Well, there goes a semester of college. That was a bit too fast for me. A lot of it is a blur, but I think I've got to do this, not in the least because of what I experienced tonight.
Let's go. A couple memories from the semester, in no particular order.
1. Walking past the Widener Library the first few weeks and feeling totally tiny every time I did.
2. Ending up in the third floor of said library after misinterpreting directions from my friend who I wanted to study with, and feeling totally scared until I realized she was on the second floor in a reading room.
3. Talking with one of my TA's on a bus. It just felt weird talking to one of...well, my teachers like that! Then again, it's different here in that my TA is probably part of my sister's generation, which makes her at the most 10 years older than me.
4. Having a professor casually ask me about my day and getting butterflies in my stomach.
5. Sitting next to three people from Georgia (the country), Burundi and Canada in the dining hall and feeling way too normal.
(If you noticed, a lot of things make me feel humble here.)
6. Eating a bunch of peanut butter oreos courtesy of my friend.
7. Studying in the even more intimidating law school library with my roommate and two of her friends.
8. Singing the VeggieTales theme song with one of my friends in the dining hall.
9. Literally spending the night sleeping in the not intimidating Lamont Library, waking up at 8 and realizing that all-nighters are probably not my thing.
10. Eating apple pie and hanging out with friends from a Christian fellowship.
11. When a band from YWAM came and we had a worship night, and I all of a sudden got a giant reminder of who I am! :)
12. Getting with a group of at least 15 students in a basement and praying for the Newtown tragedy, and really sensing the Holy Spirit. (This one happened today!)
13. The first intramural day when we all wore navy (cobalt?) blue shirts and played games, showed our Matthews pride, and did pretty well!
14. Eating a giant bowl of pho with a friend for the first time. That stuff is GOOD!
15. Dinner trains with the band.
This college experience has made me feel humble, small, anxious, happy, and very normal all at different times. And the biggest thing I've learned is that there is really no point being anxious.
Now to go through these 4 final days. Then, I'll be home for a month. Wow. Just wow.
Friday, December 14, 2012
Monday, November 12, 2012
How to be a good tourist
Let this be a testimony to how random I actually am. I could be thinking of science, or the football game I'm going to on Saturday, or the library I'm in...but no. After browsing a couple of photos, I've decided to write a blogpost on how to be (or at least look like) a good tourist. Anyway...
So whenever I've gone to foreign countries as a non-child, I have made a conscious attempt to not look like a tourist. That's what we should do, right? When in Rome, do as the Romans do. But sometimes I have seen these "how not to look like a tourist" things go a tiny bit too far.
http://www.wikihow.com/Avoid-Looking-Like-an-American-Tourist
It appears that in order to not look like an American, you can't pull your socks up too high, or wear athletic shoes, or wear certain accessories or colors since the locals aren't wearing them. What is this, a case of high school hierarchy?
Granted, some countries do require certain forms of dress, and I am not advocating breaking the law, or bashing other countries' ways of dress because they aren't our own. But I am advocating being our own selves for goodness' sake.
The thing is, even if you try as hard as you can to not dress up like a tourist, if you're going to another country to sightsee or go on a tour, you are a tourist! And if you're like me, you've probably been careful to try not to dress like a tourist not just because of stealing issues, but because you don't want to impose your American-ness on other people. Not wanting to impose on people is all well and good, but I don't think it's good to try sooooo hard to separate yourself from your own nationality, especially if you're only staying in the country for a week or something like that.
Granted, I do think that WikiHow article is good in some respects. So here are my own comments and advice.
How to straight up give yourself away as a tourist:
1. Hawaiian shirt, khaki shorts, white socks and gym shoes, with a fanny pack and a baseball cap.
2. (at least in France) Tank top that says "I <3 (something)", booty shorts, and flip flops.
3. Fanny packs in general.
4. Crocs.
5. Being really loud.
6. Insulting the local culture. (Golden Rule people!)
7. Being really loud in English in a country where English isn't normally spoken.
8. Not accepting the table manners and stuff like that.
9. Having a giant map out. This often can't be helped, though it can be avoided if you have a smartphone with a map.
10. Having a camera around your neck.
Stuff you should do if you are a tourist:
1. (if not in an English speaking country) Learn some of the local language.
2. Hit up some books or Internet resources about the culture/history/politics of the country you're going to. Again, I'm not advocating looking down on other countries and cultures--far from it! I'm just warning against trying too hard to fit in. In relation to that...
3. Try to dress like the locals, but again, don't try too hard!
4. Before you go to a foreign country, try and look up some cultural norms--for example, things about personal space, or chewing gum in public, or eating on the street, or (especially in Asia) cutlery norms and table manners.
5. Keep your money and valuables in a place where not everyone can see it and/or take it easily. I'd advise in the pockets or bags.
6. Use local currency. (Isn't this a given? Someone please enlighten me.)
7. Don't be mean to people who give you dirty looks and stuff.
8. Have fun and embrace the local culture!
Random post over!
So whenever I've gone to foreign countries as a non-child, I have made a conscious attempt to not look like a tourist. That's what we should do, right? When in Rome, do as the Romans do. But sometimes I have seen these "how not to look like a tourist" things go a tiny bit too far.
http://www.wikihow.com/Avoid-Looking-Like-an-American-Tourist
It appears that in order to not look like an American, you can't pull your socks up too high, or wear athletic shoes, or wear certain accessories or colors since the locals aren't wearing them. What is this, a case of high school hierarchy?
Granted, some countries do require certain forms of dress, and I am not advocating breaking the law, or bashing other countries' ways of dress because they aren't our own. But I am advocating being our own selves for goodness' sake.
The thing is, even if you try as hard as you can to not dress up like a tourist, if you're going to another country to sightsee or go on a tour, you are a tourist! And if you're like me, you've probably been careful to try not to dress like a tourist not just because of stealing issues, but because you don't want to impose your American-ness on other people. Not wanting to impose on people is all well and good, but I don't think it's good to try sooooo hard to separate yourself from your own nationality, especially if you're only staying in the country for a week or something like that.
Granted, I do think that WikiHow article is good in some respects. So here are my own comments and advice.
How to straight up give yourself away as a tourist:
1. Hawaiian shirt, khaki shorts, white socks and gym shoes, with a fanny pack and a baseball cap.
2. (at least in France) Tank top that says "I <3 (something)", booty shorts, and flip flops.
3. Fanny packs in general.
4. Crocs.
5. Being really loud.
6. Insulting the local culture. (Golden Rule people!)
7. Being really loud in English in a country where English isn't normally spoken.
8. Not accepting the table manners and stuff like that.
9. Having a giant map out. This often can't be helped, though it can be avoided if you have a smartphone with a map.
10. Having a camera around your neck.
Stuff you should do if you are a tourist:
1. (if not in an English speaking country) Learn some of the local language.
2. Hit up some books or Internet resources about the culture/history/politics of the country you're going to. Again, I'm not advocating looking down on other countries and cultures--far from it! I'm just warning against trying too hard to fit in. In relation to that...
3. Try to dress like the locals, but again, don't try too hard!
4. Before you go to a foreign country, try and look up some cultural norms--for example, things about personal space, or chewing gum in public, or eating on the street, or (especially in Asia) cutlery norms and table manners.
5. Keep your money and valuables in a place where not everyone can see it and/or take it easily. I'd advise in the pockets or bags.
6. Use local currency. (Isn't this a given? Someone please enlighten me.)
7. Don't be mean to people who give you dirty looks and stuff.
8. Have fun and embrace the local culture!
Random post over!
Thursday, November 1, 2012
I'M ALIVE!
It just dawned on me that it's November, and I'm going home for Thanksgiving in only twenty days. I've survived nearly three months of college!
I definitely remember being at home during a particularly lazy summer and wondering several times if I would end up imploding in college. Well, I haven't been doing everything perfectly, but I can think of a lot of ways that it could be much worse. So praise the Lord. I'm happy.
I guess I'll share a couple things I've learned:
1. You are probably not going to have everything in college life settled in the first two to three months. Patience is a virtue, and you're going to have to be happy while not necessarily knowing what's going to come next or who's going to end up being your best friend or any of that.
2. A lot of people have a lot of opinions and while it's not good to shun other people because of their opinions, it's also not a good idea to try and take everyone's opinion and make it your own. Sometimes it is really good to just respectfully disagree and go on your own merry way.
3. Don't take everything so seriously. Make sure that you make time in your schedule for something that just straight-up makes you happy.
4. (I kind of learned this in high school, but this was consolidated in college.) Most of the really good classes are going to inundate you with work. A lot of the classes with really engaging professors will also be coupled with lots of work.
5. You are probably going to walk by some pretty weird things. I was walking back from the library with my roommate during the night and we were witnesses to a group of people on really weird bikes--I saw a penny-farthing bike, and a neon bike and other weird things. They were playing pump up music. And it was pretty long past midnight. Which brings me to another thing...
6. Especially if you end up in a college like mine, don't be surprised if you find yourself walking back from a library in the wee hours of the morning more than once. Which brings me to another thing...
7. Pitch-blackness is okay. Rain is okay. But when you combine them it's actually kind of depressing.
8. Buy vitamins and put them in your dorm. They're expensive but they help when colds are spreading.
9. Just because you've started to live by yourself and have some adult responsibilities now, doesn't mean that you're an adult just yet. This is a good thing--be happy while you're young! Don't let the workload or anything else get you down--these are the last years of semi-childhood that you have. Be happy!
10. You are probably going to miss your parents at some point (unless they were really horrible to you while you were at home). That's why a lot of people stay close!
I might add more advice tidbits, but more likely I'll have to go through more college in order to find those. For now I hope this helps someone...
I definitely remember being at home during a particularly lazy summer and wondering several times if I would end up imploding in college. Well, I haven't been doing everything perfectly, but I can think of a lot of ways that it could be much worse. So praise the Lord. I'm happy.
I guess I'll share a couple things I've learned:
1. You are probably not going to have everything in college life settled in the first two to three months. Patience is a virtue, and you're going to have to be happy while not necessarily knowing what's going to come next or who's going to end up being your best friend or any of that.
2. A lot of people have a lot of opinions and while it's not good to shun other people because of their opinions, it's also not a good idea to try and take everyone's opinion and make it your own. Sometimes it is really good to just respectfully disagree and go on your own merry way.
3. Don't take everything so seriously. Make sure that you make time in your schedule for something that just straight-up makes you happy.
4. (I kind of learned this in high school, but this was consolidated in college.) Most of the really good classes are going to inundate you with work. A lot of the classes with really engaging professors will also be coupled with lots of work.
5. You are probably going to walk by some pretty weird things. I was walking back from the library with my roommate during the night and we were witnesses to a group of people on really weird bikes--I saw a penny-farthing bike, and a neon bike and other weird things. They were playing pump up music. And it was pretty long past midnight. Which brings me to another thing...
6. Especially if you end up in a college like mine, don't be surprised if you find yourself walking back from a library in the wee hours of the morning more than once. Which brings me to another thing...
7. Pitch-blackness is okay. Rain is okay. But when you combine them it's actually kind of depressing.
8. Buy vitamins and put them in your dorm. They're expensive but they help when colds are spreading.
9. Just because you've started to live by yourself and have some adult responsibilities now, doesn't mean that you're an adult just yet. This is a good thing--be happy while you're young! Don't let the workload or anything else get you down--these are the last years of semi-childhood that you have. Be happy!
10. You are probably going to miss your parents at some point (unless they were really horrible to you while you were at home). That's why a lot of people stay close!
I might add more advice tidbits, but more likely I'll have to go through more college in order to find those. For now I hope this helps someone...
Sunday, October 14, 2012
I kinda sorta miss the 90s.
Granted I was in kindergarten when the 2000's came rolling around--but most 90s trends continued into the early 2000s. I remember N'Sync, the Backstreet Boys, and Britney Spears. I remember Airheads, Gushers, Fruit Roll-ups and the commercials for them all. I remember Lisa Frank and overalls. But what I most remember, the thing about the 90's that truly has a stake in my childhood, is the cartoons.
Man, those cartoons. My brother and I were those kids who woke up early every Saturday morning to catch some. From SpongeBob, Rugrats, the Fairly OddParents and Rocket Power on Nickelodeon to Looney Tunes, The Powerpuff Girls, and Dexter's Laboratory on Cartoon Network to Even Stevens and Lizzie McGuire on Disney Channel...I can go on. So many good cartoons! My mom kept on having to limit our TV time because we watched them too much.
Of course, this was our childhood, and it's natural to miss the childhood days. But something happened to our childhood stations too. Disney Channel led the way--little by little it phased out all the cartoons in favor of real-time shows, and Nickelodeon eventually started following this trend too. Not to mention, all the shows got less funny. I still find my childhood cartoons much funnier than anything on Disney Channel right now, and it's safe to say I'm not a kid anymore.
But something else has happened that sort of worries me a little bit. These shows made for kids are all set in high school, and the characters have crushes and go to high school parties and do other high school stuff. Granted, nothing actually ridiculous has happened yet, but I don't know...I don't think kids should be thinking about dating when they barely know what a good load of schoolwork is yet. When I was a kid, I thought about riding a bike and drawing and playing laser tag, not going to the cool kids' parties. Maybe I'm just too nostalgic, but I feel that kids are being taught that doing grown-up stuff and acting like grown-ups is cool, when it's better for them to be kids. A kid's life is less complex than an adult's for a reason. Can the TV shows please just let kids be kids?
Man, those cartoons. My brother and I were those kids who woke up early every Saturday morning to catch some. From SpongeBob, Rugrats, the Fairly OddParents and Rocket Power on Nickelodeon to Looney Tunes, The Powerpuff Girls, and Dexter's Laboratory on Cartoon Network to Even Stevens and Lizzie McGuire on Disney Channel...I can go on. So many good cartoons! My mom kept on having to limit our TV time because we watched them too much.
Of course, this was our childhood, and it's natural to miss the childhood days. But something happened to our childhood stations too. Disney Channel led the way--little by little it phased out all the cartoons in favor of real-time shows, and Nickelodeon eventually started following this trend too. Not to mention, all the shows got less funny. I still find my childhood cartoons much funnier than anything on Disney Channel right now, and it's safe to say I'm not a kid anymore.
But something else has happened that sort of worries me a little bit. These shows made for kids are all set in high school, and the characters have crushes and go to high school parties and do other high school stuff. Granted, nothing actually ridiculous has happened yet, but I don't know...I don't think kids should be thinking about dating when they barely know what a good load of schoolwork is yet. When I was a kid, I thought about riding a bike and drawing and playing laser tag, not going to the cool kids' parties. Maybe I'm just too nostalgic, but I feel that kids are being taught that doing grown-up stuff and acting like grown-ups is cool, when it's better for them to be kids. A kid's life is less complex than an adult's for a reason. Can the TV shows please just let kids be kids?
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
I get sad from going on Facebook a lot...
...because it always seems like everyone has such a great social life. Like everyone has found their niche and has a bunch of best friends who they love and the best friends love them back. And I feel sad because I know that I'm kind of insecure about friends right now, and it appears that everyone is getting so close and having a really good time except for me.
But then I looked at my Facebook and I realized that it doesn't say everything about me. I mean, in all of my photos I'm smiling, and it appears that I've found one organization and stuck to it for friends and all that stuff (I haven't, I'm in a couple different ones). And then it clicked--I'm a college freshman. How many college freshmen don't have their entire lives panned out on Facebook? How many college students are kind of insecure about friends right now, just like me? I've found increasingly that it is better to be with people in person than to Facebook message them. I think Facebook has kind of an impersonal feel.
It's strange. Facebook has kind of become a place where you sort of follow people's lives--or whatever they choose to put up--rather than actually connecting with them. I'm not calling for people to post their entire lives on Facebook or for Facebook to die. I think it's kind of dangerous to put up so many life details on the Internet, and Facebook is useful for some things. But I guess I've learned that Facebook stalking in excess is not healthy, especially when you're feeling insecure--in that place you don't see people's insecurities, but you see yours, and it makes you feel inferior when you're really not.
I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I'm probably going to have to go on Facebook less. The problem is that I get bored of working...and also, I actually do use the site to connect with some of the groups I'm in and to post inspirational stuff. The problem is that I have mostly been posting my inspirational stuff on Tumblr, not Facebook, for the past however many months. And it's annoying because I have only 20 Tumblr followers, but I have...a lot of Facebook friends. Much bigger mission field/audience on Facebook, right!?
And here comes my blogging story:
I like writing. I used to write a lot of fiction when I was younger, and a year-ish ago I thought I should start blogging. I went to Tumblr thinking it was a blogging site and I found that it's a bit different than that, but I went on it anyway, and I changed my URL and after that I got a couple of followers. But honestly, Tumblr has not been that useful to me. I follow a lot of inspirational Tumblrs but I don't know...it's as if I don't actually read things, and sometimes I end up reblogging cool photos or really good points, but I've not been actually blogging, which is what I actually want to do. And as I said, it's been stealing inspiration from my Facebook. I used to put a bunch of inspirational stuff on Facebook, and it stopped when I got some followers on Tumblr. There are a lot of Tumblrs of the same kind as mine that are doing the job better than mine is, and I have a much bigger mission field/audience on Facebook. Also, I have this actual blog now.
So this is what I'm feeling: I should delete my Tumblr, and continue to update my Facebook with inspirational stuff, and blog here.
But that doesn't necessarily justify my constant going on Facebook and stalking photos/the news feed. I think I'm going to try something. I am going to try to go on Facebook every two days, instead of every day. Sometimes when I don't go on it I think I'm missing a lot, but I know I'm really not.
But then I looked at my Facebook and I realized that it doesn't say everything about me. I mean, in all of my photos I'm smiling, and it appears that I've found one organization and stuck to it for friends and all that stuff (I haven't, I'm in a couple different ones). And then it clicked--I'm a college freshman. How many college freshmen don't have their entire lives panned out on Facebook? How many college students are kind of insecure about friends right now, just like me? I've found increasingly that it is better to be with people in person than to Facebook message them. I think Facebook has kind of an impersonal feel.
It's strange. Facebook has kind of become a place where you sort of follow people's lives--or whatever they choose to put up--rather than actually connecting with them. I'm not calling for people to post their entire lives on Facebook or for Facebook to die. I think it's kind of dangerous to put up so many life details on the Internet, and Facebook is useful for some things. But I guess I've learned that Facebook stalking in excess is not healthy, especially when you're feeling insecure--in that place you don't see people's insecurities, but you see yours, and it makes you feel inferior when you're really not.
I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I'm probably going to have to go on Facebook less. The problem is that I get bored of working...and also, I actually do use the site to connect with some of the groups I'm in and to post inspirational stuff. The problem is that I have mostly been posting my inspirational stuff on Tumblr, not Facebook, for the past however many months. And it's annoying because I have only 20 Tumblr followers, but I have...a lot of Facebook friends. Much bigger mission field/audience on Facebook, right!?
And here comes my blogging story:
I like writing. I used to write a lot of fiction when I was younger, and a year-ish ago I thought I should start blogging. I went to Tumblr thinking it was a blogging site and I found that it's a bit different than that, but I went on it anyway, and I changed my URL and after that I got a couple of followers. But honestly, Tumblr has not been that useful to me. I follow a lot of inspirational Tumblrs but I don't know...it's as if I don't actually read things, and sometimes I end up reblogging cool photos or really good points, but I've not been actually blogging, which is what I actually want to do. And as I said, it's been stealing inspiration from my Facebook. I used to put a bunch of inspirational stuff on Facebook, and it stopped when I got some followers on Tumblr. There are a lot of Tumblrs of the same kind as mine that are doing the job better than mine is, and I have a much bigger mission field/audience on Facebook. Also, I have this actual blog now.
