Almost as Good as Summer!

Friday afternoon, I took my section from Cook on an outing to Jersey Junction in Gaslight Village, East Grand Rapids. It was possibly the most beautiful day this year! Sunny, 70's, with a light breeze. Perfect weather for ice cream!

Only ten minutes away from Cornerstone, East Grand Rapids is a great hang-out for students and families alike. Coffee shops, restaurants, boutiques, out-of-door sculptures and fountains, a lakeside park and an awesome public library provide hours of entertainment for little money. However, we came for one thing and one thing only that day... ice cream! One track minds, you might say. But I say we had our priorities straight for such a beautiful day!

Jersey Junction is an adorable ice cream shop. Inside there is a toy train which runs on its tracks that are mounted high up on the wall, and if one needs to wait for someone, adorable old fashioned school desks are available for seating. After considering all the flavors, I ordered a single scoop of coffee lover's dream ice cream in one of their homemade waffle cones. It really was a dream come true. Sitting outside on the deck, eating my ice cream, and hanging out with some of my favorite people has never been more fun! We even took some time to close our eyes and imagine that we were at the beach getting some sun. The sound of cars driving by became the sound of waves lapping the shore, and even the call of seagulls somehow managed to enter into the day dream. It was amazing!

As if the ice cream itself wasn't exciting enough, some local hudlums decided that it would funny if they lit the next door business's trash can on fire. Only after flames began leaping out of the trash can was the fire extinguished. The excitement caused by this small case of arson was enormous. Adults and children alike commented on it, several policemen streamed into the area, and a small old fashioned fire truck arrived on the scene. Even my section got involved in solving the case. Janessa, a freshman, took the time to make a report to the police about what she had observed.

The combination of ice cream, weather, and friends was almost as good as summer. Of course, the fire added a bit of pizazz to the trip as well. It seems hard to imagine a trip to East Grand Rapids as exciting as this one!

Is this the end or is it something more?

Tonight I went to the Legacy Banquet for Cornerstone resident assistants, both current and next year's. The Legacy Banquet takes place every April and is the "passing of the torch" ceremony for resident assistants. The ceremony is both comic and poignant; it is the end for some of us and the beginning for others. First, we all enjoyed dinner (yummy food transported from the cafeteria to the buffet line) then a speaker spoke about legacies. After that, all the current RA's handed down physical manifestations of their sections, as well as survival tools for the next year (often journals, coffee and blue tape for putting things on the walls). The legacy I hope I left to Kristin, the next RA of C1W, is the general caring and support that I have tried to show to all of my women. Of course, I also left her a couple of dolls that have travelled from room to room in my section ever since the Christmas party last December. The creepy Christmas Carolers will live on forever. I just hope they won't come back to haunt me! I also gave Kristin our birthday crown and some of our birthday decorations. C1W is definitely the party section!

I can't believe a whole year has passed since last year's banquet. It feels like I just moved into Cook Hall and began my RA position. It made me sad to think that I will not be an RA next year, yet at the same time the possibilities of next school year tantalize and tempt me from behind the veil of summer.

So in order to deal with the loss of this position, I've decided to make a list. (Side note: I love lists! I'm the nerd who will write things that I've already finished on a list just to cross it out.)

Things I look forward to next school year:

1. I won't have to be on duty. (No more nights sitting at the desk in the lobby and filling out duty logs, making sure that every i is dotted and every t is crossed.)

2. I won't have to worry if I'm spending enough time in my room or around the dorm.

3. It will be much easier to volunteer outside of where I live with the extra time.

4. My schedule will be freed up in the evenings (No more Monday and Wednesday evening meetings.)

5. I can concentrate on my schoolwork and study abroad applications for next summer.

6. My friends will be able to get to see me more and I will have more energy to pour in them.

7. I have the possibility of living off campus!

There are more, but I keep thinking about how much I'm going to miss my section this year. They are so awesome and I love each and everyone of them. Most of all, I'll miss the opportunity to be part of their everyday lives. Of course, I know that end of this year means the beginning of next year which is really exciting!

Endings are only beginnings by a different name.

And for that, I am glad.

Mourning and Celebration

We are gathered here today to mourn the death of Elizabeth Kool and celebrate the rising of Jesus Christ.

Shocked? If you are familiar with my Lord, Jesus Christ, you oughtn't be surprised. The President of my university spoke at chapel last Tuesday and expounded on this verse, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:20, NIV).

I will be serving this summer with an organization called YouthWorks. Lately, I have been feeling very overwhelmed with the amount of responsibility that I will have. However, today I have been reminded that it is not me, but Christ who will serve through me. It is so beautiful to think that my God is so strong and able that he picks such a weak person as myself to serve others in His name. God loves us so much that he sent his son, Jesus Christ, to suffer death on a cross and three days in the grave. He loves us so much that the only perfect person took on our iniquities and suffered the consequences of sin on humanity's behalf.

Today on Easter, we celebrate the rising of his son. INDEED, CHRIST IS RISEN! God brought Christ back to life in order to show his power over sin. Satan certainly cannot boast of such glory himself; he only destroys and tricks and steals. Our God is creative, loving and good. There is nowhere that God cannot go to save his people, and we are his people. You are his people.

Celebrate Christ's life!

Something about me as an English Major

I love words; vocabulary has always been my favorite part of reading. Authors are much more than story tellers; they are word smiths, placing words and forming sentences like jewelers with sparkling diamonds and gold bands. However, their art creates more than just a pretty thing over which people exclaim. Stories and books teach, challenge and inform, expanding their readers' worlds. I consider several authors to be my teachers, my mentors, and my friends.

