Where Are They Now?

Joe Blum, Communications, 2005

Sarah Blum, English, 2005

Involvement in NLCF: I (Sara) started going to NLCF when I was a sophomore in high school. I would go on Sundays with my brother who was leading a home group and got more involved as the years went by. During my time at NLCF, I attended LT, led three life groups, a home group and hosted a study group for women around the book “Making Peace with Your Past.”  And I met my husband! Joe started going to NLCF his freshman year and led life groups, home group and was a famed “announcement guy” with John Irwin. He went to two LTs and was an intern at one.

Since Graduation: After graduation I spent a year in Santa Cruz with my best friend Shana Siler studying for my GREs and working. I decided to go to UC Longbeach to get my MA in English and moved to Los Angeles while I went to graduate school in 2006-2008. Joe went straight out to Los Angeles after college and dabbled in the film business. On December 31, 2007 we got married and after I finished graduate school we moved to Syracuse, NY for Joe to attend SU for a MS in photography and multimedia studies. We’ve been in Syracuse for almost three years now and are planning to stay for an unknown amount of time. Joe is starting a business, is heavily involved in the improv comedy community, and is teaching at a community college while I keep bringing home the bacon and supporting him in whatever way I can. We are striving to live in a way that showcases love and welcome to the people in our life.

Dustin James, Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2003

Involvement in NLCF: Someone dropped by my dorm room during the first year as a freshman and invited me to Sunday’s worship service. I went and the rest was history for me. As the years rolled by I got involved in life groups, home groups, and short-term mission trips to Honduras.

Since Graduation: I came with the Los Angeles church planting team from NLCF to California after graduation. I worked for several years as a civil engineer and then joined the Kairos Los Angeles church staff as a part-time member of the team. Lately, as I’m getting older, I’ve been learning to accept who God has made me to be more fully. And the more I accept where I am, who I am, and what I’m doing in God’s service, the less I have been trying to anxiously control my future and my destiny. In short, I’ve been learning the well-worn lesson of contentment.