O Lord, I will praise You and exalt You; for in Your perfect faithfulness, You have done marvelous things, things planned long ago. Isaiah 25:1This is a picture of our church body today... wow! :) So sweet, and I am completely in awe at what God is doing in our midst, despite all of our inadequacies and weaknesses... He works them all for His good and perfect purposes.
Last week was a really hard time for me. Most of our students were gone because of fall break, and then most of my roommates and peers were gone for the weekend as well. So, it was just me left to my own devices. Under attack with no where to turn and a continuation of my string of unsuccessful job searching discouraging me further, I began to question being here and wondering if maybe I should consider moving back home. I feverishly saught the Lord... and He met me in a HUGE way this weekend! My joy is not in people, but rather throwing everything at the feet of Him who gave His life up for me and running hard after Him, the Lover of my soul.
The college kids came back. Bible study on Wednesday was just stellar. God is so good. I was able to talk one on one with one of our girls who is growing like a weed. I am envious of her new found passion for the living and active Word of God. It reminds me of where I was at 5 short years ago and inspires me to pursue reading my Bible with that sort of passion once again... the sort that always asks why and seeks the answer, not just to know, but to know more about my
Savior so that it may mold me from the inside out. The sort that is in awe and wonder at the character of God displayed in each and every verse.
We planned a bonfire for Friday. Just going to the store and buying stuff for s'more making and hot cocoa and hot apple cider put a twinkle in my eye as I remembered spring break, summer, Czech and youth group camping adventures of the past 4 years. I jumped in my Jeep with 4 girls rarin' to go out to Carolina Beach to build a fire of epic proportions and play on the beach under a Carolina moon. The short ride down reminded me of going to youth retreat last spring. Tinged with a bit of sadness at this realization, my excitement grew as I connected with these girls. I discovered that carefree childlike part of myself that has been missing over these last few months... funny how the world can wear on you, but I am still determined to be Peter Pan :) We reached the parking lot only to find it in a soggy and dreary state of affairs. Remembering a certain gigantic bonfire in the middle of the rainy, sopping wet Redwood Forest ("MORE WOOD!" "Is all of the wood under the table on fire?" "and part b. put the flaming logs back on the fire"), I crossed my fingers each of us would discover a bit of Colorado deep inside of us and go for it. Sadly, one car held us back, but my girls were all for it. Something deep inside of me warmed with a glimmer of hope of connecting even more with girls here. One of my struggles has been connecting with people that I cannot do anything with other than hang out... I feel like I connect better with people that I can do something with... play a sport, hike, camp, play a game, serve... and that share my enthusiasm in that. Jamming to some good ole Backstreet Boys, we headed to the Harcus' for an indoor bonfire.
We get to the Harcus' and play some hide and go seek before getting inventive and roasting some marshmallows over the stove top... haha, yea, it worked :) What happened next is hard to describe. Lucas sat down with his guitar and a kid named Kevin sat down next to him with his jembe. Just jamming turned into worship as everyone gathered around and sang praises to our King. I don't know where some of these kids are at, but everyone quieted at this point and pondered around the room. Lucas then shared his testimony. A life changed by God's sovereign power and grace, the greatest miracle. Tom spoke of trusting in God versus simply knowing about Him, and then we transitioned back into worship. At this point, some people were in the kitchen chatting, Dawn was behind me sharing an Ultimate Questions pamphlet with a student, some had pensive expressions as they listened to the praise being lifted up in the room. I sat cozy on the couch and felt more at home than I have since I arrived here 2 months ago. It was the same as those nights in the Townhouse or the dorms or the guys' house... the same God listening over His children as we offered everything we had to Him. I glanced around at brothers and sisters, and received a peace and a joy that surpasses all comprehension. Better is one day in Your courts than a thousand anywhere in this world. This night was a glimpse of that here in Wilmington and step in the right direction, that of obedience to focus more of our fellowship time on Christ. We are here for a purpose and if we aren't offering the truth to these students, then we are no different from any other campus organization. We have the words of eternal life; that's what we are about, so let's live it!
I can't lose sight of that. In the midst of this transition from school to work (hopefully soon :), from something in between to adulthood, it is so easy to get caught up in the busyness of it all... the tyranny of the urgent and lose sight of my True Love, my Husband, my Savior. I am here to share Him boldly, and I pray I would live it out loud as salt and light in my Jerusalem. I feel at some point I have lost track of who I was in Czech and who I was in Colorado. It's definitely been a learning process and neat as God peels off layers and throws me into the refining fire so that the ropes may burn off, and I will be left to dance amongst the flames for my Jesus. Please, don't let me lose sight of that amidst organizing and serving.
Then this morning. I am at the end of myself in all sorts of ways, and God in His strength meets me right where I am at. The sanctuary was so full this morning... so, so, so, so, so encouraging! A sweet message in Acts on fellowship and the Biblical design of it. I understood the design of the local church in a new way. Something about it was new this morning. Maybe just how my perspective has changed, I see the dedication to the Word and fellowship in a new way being part of this church plant... I don't know, but it refreshed me thinking of God's people here on earth, the body, how simple it is, and yet imcomprehensible.
After church, for Post Game as we call it, we had a spaghetti dinner speed dating style. No, we have not gone off a deep end out here on the East Coast... just had questions and scrambled every 10 minutes. We had a ton of students there. Most people stuck around for the free food and fellowship, so we got to talk with several students on a more personal level than the "Hi, how are ya's" of Sunday morning. Also a neat co-ed time, as most of our deeper time has been in our girls' and guys' separated Bible studies. Yea, neat talking with a few of the guys that I had seen but did not know at all.
It's gelling together now. God brought us students. They are plugging in to the local church and growing. They see Christ in us and yearn to know more. Lord, guide us and help us guide them. Help them plug into the church and have our young couples and families pour into them in ways that we cannot. Help us to be faithful; give us endurance and strength as we enter that proverbial 3rd quarter. Help us run the race hard and endeavor to finish strong. Remind us of the hope we have in Christ and that the very fact that we are still here means that you still have purposes for each of us to fulfill here. Help us to seek after You, to know You, to obey Your commands, to love You and love others, Lord, all for Your glory.
1 Peter 1:3-9
Zephaniah 3:17
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