnect with each other while connecting with God.
Next Monday at Loyola, The Gathering will be in full force-music, discussion, a challenging message, and more! You'll find us in Octavia I & II of the Danna Center (click for map) from 7-8:45pm. Octavia is upstairs - we'll have signs.

Also, it's time to get ready for our 3rd annual service and outreach trip to Mexico. We're returning to Rancho de sus Ninos 29 July - 5 August. Kelly Cabrera is leading the trip, and is accepting applicants now. Contact Kelly, or someone you know who has gone before for more details about the trip. A few details and the application is available here.
View last year's pics here.

Weekly Update: ACTION, Baby!

Friday & Mardi Gras Weekend, we are back in action.

Project One:
Cleaning and Organizing at the School of Urban Missions in Gretna (West Bank). This little school has been a hub of relief and rebuilding efforts since four days after Katrina. They continue to distribute food and more, and to house and organize rebuilding teams every week. We will leave the uptown campuses in the 2-3pm vicinity and work for 3.5 to four hours organizing some relief items, and doing some cleaning to help keep the operations running smoothly. It's totally behind the scenes work, but absolutely necessary to keep the more glamorous, yet dirty work of rebuilding rolling.

Project Two:
Cleaning up an elderly gentleman's yard in uptown (Valmont & Dryade). He had just moved back into this home from a nursing home three weeks before Katrina, and needs some help keeping up the lawn, etc...

Please RSVP is you would like to join us. We need to know how many people we have. ..oh, and bring a friend or two, eh?

Mardi Gras:
We've got a weekend of service and celebration planned for Mardi Gras; it's going to be amazing! You don't want to miss it.

2/24: One of our members (Stephen Daigle) will be riding in a Metairie parade. Deanna and I will have a party at our house that day and then walk to the parade to catch some beads from Stephen.

2/25: Waveland, MS: We'll take a team over to Waveland, MS to help John Roger & Brian's parents tear down the barn that collapsed so that they can get to their tools.

Chalmette, LA: Another team will go to Chalmette to help gut a flood ravaged house that same day. Lunch will be provided!

2/26: Chi Alpha doing church. We will be helping a friend of ours gut his mom's house in Eastern N.O. But before we do, we will experience and worship God in the midst of devestation by having a worship service at the property that morning.

2/27: Greater New Orleans Teen Challenge: This is a substance abuse rehabilitation center that was destroyed by the storm. We will be helping to rebuild this important resource to our city.

2/28: Mardi Gras! ! ; We will go catch a day parade in New Orleans. Afterwards we will possibly help pick up trash with the Katrina Krewe. Then Matt and Jen are hosting a party at their house. The night will conclude with an introduction to the time of Lent: what are Fat Tuesday and Ash Wednesday all about, and how can they positively impact our spiritual lives?

pic: the team at St. Luke's Christian Church on Saturday, 4 February

Blog of the Week 13.Feb.06

Hello, again. Blog of the Week is still rolling, but I feel like it's losing steam. The goal is to promote interactivity on the nolaxa site, and to introduce folks from the Chi Alpha community to the world wide web, as well as put some quality thoughts and/or entertainment out for your enjoyment. Well, interactivity is supported solely by Karla, and my part in this is starting to feel like a chore. If you are a fan of Blog of the Week please go to the comments section of this post, and let your voice be heard.
Save Blog of the Week!???

ok, Laura wins again.
Of course, she should, as journalism is a projected part of her future. :)

Friday, February 10, 2006

When I was a young reader (), I loved loved the Choose Your Own Adventure series. I firmly believed that you could only read up until you reach your doom...or whatever...but I had friends who would keep choosing other adventures and they reached all possible outcomes....(sorry if you have no idea what I'm talking about!) Anyways, when nolaxa went to Florida State to help their XA group, there was one day when Crystal and I were help cleaning out shelves all day (goooood times!) And a guy who was with us asked, "Do you believe there is one right person out there for everyone?" And I wanted to say, "Yes, of course!" But he said, "Wouldn't it be unfair for God to expect us to find and recognize that one person out of all the people we meet in a lifetime?" And that one conversation changed my mind about the issue. Feel free to disagree if you can think of a better argument.... So, I don't know why, but I've been applying this revelation to other things...like maybe "God's will" is not a school, job, or place...but a state of being...a choice every morning to give the day given to us to back to God, in whatever form that takes...personally, I think that there are still bad, good, better and best choices...we can in fact, "settle" for something less fulfilling than something else...He hasn't left us in the dark, He will give us guidance if we ask Him...but He's given us the choice... I guess what I'm getting at is that it suddenly occured to me that if all goes well, I have 60 years ahead of me...(yes, I was in class at the time I started thinking about this)...that's a really long blank page in front of me...and yes, there is one way to God and that is through Christ, but everything else is a Choose Your Own Adventure book...and I don't want to settle for just "good" or even "better" choices... All that said, God has really been speaking to me this week about my future, which is really weird, because I was just telling some people that I "have no idea" what I wanna do with my life...but I think I will keep those thoughts between me and Him for now...I don't want to end up like Joseph ...not that God showed me you guys would bow before me or anything lol...but I kinda like having secrets with God so I will enjoy that for a while...

Romeo v. Juliet

[Announcement: The Satellites button above is now fully functional.]


Valentines Day is next Tuesday, the holiday of love...
Celebrate with us "MO style" with a good old fashioned "Battle of the Sexes" at Tulane's Monroe Hall - 4th floor lounge!
Festivities start at 8:00pm, and will include a chocolate fountain, a showdown for the ages, prizes for the winners, as well as some other less tense board and card game competition.

Action: Next Week

~Soaringwords~
Come deliver pillows and quilts to kids who are in the hospital with Hillel and Soaringwords.
When: Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Time: 11:30-1:30 p.m.
Where: Children's Hospital
Meet at Hillel (912 Broadway) at 10:45 a.m. to go over to the hospital.
Must RSVP if you want transportation to the event!
For more information or to sign up please contact Ilyse, Community Relations Coordinator, at ilyse@tulane.edu.
(*Limited space available so PLEASE sign up as soon as possible if you are interested).

Friday Project is in the making.
Chi Alpha is planning our second February group project for next Friday, the 17th. Check back for details by Monday or Tuesday. We'll likely be organizing at a distribution center, or cleaning out a home.

Blog of the Week 6.Feb.06

Well, there was not a lot of activity on the Chi Alpha New Orleans xanga blogring this past week: it was either give blog of the week to myself or to Laura, again, so I decided on a guest blog of the week.

"Brevity is the soul of wit."
Here is Mrs. Becky Callaway, Chi Alpha Director at LSU:

Monday, February 06, 2006

	I like and want to be more like this: "My goal is God Himself, not joy nor peace nor even blessing, but Himself, my God." -Oswald Chambers

Some Schedule Adjustments FYI

Hey, just a couple slight changes, so you show up at the right places at the right times:

Loyola Ladies: Satellite group has moved back to Wednesdays. Meet at New Res (Carollton) at 6:15pm. Call Laura if you have any trouble finding them, or make it late -985.768.0639

Tulane Prayer Gathering has moved locations for this week (potentially permanently): this Thursday we'll be praying in the faculty lounge in Newcomb Hall (room 114): climb up the big steps facing the quad, turn left in the hallway once inside, and the room will be on your left.

Loyola Prayer Gathering will be a prayer walk on Monday the 6th. Meetup at Iggy by 7:00pm or call Matt -504.909.1428 or Laura.

Tulane-Paterson Hall Satellite still will meet on Monday nights, but has pushed back to 8:30pm and up to the 3rd floor lounge.

Over and out!