Simplifying In Hopes of Success

So, I have no idea if anyone has or ever will read this blog, but that's really besides the point. I committed a month ago that I was going to blog more regularly about life here in College Park with RUF, but I haven't even written since I've been back. So I've decided that every week day morning I'm going to start the day with breakfast, a cup of coffee, and a little blog about the day before. My goal at this point is to at least do this for the next week.

I could say that I haven't been blogging because Maryland has now been out of school for six days due to the recent blizzards, but lets be honest that's a rather lame excuse. I spent the first blizzard in VA with a dear friend, and returned on Monday to an apartment parking lot full of snow. Thank goodness at least one car had left. I felt guilty taking their spot, but didn't really have any other choice than to park in it. The the roads back from VA were pretty awful, so I was just eager to be done with the whole driving mess for awhile.

Tuesday night we had an RUF spaghetti dinner and movie night at Chris's. About 12 individuals, myself included, made the journey on foot over to watch Shawshank Redemption. It was a pretty great evening. Plans were made to go sledding Wednesday at noon, but by the time Wednesday morning rolled around it was snowing hard and there were 20-30 mph winds. Needless to say, we had to push back the sledding time. About seven of us met up at 3:00ish to go sledding and play in the snow. Kellan, Morgan, and I went down the hill about 4 or five times and then hiked off across the field below into a wooded area with a cute little bridge over a stream. This leisurely hike turned out to be quite a workout at the snow was up to our knees and untouched. After wandering through the woods and climbing a tree we headed back to meet up with the guys. At which point they decided to tackle us. Their tackling us led to us all knocking one another over. It really was fun! It was getting dark at this point so we set out for Chris's. The rest of the evening was pretty leisurely, which was so nice since I was for one was exhausted. Thursday.......

Resolutions... Just a fancy way of saying we need to change?

Six days into the New Year, and I have yet to make any "resolutions." Yikes! Sure I've already committed to running more, but that's not really a New Years Resolution. It's more the result of my having signed on to run the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler with a few of my girls. I have ruffly 94 days to get in shape for it, so I've got to get cracking! Before jumping into what my actually, "resolution" is, I want to share a small realization that I had as I was trying to come up with a fitting title for this post. Titles have long since been a struggle for me, so I tend to just ponder them for a while.

As I was pondering a fitting title it hit me that, "resolutions" are really just a fancy way of saying that there is an area in your life in which one needs to change or grow.

Though much of the world would not recognize that it is God who in fact equips and grows us, I was struck by the common theme that resonates throughout mankind. Christians and non-christians alike all recognize we are continually in need of growth and change. If this isn't true, then explain to me why at the beginning of every year millions of people make resolutions? I wish I could communicate this more eloquently, but I fear that I have done this profound realization little justices. While many do not recognize the Lord to exist or have dominion over the earth, I have found as I sit down to write there there is yet another common thread that all image bearers share. It is that most, if not all, recognize year end and year out that they need for grow. Sure our reasons for change may differ, but I attribute it to our common yearn for restoration. We in the christian community recognize that our need for sanctification, or growth, spans all of our lives and being. Perhaps I have stretch this definition a little too far, but I think there is in fact a common thread beneath this yearning for change or new resolutions.

Well, with that all said, my new years resolution is to be more reflective on the work that God is doing and also on what he is calling me to do long term. So for now I will mark this post as the first step in the right direction. I know that only through prayer and mediation on God's word will I see any real change. It is my prayer that God would be growing me in this area of my life. So here you have it. This is my "New Years Resolution," and Lord willing you will be able to see first hand the ways that God will be growing me in this area, through my reflections here as well!

End of the Semester Exam Brunch

Fall Semester 2009 at Maryland was a whirlwind of Christmas parties, final meetings with students, packing for home, an excursion to Annapolis with my trusty Campus Minister Chris & co-intern Patrick that I wasn't even able to find a moment to reflect on the end of the year brunch that Patrick and I hosted. So, almost a month later here it is!