Growing up, I read voraciously, devouring books like the Cookie Monster devoured cookies. Reading became my second nature, my first love. Ann of Green Gable, Maida, Ella Enchanted, Cherry Ames, Amber Brown, Jill, and Pollyanna became some of my best friends through the years. I knew their habits, friends, families, and loves. My life intertwined with their stories like roses on arbors. These stories fostered in me the ability to understand others who are unlike me, as well as an extensive vocabulary.

Reading led to my love of English and my major in college. However, I can often be found grappling with my choice of major. English does not solve poverty, nor does it save families. On its own, it does not have the potential to create many solutions for the problems of this world. Does this mean that my passion is useless? That I will never be able to make a difference working with what I love?

I don't believe so. For a reason, God fostered in me a love for language and for people. I believe that whatever I end up doing will somehow make an impact for Christ. Though I don't know his exact plans for my life, every year brings new surprises and new insights into who He has created me to be. Right now, He has created me to be a student, who studies a langauge with millions of speakers world wide.

And right now, that's enough...

Whispers

For over an hour, I wandered aimlessly around Rivertown mall. Watching everybody pass me by, I realized how materialistic we are as a society. I noticed all the mothers with their daughters and thought how we as women are trained from childhood for this. In order to be happy, we must have this or that, and of course, spending money is a source of euphoric happiness (and an empty bank account.)

"Are we really this vain, and self-absorbed" I wondered. Is this what we all aspire to? Is our highest desire to walk on those crowded, cold tiles hand-in-hand with some eye candy and shop for that perfect dress for the prom as a teenager, buy the perfect ring for our engagement (with a different piece of eye candy) as we get older, and outfit our children in that elusive bargain at the biggest name brand stores?

Even so, I still like the mall. I mean who else wanders in the mall alone just to think about life and God and people? I find it rather peaceful and soothing; it makes me feel small, yet special. In the midst of the whirl of the people, here I am chatting with God in my head. I have been so materialistic lately (yes, and vain), it was almost a test for myself to go to the mall and not purchase anything. (Starbucks doesn't count). It amazes me to think how easy it is to hide behind that new shirt or the make-up or even a book, especially a book. I have been losing sight of who God made me to be. While I know I have a long ways to go to be that person, it's the journey that counts, not the destination. All we have to do is listen to the right voice and follow it. So listen carefully.

WHISPERS

The world whispers
Trash, worthless
God whispers
Gold, priceless
The world shouts
Failure, give up
God shouts
Work in progress

Things we hear and who
We choose to listen to
Makes us who
We are

The world cries
Stupid, waste of time
My God cries
Beloved, here I am
The world declares
Average, boring
My God declares
Amazing, beautiful

I’ve heard both voices
And this day I know
Whose voice I
Will heed

Who
Will
You
Choose?

Trust. Faith. More than 5 letter words.

It seems that lately just as I've made up my mind, everything changes. Is there a reason why my plans won't stay planned? I am so frustrated that my life seems to resist boundaries and boxes! This summer I am spending 2 and a half monthes working with youth. I have no clue what I am doing! I have no previous training and I feel so inadequate. I want to prepare for it, but I don't even know where to start. When I applied for a position, I knew that it would be the hardest thing I'd ever done up to this point in my life. But I knew that God was calling me to say goodbye to who I've been and follow Him. I know He is enough and that He will guide me and give me strength every single day, but yet I still doubt.

Lately, I've been challenged around every corner by the concept of trust. Just last weekend I attended a service at Ohio State University and guess what the speaker's topic was... trust. Many people I've talked to have been struggling with the same thing. Many of us are college students and we see so much change and stress that worry and stress are becoming second nature to us. The only way to change this is asking God for faith. It is a gift He wants everyone to have, but most of us, though we say we want it, reject it before we even realize what it is.I've realized that trust is more than just a 5 letter word; rather it is an action that demands our full commitment. I've been far too wrapped up in making my plans that I forget to rest in the trust that being a follower of Christ demands. Of course, trusting in Christ is not safe. In fact, it is one of the most dangerous actions because it shows us how big God is and that we are not serving a limited God. He is able to do anything and he uses us in bigger ways than we could have ever imagined. No, faith is not safe.

Faith is also not fear. We need to quiet our thoughts and our mouths from asking God, "What if...?" No matter how many times we ask Him, we will never know the future or the exact implications of our choices. There is a reason why we are told to trust the Lord and not lean on our own understandings (Proverbs 3:4-6). Faith is not about control. We cannot act as though we are in control; if I was in control, it would look rather like a mouse trying to lead the pony. It is simply ridiculous. We ought to not panic, but rather rest in the fact that He does have control. To follow the earlier analogy, he is the friendly green giant guiding the horse. When we rest in Him, we have no need of worrying and we are not stressed. It accomplishes nothing.

Another sign that I lack faith is when I refuse to admit I'm wrong and I don't seek wise advice from others. It seems that this happens almost daily. (Oh, and if I'm right, that is even worse. My head can barely fit through the doorway. My pride is a sign that I lack trust because I don't feel the need for trust and that is truly terrible.) When we try to earn God's salvation by works, it is a sign that we do not trust God's providence for us. We often place our own abilities and our own "needs" over the role of faith. The instant I look to my money or my education (ouch!) to provide for myself, it is a sign that faith is far from me. And that is the true tragedy. Faith is a gift and it is an action that should become my first reaction and my first defense against all those things I previously mentioned.

Join me in my prayer and search for faith. