1. Where was your first official date? Z Tejas on 6th Street, she didn’t think it was going to be a serious date, but it was and we had a great time!
2. What was Rachel wearing the first time you met her (be specific!)? Probably pajama pants and a t-shirt, I am not sure because it was on the bus ride to Crested Butte. I do remember meeting her though, Stevie and I were standing outside of the bus, she was late and her dad had to chase the bus and drop her off. She was really tired. I remember everyone talking about her before we even knew who she was, she sounded like a cool girl!
3. What were you wearing when you proposed (be specific!)? Jeans and a red tshirt, she was in a white summer dress
4. How old was Rachel when she got her first kiss? Hmm, 10th grade when she became a woman?
5. What is Rachel's favorite movie? She loves all movies, but one of her favorites would be Love Actually
6. Who is the better cook? Who is the ONLY cook, RACHEL!!
7. When Richmond was little, what did he want to be when he grew up? A pro soccer player of course.
8. If Rachel could visit anywhere in the world, where would she like to go? Not Aisa! Probably Africa again
9. How many months into dating did you realize Rachel was the one? I knew before we were dating, ask her about the akward times that I tried to get her to tell me she liked me and me saying things when we were just friends like, “ do you ever think that God just made us for eachother”
10. Who said "I love you" first? Me, and then I took it back because she didn’t say it back right away! She gives me a hard time about that!
11. What was your most recent fight about? I really cant remember! Maybe on Valentines Day, ask her about that!
12. What is Richmond's favorite food? Beef of all varieties.
13. Who liked who first? I liked her way before she would even think about liking me.
14. What is Richmond's most often used nickname for Rachel? June
15. Who was Richmond's childhood best friend? Lance
16. What type of pet would Rachel like to have once you start a family? Dog, westly terrior
17. What is Rachel's best quality? Her heart. She loves me and others so well, she is so caring and kind, and wants to help as many people as she can.
18. Who wants to have kids sooner than the other? We hate kids.
19. What was Richmond's favorite toy as a child? Clip-Clop, My Buddie, Legos
20. What has been the hardest part about planning your wedding? Music
21. What is the most romantic thing Richmond has done for Rachel? There are so many to choose from….hehe….I guess the night of our engagement
22. Who will keep the house cleaner, Richmond or Rachel? Different in different ways, I am more organized but don’t like doing dishes or putting my dirty socks where they go.
23. When you have a family of your own, where do you want to live? Austin.
24. What is Rachel's favorite hobby/pastime? Dress shopping, reading, horseback riding, hanging out at the lake, laying out
25. What color of hair will your kids have? Boys will have red because Rachel doesn’t want them to, our girls will be blonde.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
About Richmond
I was born and raises in Texas. The way I see it, that's the way it should be for every boy. My apologies to anyone who did not have this amazing experience. I have lived in the same house since I was one years old, and now love going back to visit. As you can imagine, I have a lot of my childhood memories there. We are also blessed to have many of the same neighbors for all these years, so it truly has been a very stable place to grow up.
I grew to love the outdoors. I could always find something to do outside, from sports, to riding bikes, to working in the yard; I loved it. There is a creek behind our house, and it happened to connect with two of my best friends homes. It was a fun place to play. I was outside so much in fact that in my pre teen years my mom would tell me i smelled like the "great outdoors"! (rachel sometimes says the same thing to this day). I grew to love the heat, and still enjoy being outside as much as possible. During college, I enjoyed 110 degree heat during two a days, and always could rely on Barton Springs if it did get to warm for comfort. On a hot day, it will still be the same chilly 68 degrees. Or you could find me on Lake Austin, where I could be found wakeboarding, sun tanning in a cove, or, far too often, trying to get my boat running again while stranded in the middle of the lake.
Growing up, I did a couple of things every summer. These things included going to church camp at Mt. Lebanon with First Baptist Dallas Church, travel to Hattiesburg Mississippi to visit my grandparents, attend a soccer camp of some sort, and go to South Padre Island for the last week of summer. I have great memories doing all of these things, and spending time with family was always enjoyable.
I went to Garland High School, where I played golf, tennis, soccer, and football. I enjoyed all of the sports, but decided to pursue football in college. I walked on the University of Texas football team my first year, and was able to stick it out for five of the most rewarding years of my life.
I am so excited about entering this new phase of my life, taking Rachel as my bride and California as my new home. I am excited about what God has in store for Rachel and me in these next couple of very special years.