It is often so hard to find gaps in students schedules when they are willing and able to meet, so it was clear that exam week was gone to be a near to impossible time to get with students. So, it was such a blessing that as Patrick and I were walking through Walmart buying things for the RUF Barn Dance in November that upon spotting a griddle, which I've been longing to buy as I love pancakes, I thought "we should through a brunch during finals!" Students are always so busy then and often finish up at different times, so not only do they long for a break from the endless studying but it's also nice to get to see one another before heading out. So with this in mind, Patrick and I decided that we were going to host a brunch for students. At the time I was super excited, but I will be the first to admit that in the days approaching I began to doubt this once brilliant idea. The days leading up to the brunch were packet with a cookie making event at my apartment, the RUF Christmas Party, backing for Nashville and home, and everything else under the sun. I recall going to bed the night before the brunch thinking, "why in the world did I think this was a good idea!" We had 17 people RSVPd for brunch the following day in my two bedroom apartment, and all I could think was, "this is a great idea, but I'm not even going to get to talk to any students because I'll be so busy making food!" As I got up the next morning at 7AM I was remind, that so much of our jobs as interns are about us connecting with students, but about helping them to connect with one another as brothers and sisters in Christ. While I long to have moments where I get to love them and encourage them with the truth of the Gospel I also long to see them beginning to understand what it means to walk hand in hand with one another through life. With this new perspective I was beginning to be a bit more optimistic about brunch, but God's goodness didn't stop there.

Patrick and I had done a pretty great job getting things ready, so once students showed up we would only have to throw the eggs and bacon in their respective pans and put the batter on the griddle. The coffee maker was programed and Patrick and I were staged to begin whipping up large amounts of breakfast goodness when the first two guys showed up.

Before I continue I would like to note that God has really been teaching me over the last year or more that it is such a blessing to step back and allow others to serve.

Upon arrival these guys immediately asked what they could do, and before I knew it Patrick was manning the pancakes, Joel was cooking the bacon, and Andrew was cooking the eggs, which left me to occasionally check the coffee and brew more when necessary. Through the course of the morning we served ruffly 17+ students who stuck around for a long time chatting and generally just enjoying one another. All the fears I had about this day proved to be so false, and I can say that I thoroughly loved having these students in my home! God definitely surpassed my greatest expectations for this event and I can't wait to do something similar in the future!

Here are a few photos of the day:

Cookie Making... really relationship building in disguise

I've come to the conclusion that it is absolutely shameful that half of the young moms I know can update their blogs more often than I do! I mean they're balancing being a mom, wife, and running a house and they can still find time to write, so I should be able to too.

Well, I'm sure you didn't stumble upon my blog to hear me rant, so I would be delight to tell you about a fun little event I hosted last night for our RUF ministry team girls and some freshman /transfer students who are new to RUF this Fall. It has long since been on my heart to see these two clusters of students become more acquainted with one another, so I offered to play host to a Christmas cookie making/decorating party. So last night at around 6:45PM a group of 12 girls converged at my apartment to make cookies, listen to Christmas music, and enjoy each others company. It was so much fun to get to see these girls getting to know one another and making cookies of course!

Biblical World and Life View

I've come to realize that I often begin my newsletters and blogs with "I can hardly believe..." I suppose that could be that we live in a day and age where we are often going a hundred miles an hour, and the last few weeks have been nothing short of that. I spent much of last week doing I can't even remember what, or at least that's how I felt when I first reflected of last week. On closer examination I remember that I was meeting with multiple girls going through various books some on prayer, others on modesty and the culture young people are confronted with today. Last week I also had the pleasure of meeting with David Green, the Area Coordinator for the RUF Mid-Atlantic region. David and I had a great meeting in which he imparted a great deal of wisdom when it comes to doing ministry in a college setting. We talked about Bible Studies, meeting with students, and the future. It truly was encouraging and has left me with a great deal to think about.

If you are reading this, I would greatly appreciate your prayers for wisdom about the future as to whether God is calling me to stay on withRUF at Maryland for a 3rd year with hopes of going on to get a Christian Counseling degree, and if so for wisdom about where I should go to Seminary. Or, if God is calling me to pursue a masters in Early Childhood Special Needs Education. All of these are possibilities that I am currently praying and seeking discernment about.

While the above is all very important, the real reason I wanted to make sure that I got a blog posted is because I have really been seeing God move in the life of one the girls I have been meeting with and befriending over the past year. So on to that.

