Meredith Tipton

mtipton

Meredith Tipton

Hey friends!
I am a student at the University of Cincinnati, majoring in Secondary Education and English with a certificate in Arabic Language and Culture.
This summer, I will be traveling to Burlington, Vermont for a summer training program through the Navigators. Along with almost 50 other students from all over the country, I will be gaining leadership skills and building intentional communities in the city.
Will you join me on this exciting journey?

To get to Vermont for the summer, I'll need a team of people who are willing to join me in prayer and give financially. I need to raise at least $2500 for the program, rooming, food, and gas. Some ways to consider giving include providing for a few miles of the trip ($4 per mile), an hour of the car ride to Vermont ($156 per hour), or a day of the program ($45 per day).

To give electronically, you can go to the Navs website
and choose the amount you would like to donate. Giving through Navigators is secure, and the website allows you to view and print receipts, update your contact info, print tax statements, and manage your profile.

Thanks for your support, and enjoy reading about my adventures!

Let Me Go Home! Home Is Wherever I'm with You

North America » United States » Ohio » Lebanon August 10th 2012

GMS Banquet

mtipton

GMS' end They all warned me about it: the misery that comes with leaving a summer training program. Refusing to say "goodbye" to anyone, only saying "goodnight," I left my last night of GMS on a note of denial. Two hours of sleep later, and Emily and I were on our way out for the 14-hour drive that awaited us. Before we could leave, however, we were comforted and sent on our way by the Goodbye Crew that stayed up all night to see everyone off. We happened to be some of the first people to leave (besides poor Ashley whose early flight back to Arizona meant she had to leave around 3:00). The tears that flowed partially from the insanity from no sleep, partially from grief over the end of GMS were overwhelming enough to ... read more

Your Love Is a Song

North America » United States » Vermont » Burlington July 6th 2012

Piermont Congregational Church

mtipton

a sweeter song This past weekend was Men's and Women's Weekend. Obviously, I was part of the latter aspect of the weekend. We women traveled about 1 1/2 hours toward Piermont, New Hampshire. Once we reached the "Welcome to New Hampshire" sign, we had one more mile to go before we reached our destination. We stayed in the basement of a church, Piermont Congregational Church. When we arrived, we got settled and were led in worship by the lovely Karen Pankratz and Mallory Bayles. My team leader, Meg, led discussion about the topic which I described in my last blog post: the idea of asking "who" God is when approaching scripture. She explained an example of how to base a quiet time on the question of "who?" It was most easily applicable to Gospel stories in ... read more

Losing My Religion

North America » United States » Vermont » Burlington June 26th 2012

mtipton

Let me clarify before I unfold the past 2 weeks since I last blogged that the title of this entry is only related to the R.E.M. song in a small way. I don't fully understand the symbolism of the video or of the lyrics. I relate this entry only to the title of the song. That being said, update Two weekends ago, June 15-17, my team went to Boston for team weekend. While there, we visited Newbury Street, where we window-shopped and enjoyed a delicious lunch at Trident Bookstore. Eating lunch in a bookstore is probably on the list of most awesome things I've done. We then proceeded to walk to Harvard Square (yes, we walked, not taking the T...great exercise!) and ate lunch in the North End the next day. We stayed with a family ... read more

Today is the Day to Act Like Today is Your Day and You Will be Surprised That it is, That it is

North America » United States » Vermont » Burlington June 13th 2012

mtipton

So, as Apollo Sunshine suggests, today is my day! Why? Because I say so. actual reasoning behind my conclusion After spending almost a week here in Burlington, I've already learned a lot about the program here, GMS, about other people in the program, people in the city, and about myself. Some of the main components of GMS include the following: Nav Night on Monday: this is equivalent to Large Group (for UC Navs) mixed with Leadership. We start out with worship (by some REALLY talented musicians) and had a PSA this week reminding us to take better care of Jeanne Mance (the dorm on UVM's campus in which we are living). After worship and the PSA that was well-crafted by three goofy guys (including 2 team leaders), we moved onto the more familiar aspect of Large ... read more

Let's Go to the Beach, Each, Let's Go Get Away

North America » United States » Vermont » Burlington June 10th 2012

mtipton

As the title suggests, today was a day at the beach. I apologize for getting the song stuck in your head if you watched the video...and for your suffering through watching a Nicki Minaj video. This song has been sung more than 3 times daily since I arrived in Burlington, so I suppose it's only fair that the rest of you experience a bit of my stuck-in-the-head misery. on another note Last night was by FAR the most fantastic date night I have ever experienced. Date? I'm dating someone? What's his name? It wasn't an actual awkward one-on-one, let's try to push the relationship another step forward then DTR at the end kind of date. At GMS, character-building is probably the most prominent goal for the summer; to grow more into the character of Christ within ... read more

Yesterday...All My Troubles Seemed So Far Away

North America » United States » Vermont » Burlington June 8th 2012

mtipton

Finally here! the trip Emily and I left after her final ended Wednesday at 2:00. After running some last-minute errands and grabbing forgotten items, we hit the road out of Cincinnati. She drove the entire distance across Ohio to Cleveland when we ate at a Wendy's, at which we ate basically everything on the menu. I continued the drive through Pennsylvania and into New York, where we drove until 1:00 to get to Utica, where the lovely Red Roof Inn was waiting for us to catch some desperately-needed Z's. Once we cought said Z's, we left the town with the intention of getting to Vermont with the 4 hours we supposedly had left of the trip. As per usual, God's sense of humor was overwhelming (and just fan-stinkin-tasticly timed) as we went 50+ miles in the ... read more

Love Me Tomorrow, Won't You Please Promise Me?

North America » United States » Ohio » Cincinnati June 5th 2012

mtipton

So, as the Chicago lyrics of the title suggest, tomorrow is an important day. Emily and I leave for Vermont at 3:00 tomorrow. My last final is today at 2:00, and I have plenty to prepare and pack for my 15 hour trip and 2-month-long stay. It finally hit me this morning at work (where I currently am) that today is my last full day in Cinci until fall semester... updates Although we're leaving tomorrow, fundraising is still in process. My first payment deadline is Thursday (it was technically last Sunday, May 27) when I arrive in Vermont. I am expected to have raised $825 by this deadline. As of today, there is $457.82 in my account. It's been exciting checking my account and seeing the names and amounts that people have been donating! It's incredible ... read more

Now I'm Ready to Start

North America » United States » Ohio » Cincinnati May 25th 2012

mtipton

NOTE: This first post contains A LOT of details about my journey, and will probably be the only post as lengthy and descriptive. A few people asked about the specifics of the trip and why I chose to go to Vermont for the summer, so feel free to skip over any boring details, with a voice like Charlie Brown's teacher "waa waa waaa wa waaaa" in your head if you'd like. genesis This journey begins with a nudge from my friend, Katy Dietz, encouraging me to apply for a summer training program, specifically Green Mountain Summer in Vermont, the program of which she was a part last summer. After considering and praying about this opportunity, along with some other options, the decision was made: I would be going to Vermont for the summer. I was excited ... read more

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