I grew to love the outdoors. I could always find something to do outside, from sports, to riding bikes, to working in the yard; I loved it. There is a creek behind our house, and it happened to connect with two of my best friends homes. It was a fun place to play. I was outside so much in fact that in my pre teen years my mom would tell me i smelled like the "great outdoors"! (rachel sometimes says the same thing to this day). I grew to love the heat, and still enjoy being outside as much as possible. During college, I enjoyed 110 degree heat during two a days, and always could rely on Barton Springs if it did get to warm for comfort. On a hot day, it will still be the same chilly 68 degrees. Or you could find me on Lake Austin, where I could be found wakeboarding, sun tanning in a cove, or, far too often, trying to get my boat running again while stranded in the middle of the lake.
Growing up, I did a couple of things every summer. These things included going to church camp at Mt. Lebanon with First Baptist Dallas Church, travel to Hattiesburg Mississippi to visit my grandparents, attend a soccer camp of some sort, and go to South Padre Island for the last week of summer. I have great memories doing all of these things, and spending time with family was always enjoyable.
I went to Garland High School, where I played golf, tennis, soccer, and football. I enjoyed all of the sports, but decided to pursue football in college. I walked on the University of Texas football team my first year, and was able to stick it out for five of the most rewarding years of my life.
I am so excited about entering this new phase of my life, taking Rachel as my bride and California as my new home. I am excited about what God has in store for Rachel and me in these next couple of very special years.
Reccomendation for Rachel
Dear Scholarship Selection Committee:
I am writing to recommend Rachel Shaheen for one of the Alumni/ae Merit Scholarships. Rachel is an outstanding young woman—personable, caring, bright and attractive. My wife and I met her through our son when they were both students at the University of Texas. We have known her for three years and watched her maintain a healthy balance while achieving success in academic, social, emotional, and spiritual areas of her life. In addition to being an A student and outgoing, she is in top physical shape—she is running a marathon in Los Angeles this weekend!
Rachel is attending Fuller Seminary because of her deep interest in helping others overcome some of life’s tough obstacles. This desire to help others comes at least in part from her personal experience of deep grief and family dysfunction. When Rachel was in elementary school, she watched her two-year-old brother go through a lengthy illness which resulted in his death. This experience greatly shook the whole family; eventually, when Rachel left for college, her parents divorced. By God’s grace, she was able to find personal solace and salvation in Christ who, in time, enabled her to respond to these severe circumstances victoriously. Her mother, father and younger sister all began to look to Rachel for counsel, comfort, support and stability—and she was able to give it to them.
This experience helped lay the groundwork in her heart to help others respond to grief, tragedy, and difficult personal circumstances. She experienced the devastation personally, yet also experienced healing. Her heart is tender with a desire to help others do the same.
In college, Rachel began finding ways to express her desire to come alongside others who were experiencing pain. She became a volunteer leader in Young Life, going back into high schools and assisting the full-time workers, then becoming a staff member herself after graduation. She continued to find herself drawn to those who needed a listening ear and heart, and much of her ministry centered on those with particular hurts and concerns.
My wife Bonnie and I have seen Rachel’s ministering heart on two occasions recently as she has partnered with us in our ministry with Campus Crusade for Christ. She was an adult sponsor with Bonnie in taking 50 African-American teens to Kids Across America camp (part of the Kanakkuk-Kanakomo family of Christian sports camps in Missouri). Rachel knows no ethnic boundaries and is warm and open with anyone. Some of the teens come from particularly troubled homes, and during the week many sought out conversations and prayer with Rachel for their difficult situations. Rachel has an unusual ability to quickly make people feel safe and loved in her presence. Then she tops that off by finding ways to offer specific help.
After ministering to these inner-city teens, she joined us as a worker at a national conference our ministry hosts in Washington, D.C. for Christian faculty from secular universities. For those professors and staff who choose to bring their children to the conference, we offer childcare and Rachel was one of our workers. She planned and directed our program for teenagers and once again, teens and their parents were quickly comfortable with her leadership and her care for the teens. It wasn’t long before these teens began to seek out Rachel’s counsel for various areas in which they were struggling. It’s as if she wears a sign that says “I understand, I care, Let’s talk!”
God has given Rachel personality strengths which will aid her professional contribution to assist others in their mental health. She is by nature optimistic and cheerful, and just enjoys people with all their differences. Rachel likes being with people, and they like being with her. Her own family and extended family has an interesting mixture of types of people and backgrounds, which has served to broaden her definitions of “what people should be like.” People don’t feel any condemnation around Rachel because they might be different from a perceived norm.
I believe that Rachel has aligned her God-given abilities with her own self-discipline and character to become a person that God can use as His instrument to help others. She digs hard into His word and looks to Him as her primary source of strength and wisdom. This is what will give Rachel the ability to serve God as a professional in the field of mental health. Her personal faith in Christ has been tried and found to be strong. She knows how to draw on Him herself, and she desires to increase her ability to draw others to Him in the midst of their pain.
A scholarship to help Rachel pursue this God-inspired passion to help others would be a wise investment, which I believe will give you a hundred-fold return. Bonnie and I would unreservedly recommend her and believe she certainly exhibits unusual potential for contributing to the field of Christian mental health after graduation. If you have any questions or need any further information, please don’t hesitate to call or ask.
Sincerely,
Richard L. McGee
National Director for Development,
Conferences and Events
I am writing to recommend Rachel Shaheen for one of the Alumni/ae Merit Scholarships. Rachel is an outstanding young woman—personable, caring, bright and attractive. My wife and I met her through our son when they were both students at the University of Texas. We have known her for three years and watched her maintain a healthy balance while achieving success in academic, social, emotional, and spiritual areas of her life. In addition to being an A student and outgoing, she is in top physical shape—she is running a marathon in Los Angeles this weekend!
Rachel is attending Fuller Seminary because of her deep interest in helping others overcome some of life’s tough obstacles. This desire to help others comes at least in part from her personal experience of deep grief and family dysfunction. When Rachel was in elementary school, she watched her two-year-old brother go through a lengthy illness which resulted in his death. This experience greatly shook the whole family; eventually, when Rachel left for college, her parents divorced. By God’s grace, she was able to find personal solace and salvation in Christ who, in time, enabled her to respond to these severe circumstances victoriously. Her mother, father and younger sister all began to look to Rachel for counsel, comfort, support and stability—and she was able to give it to them.
This experience helped lay the groundwork in her heart to help others respond to grief, tragedy, and difficult personal circumstances. She experienced the devastation personally, yet also experienced healing. Her heart is tender with a desire to help others do the same.
In college, Rachel began finding ways to express her desire to come alongside others who were experiencing pain. She became a volunteer leader in Young Life, going back into high schools and assisting the full-time workers, then becoming a staff member herself after graduation. She continued to find herself drawn to those who needed a listening ear and heart, and much of her ministry centered on those with particular hurts and concerns.
My wife Bonnie and I have seen Rachel’s ministering heart on two occasions recently as she has partnered with us in our ministry with Campus Crusade for Christ. She was an adult sponsor with Bonnie in taking 50 African-American teens to Kids Across America camp (part of the Kanakkuk-Kanakomo family of Christian sports camps in Missouri). Rachel knows no ethnic boundaries and is warm and open with anyone. Some of the teens come from particularly troubled homes, and during the week many sought out conversations and prayer with Rachel for their difficult situations. Rachel has an unusual ability to quickly make people feel safe and loved in her presence. Then she tops that off by finding ways to offer specific help.
After ministering to these inner-city teens, she joined us as a worker at a national conference our ministry hosts in Washington, D.C. for Christian faculty from secular universities. For those professors and staff who choose to bring their children to the conference, we offer childcare and Rachel was one of our workers. She planned and directed our program for teenagers and once again, teens and their parents were quickly comfortable with her leadership and her care for the teens. It wasn’t long before these teens began to seek out Rachel’s counsel for various areas in which they were struggling. It’s as if she wears a sign that says “I understand, I care, Let’s talk!”
God has given Rachel personality strengths which will aid her professional contribution to assist others in their mental health. She is by nature optimistic and cheerful, and just enjoys people with all their differences. Rachel likes being with people, and they like being with her. Her own family and extended family has an interesting mixture of types of people and backgrounds, which has served to broaden her definitions of “what people should be like.” People don’t feel any condemnation around Rachel because they might be different from a perceived norm.
I believe that Rachel has aligned her God-given abilities with her own self-discipline and character to become a person that God can use as His instrument to help others. She digs hard into His word and looks to Him as her primary source of strength and wisdom. This is what will give Rachel the ability to serve God as a professional in the field of mental health. Her personal faith in Christ has been tried and found to be strong. She knows how to draw on Him herself, and she desires to increase her ability to draw others to Him in the midst of their pain.
A scholarship to help Rachel pursue this God-inspired passion to help others would be a wise investment, which I believe will give you a hundred-fold return. Bonnie and I would unreservedly recommend her and believe she certainly exhibits unusual potential for contributing to the field of Christian mental health after graduation. If you have any questions or need any further information, please don’t hesitate to call or ask.
Sincerely,
Richard L. McGee
National Director for Development,
Conferences and Events
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