So this is what I'm feeling: I should delete my Tumblr, and continue to update my Facebook with inspirational stuff, and blog here.
But that doesn't necessarily justify my constant going on Facebook and stalking photos/the news feed. I think I'm going to try something. I am going to try to go on Facebook every two days, instead of every day. Sometimes when I don't go on it I think I'm missing a lot, but I know I'm really not.
Sunday, October 7, 2012
CRUNCH TIME!
I have really been introduced to college now.
Granted I've been here for a month. I spent the last two weeks getting used to living in my dorm, getting lost trying to get to places, trying to make friends, socializing, and getting used to the college class schedule. I was kind of floating through, thinking somewhat of classes but largely paying attention to my social life and finding out how not to get locked out of my room.
Then, last week, I got my first grades back. Let me just say that they were a nice abrupt introduction to college as an institution of higher LEARNING.
Let the games begin.
I'm actually happy, though, that my first grades were something of a smack in the face. Before that classes were kind of a haze. I knew that I needed to do well--I had only been told that seven million times by parents, siblings and everyone else before going--but I didn't know what I needed to do, and I didn't know necessarily how this was going to happen. Now I feel ready to tackle these classes and make them obey me.
I've gotten into more than one conversation where the other person mentioned staying in the library until 4:00 am or 6:30 am to study. Quite frankly, I can't do that. I'm not very good at staying up past 1:00 am, and I've learned from junior year that getting zero sleep during the week and crashing on the weekends is not the way to go. Med school/grad school/the next few years might prove me wrong on that, but for now I reserve my right to sleep for a reasonable amount of time. I've also found that I'm much better at studying pretty much anywhere that's not my dorm.
I've figured that I should probably spend most of my time out of classes or extracurriculars in the library or a computer lab doing work. If I do that I'll actually be able to sleep at night.
Go classwork!
But, but, but, I also somewhat feel that if I do this rigorous schedule I won't have any time to rest or do some type of quiet time. I'm not exactly used to scheduling that but it's going to have to happen sometime.
Granted I've been here for a month. I spent the last two weeks getting used to living in my dorm, getting lost trying to get to places, trying to make friends, socializing, and getting used to the college class schedule. I was kind of floating through, thinking somewhat of classes but largely paying attention to my social life and finding out how not to get locked out of my room.
Then, last week, I got my first grades back. Let me just say that they were a nice abrupt introduction to college as an institution of higher LEARNING.
Let the games begin.
I'm actually happy, though, that my first grades were something of a smack in the face. Before that classes were kind of a haze. I knew that I needed to do well--I had only been told that seven million times by parents, siblings and everyone else before going--but I didn't know what I needed to do, and I didn't know necessarily how this was going to happen. Now I feel ready to tackle these classes and make them obey me.
I've gotten into more than one conversation where the other person mentioned staying in the library until 4:00 am or 6:30 am to study. Quite frankly, I can't do that. I'm not very good at staying up past 1:00 am, and I've learned from junior year that getting zero sleep during the week and crashing on the weekends is not the way to go. Med school/grad school/the next few years might prove me wrong on that, but for now I reserve my right to sleep for a reasonable amount of time. I've also found that I'm much better at studying pretty much anywhere that's not my dorm.
I've figured that I should probably spend most of my time out of classes or extracurriculars in the library or a computer lab doing work. If I do that I'll actually be able to sleep at night.
Go classwork!
But, but, but, I also somewhat feel that if I do this rigorous schedule I won't have any time to rest or do some type of quiet time. I'm not exactly used to scheduling that but it's going to have to happen sometime.
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Self evaluation? Fellowship evaluation? Whatever this ends up being.
I have a fabulous problem.
One of my biggest (if not my biggest) priorities for college was to find a Christian fellowship where I could have some close relationships with Christians on campus. Well, God has blessed my campus, and it turns out there are THREE interdenominational fellowships on campus. Yes, three. And this is a secular college I'm talking about!
This of course gives me the glorious First World problem of trying to choose a main fellowship. The fellowships interact with each other and there are people in multiple fellowships, it's not like they're AT WAR or something stupid of that sort, but my mission here was to find a fellowship that I would spend most of my Christian fellowshipping time at.
When I first came to my campus as a wide-eyed young high schooler on the admitted students' weekend, only two fellowships had meetings for prefreshmen like myself. I will call the two of them Refresh and Revelation here. Revelation sort of scared me off--it seemed like they were involved with theology and lots of discussion, which led me to shy away. Refresh seemed more simple--just a group of normal kids coming to worship God and be with each other--and that's exactly what it was. It reminded me of a youth group I would have gone to at home.
When I came to campus as a student, I pretty much went for Refresh, while also dabbling in another fellowship which I will call Gateway, but I still didn't consider Revelation very much. What really attracted me to Refresh was that, as one of the members told me, "you get really close with the people there". I was really searching for those close relationships with Christians, and I figured I would find them there or maybe in Gateway, but I was much more attracted to Refresh. I found out the time of their freshmen girls' lifegroup, I went there once and I liked it.