Wednesday was quite a whirlwind with Patrick, my co-intern, and I caught a flight back to Dulles, from RUF October Training in Atlanta, in order to make it in time for Large Group Wednesday evening followed by intramural flag football. As we headed back to Maryland my head was swimming with the numerous things I had learn and been encouraged with at training. It is my hope that I will be able to fully communicate this to you as the following was very earth shattering to me. Anyways, during our final seminar on Tuesday Keith Berger began our seminar with the simple question, "What is the Father's view of the Son?" Well, as we know according to the Bible, "The Father's view of the Son is, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well please" (Matthew 3:17). Keith went on to talk about the reality that as children of God and heirs through Christ, that when God looks at us he sees his Son. I know that I often forget this is true, but it really rocked me to the core, for a lack of better words, to reflect on the fact that when God views me, this is what he sees. I don't know about you, but I am all too aware of my deprave sinful nature, and often fall into the mindset that I'm not doing enough as an intern or a child of God. This training, however, I was reminded that above all I am called to faithfulness as I serve here at Maryland. A means of being faithful require my remember that I am a beloved child of God not because of what I am doing or not doing, but because Jesus Chris is my Savior and the one that God sees when he looks upon me.

The realization really has been such a transforming reality. But now on to why I really wanted to blog.

I returned to Maryland excited to be back among the students I've come to love so much and was immediately meet with so much evidence of the Lord at work. Wednesday night a student that I often long to see at large group, but very rarely see just because she is so overwhelmed with work, was at large group. We had a chance to talk afterwards and she shared with me that she has really been struggling because she feels like she's failing to balance all that she is called to do as a student, and also as a Christian. She feels so overwhelmed that she can't do both an has been seeing her self to a large degree as a failure. It was at this point that God placed it upon my heart to share with her what God had been teaching me in that his view of me is really his view of the Son which is, "this is my son with whom I am well pleased." This had been such an earth shattering reality to me I couldn't help but long for her to know that as a christian that is God's view of her, and from that we are free and able to glorify God with our lives. We parted our ways at the end of the evening, with my not having any idea of how God was working in her through this conversation. The next afternoon she sent me a text message simply saying, "You helped me reach a breakthrough last night. I am now here trying to think of all my worries through the lens of the Gospel and what God think of me, not what I think of myself." Reading this brought tears to my eyes as I along with all those who work for RUF long to see students begin to look at the world through the lens of Gospel. It seems abrupt to end this post here, but that is truly one of our greatest desires for the students we meet with and minister to.

Praise God for what He is doing, and please join me in prayer that His Gospel truth will continue to go forth here at Maryland.

College Park, "A Livable Community"

I've been longing to write for so long, but always find that I am too exhausted when the day wraps up. So for now, I'm just going to share a link that gives you a taste of what the community I live in is like. I would highly encourage you to view the link I've included. It's a news article about two shootings that occurred this weekend. The first on which was only a quarter of a mile or less from my apartment.

http://www.diamondbackonline.com/news/police-shoot-three-in-two-seperate-incidents-this-weekend-1.791658

Providence.

Well, God sure does provide...

Today I set off for Northern VA to spend some much needed quality time with my former college roommates, and given how insane it is to drive down there I figured I would try and kill two birds with one stone by getting a haircut nearby. When I arrived it turned out that my hairstylist had been switched, which wasn't a big deal since I'd never been there before anyways. So I sat and waited to be called. Almost as soon as I sat down in the chair it seemed the topic of occupation came up and as usually I told the stylist that I work for a christian campus ministry, and before I knew it our conversation was off and running. Through the course of my time there we got to talk a great deal about the church and God, both things that I could tell this individual was struggling with. 

As I sat there in the chair during one of the lulls in conversation it hit me how wonderful my job is, but this time the realization struck for a totally different reason. I've come to realize just how wonderful this job that God has called me to is because of the door that is opened the moment that I tell anyone what I do. On more than one instance lately I've had conversations take off in full force the moment I say what I do. It's so wonderful that I can be used in this way. While it doesn't always play out this way, I am so thankful for when it does. Today I was particularly overjoyed because I've been longing to have conversations like this, particularly because in this area people tend to be less friendly and open. I'm just so thankful for moments like this and for God's faithful provision. :)