But then a conflict arose. One of my classes likes to hold movie screenings (it's a popular culture/art/media class) and as it turned out, they had six mandatory movie screenings all at the very same time as Refresh's freshman girls' lifegroup. This upset me as it sort of cut off my connection with what would be my best time to get really close to other Christians...in Refresh. Insecure about whether I would ever find some close friends in college, I ended up pouring out my problems to my brother, who then called my mom and told her. My mom, in her no-nonsense way, then called me and demanded that I do what I could do at a school with three interdenominational fellowships--find another lifegroup.
My brother's good friend had actually met some of the Revelation people and he contacted a couple of people and gave my brother their numbers in order to help me. I hadn't planned to do anything with the contacts, but my mom now implored me to contact these people and see if I could find a small group that would fit my schedule there. I found Revelation's Facebook group and asked for some small groups and as it turned out, they had two of them at times that I could make.
I went there expecting challenge and that was precisely what I got. I could really sense the powerful presence of God emanating through some of these people in the group--and it scared me, but it also attracted me. I started to think of Proverbs 27:17: "as iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend". I started to think that maybe what I needed was some sharpening, some inspiration from the people around me.
I asked around and learned more about Revelation, and today I went to dinner with a couple people from there, and from what I've learned, this fellowship is COOL. It has over 100 people who regularly attend meetings. As a leader in my high school's Christian fellowship I was able to understand how meaningful that is! It has so many chances to get involved and, more importantly, do outreach. One of the people I met told me that many of the people in Revelation have a mindset where they want to bless Revelation and other people, along with growing in Christ themselves. That was the selling point for me. These people were truly out to fulfill the Great Commission! I remember standing in the hall just taking that in as part of the Overture of 1812 played in my head (yes, I am that nerd who likes to make a soundtrack to my life and play it in my head. Please tell me I'm not the only one!).
I was a leader in my high school's Christian fellowship, which was pretty small. I came into college feeling that God was going to stretch me by putting me in a small fellowship, since that was what happened to me my senior year of high school and because my church at home is also very big and COOL. When I was told about Revelation and how many people attended it per week, I was enthralled but I was also a bit afraid. I was afraid that I would be spoiled by the absolute awesomeness of this fellowship, that I wouldn't be able to appreciate the little things if I was to join this fellowship and stay in it for four years. I was afraid that maybe I wouldn't be able to find the close relationships that I desire in a fellowship that's so big. I was afraid of being dwarfed by so many smart, talented people who are on fire for God. But I'm starting to realize that maybe what I need is a chance to be a student, or a non-leader, more like. To be in this community full of people that will enrich me and help me try harder, go deeper, and go farther out into the world.
God is weird, isn't he? Just when you think he's going to do one thing with you he brings in something entirely different. He really does go beyond anything we can ask or think, and honestly, I don't think it's that hard for him.
I'm not done yet (I know this post is ridiculously long). I haven't yet given Gateway a serious chance, so I am going with a retreat with them tomorrow and will be gone until Sunday. I might take a serious turn toward them. For now though, I'm still reeling from how God snuck around me and kicked me in the back (in a good way).
One of my biggest (if not my biggest) priorities for college was to find a Christian fellowship where I could have some close relationships with Christians on campus. Well, God has blessed my campus, and it turns out there are THREE interdenominational fellowships on campus. Yes, three. And this is a secular college I'm talking about!
This of course gives me the glorious First World problem of trying to choose a main fellowship. The fellowships interact with each other and there are people in multiple fellowships, it's not like they're AT WAR or something stupid of that sort, but my mission here was to find a fellowship that I would spend most of my Christian fellowshipping time at.
When I first came to my campus as a wide-eyed young high schooler on the admitted students' weekend, only two fellowships had meetings for prefreshmen like myself. I will call the two of them Refresh and Revelation here. Revelation sort of scared me off--it seemed like they were involved with theology and lots of discussion, which led me to shy away. Refresh seemed more simple--just a group of normal kids coming to worship God and be with each other--and that's exactly what it was. It reminded me of a youth group I would have gone to at home.
When I came to campus as a student, I pretty much went for Refresh, while also dabbling in another fellowship which I will call Gateway, but I still didn't consider Revelation very much. What really attracted me to Refresh was that, as one of the members told me, "you get really close with the people there". I was really searching for those close relationships with Christians, and I figured I would find them there or maybe in Gateway, but I was much more attracted to Refresh. I found out the time of their freshmen girls' lifegroup, I went there once and I liked it.
But then a conflict arose. One of my classes likes to hold movie screenings (it's a popular culture/art/media class) and as it turned out, they had six mandatory movie screenings all at the very same time as Refresh's freshman girls' lifegroup. This upset me as it sort of cut off my connection with what would be my best time to get really close to other Christians...in Refresh. Insecure about whether I would ever find some close friends in college, I ended up pouring out my problems to my brother, who then called my mom and told her. My mom, in her no-nonsense way, then called me and demanded that I do what I could do at a school with three interdenominational fellowships--find another lifegroup.
My brother's good friend had actually met some of the Revelation people and he contacted a couple of people and gave my brother their numbers in order to help me. I hadn't planned to do anything with the contacts, but my mom now implored me to contact these people and see if I could find a small group that would fit my schedule there. I found Revelation's Facebook group and asked for some small groups and as it turned out, they had two of them at times that I could make.
I went there expecting challenge and that was precisely what I got. I could really sense the powerful presence of God emanating through some of these people in the group--and it scared me, but it also attracted me. I started to think of Proverbs 27:17: "as iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend". I started to think that maybe what I needed was some sharpening, some inspiration from the people around me.
I asked around and learned more about Revelation, and today I went to dinner with a couple people from there, and from what I've learned, this fellowship is COOL. It has over 100 people who regularly attend meetings. As a leader in my high school's Christian fellowship I was able to understand how meaningful that is! It has so many chances to get involved and, more importantly, do outreach. One of the people I met told me that many of the people in Revelation have a mindset where they want to bless Revelation and other people, along with growing in Christ themselves. That was the selling point for me. These people were truly out to fulfill the Great Commission! I remember standing in the hall just taking that in as part of the Overture of 1812 played in my head (yes, I am that nerd who likes to make a soundtrack to my life and play it in my head. Please tell me I'm not the only one!).
I was a leader in my high school's Christian fellowship, which was pretty small. I came into college feeling that God was going to stretch me by putting me in a small fellowship, since that was what happened to me my senior year of high school and because my church at home is also very big and COOL. When I was told about Revelation and how many people attended it per week, I was enthralled but I was also a bit afraid. I was afraid that I would be spoiled by the absolute awesomeness of this fellowship, that I wouldn't be able to appreciate the little things if I was to join this fellowship and stay in it for four years. I was afraid that maybe I wouldn't be able to find the close relationships that I desire in a fellowship that's so big. I was afraid of being dwarfed by so many smart, talented people who are on fire for God. But I'm starting to realize that maybe what I need is a chance to be a student, or a non-leader, more like. To be in this community full of people that will enrich me and help me try harder, go deeper, and go farther out into the world.
God is weird, isn't he? Just when you think he's going to do one thing with you he brings in something entirely different. He really does go beyond anything we can ask or think, and honestly, I don't think it's that hard for him.
I'm not done yet (I know this post is ridiculously long). I haven't yet given Gateway a serious chance, so I am going with a retreat with them tomorrow and will be gone until Sunday. I might take a serious turn toward them. For now though, I'm still reeling from how God snuck around me and kicked me in the back (in a good way).
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
We. Are. Runniiiiiiiiiiinnnnnng. (Song of the day.)
Song of the Day: “Running” (Hillsong United, Cornerstone (2012))
Patience is a virtue…a very frustrating virtue. Probably one of my biggest mistakes in life is having expected God to change things in my life IMMEDIATELY instead of taking his time. I ran ahead of God and then ended up in a really bad spiritual slump which I have just emerged from. Through that time the biggest lesson I’ve learned is to be patient and do your job.
If there’s anything I’ve learned about God, it’s that he is very very loving…and very very chill. He tends to take His sweet time on stuff, especially prayer requests. While He takes His sweet time, we end up having to wait and hopefully end up growing during the wait. And then, the answer to prayer will come JUST when you need it, at the PERFECT time—because God is like that. Takes his sweet time but never shows up late.
Let’s be honest—waiting is not fun to think about, and it’s also not all we do. We are on a journey, a lifelong journey, with the Holy Spirit as our guide. If we think about it, it’s a lot like running a race or being on a sports team. This is how I like to think about the journey—as a sport. In sports (or at least serious sports) you train more or less every day (with a rest day), you get taught and given advice by your coach, and you play games or matches or go to meets to compete. It’s the same with life: God is the coach, your training is the Bible and your competitions are life situations.
The “race” metaphor appears in 1 Corinthians:
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. (1 Corinthians 9:24-25 ESV)
And so, literally, we are running a race. And we have to keep pace so we can get to the goal.
I wrote this in early July after one of my schoolmates died...
It always takes a little time to process the fact that a young person has died...
…especially to the disgusting disease that is cancer. The person on my mind right now was not my friend, but many of my friends knew him and if I was a year younger I would have certainly known him. I read some of his parents’ blog and to an extent, it was painful. To see cancer leach away someone’s life like that just made me sad and angry.
I wish that he had come out of it, that it didn’t come back to take his young life. I wish he would have been able to live out the rest of his days. And the thing is, I’m not even his friend. I can’t imagine the pain his friends are feeling right now, knowing that next year at school there will be a void the size of their dearly beloved friend in there. I cannot even begin to imagine the overwhelming sense of loss his two sisters are feeling. And don’t even get me started with his parents.
But it was only painful to an extent. I know for a fact that this kid gave his life to Christ beforehand. Knowing that he is chilling with Jesus now—that at the end, cancer and Satan lost—is a very soothing balm to an aching soul. His family is saved too—so at least I know that God will be there, helping them, soothing all of their pain.
The kid’s name was Andrew. His sisters’ names are Emily and Brianna. Would you please pray that God would help them and their parents be able to deal with this loss? Thanks.
Lessons learned from the Champions League final
Note that this and the next couple posts are some things I made a long time ago.
I got to watch a lot of the Champions League final for soccer live on Saturday, and it was just awesome. The last 50 minutes played out like a movie. If you’re not familiar it was the European club final, and it was between Bayern Munich (Munich’s local club and one of the best in the German business) and Chelsea (North London club and among the top English Premier League clubs). It was played in Munich, and Bayern was obviously the favorite…but Chelsea won—and in dramatic fashion too. Bayern scored once, and within five minutes Chelsea had equalized; the game had 30 minutes of extra time, and then it went to a shootout and Chelsea took the cake. You’ll learn more from my lessons.
Without further ado:
Lesson 1: It a’int over till it’s over.
I definitely thought it was over at a couple of points. Nothing happened for the first 80 minutes (there are 90 in a normal game), and around the 70th minute I went upstairs because I was a little bored. I ended up missing both the goals, first by Thomas Mueller for Bayern, and then the equalizer shot by Didier Drogba for Chelsea. The two goals were within five minutes of each other and were also in the last 10 minutes of regular time. It may look like the whole situation is going to go one way, but in five minutes or less, everything can change! Literally! Another example; it was penalty shootout time, and the team with the most penalties (goals shot close to the goalkeeper) would win. Each team got five chances. Petr Cech, the Chelsea goalkeeper, had seen three penalties go past him—one from the Bayern goalkeeper. (I’m still shocked that goalkeepers are allowed to shoot!) Chelsea had missed their first penalty. He had been defending from Bayern the entire game, and my mom and I figured, it’s Bayern’s! Cech (pronounced like check) is too tired, and Bayern are ahead! Then, Bayern came up with Bastian Schweinstiger, one of the best midfielders in the world, and I REALLY thought it was over.
Schweinstiger ended up hitting the goalpost.
The rest went in dramatic fashion. Chelsea’s fourth player made his penalty. The last Bayern player got his penalty saved by Petr Cech, the tired goalkeeper. And then, the last Chelsea player, Didier Drogba, fired his penalty past the Bayern goalkeeper into the net. It was 4-3 on penalties. Chelsea had won.
Don’t brashly announce what you’re going to do tomorrow; you don’t know the first thing about tomorrow. Proverbs 27:1 MSG
(In my case, change tomorrow to the next five minutes…)
2. People can have multiple talents…
Granted, this sounds like an awfully stupid lesson. But I was genuinely shocked when Bayern sent their goalkeeper up to shoot a penalty. Bayern have three of the best forwards (people who WOULD shoot goals normally) in the world—Mario Gomez, Thomas Mueller and Arjen Robben—but guess who was put up third for the penalty shootout? Manuel Neuer, the goalkeeper. I wanted to laugh. I honestly thought it was illegal to send goalkeepers up to shoot in penalty shootouts.
But, you know what? Neuer did great! He fired that ball straight past Petr Cech like one of the pro forwards would have—or honestly, wouldn’t have (what with Schweinstiger hitting the goalpost, Robben missing a penalty during normal time and Gomez not scoring a single goal? seriously!).
Lesson learned: it’s better to not be a one-trick pony. Of course, you have to find your greatest talent and then spend your time honing that. But it’s also nice to be able to back up the team when the team’s first choice is out. It was great that the Bayern manager could trust Neuer to go up there and score a goal if he was needed. It’s good to have enough skill in something that’s not your major talent that you can go out there if you’re needed.
3. People may be talented, but it is God who will put them over.
Chelsea won their first Champions League title ever yesterday. They’ve been to the final before—in fact, they’ve been to penalty shootouts before. It was only four years ago when they played Manchester United in the Champions League final in Moscow, and their captain, John Terry, missed a penalty as well as the Champions League title. Fast forward—four years have passed. Chelsea are back again, against one of the best teams in the world. Bayern pressure them for the entire game, but five minutes after they score, Chelsea scores. They go to penalty shootouts again. Schweinstiger hits the goalpost. Drogba scores the winner.
Chelsea have been a great club for several years. They’ve rarely been out of the top 6 in the Premier League. Didier Drogba has been their talisman for nearly a decade, and he’s shown no sign of stopping; he scored nine goals in nine games leading up to this final. But truth is, the only thing that mattered was the last four penalties. Had Schweinstiger and Ivica Olic made their penalties, Chelsea would have lost the Champions League final again.
Drogba knew who to look to at this moment. He told the BBC: “I believe a lot in destiny. I pray a lot. It was written a long time ago. God is wonderful. This team is amazing.”
Chelsea certainly put in the work, but it was God who turned that work into a Champions league trophy.
Moral of the story: Do work, son! Do your homework! But don’t just think your effort is going to put you over. God is the one who will do that.
It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect. Psalm 18:32 NKJV
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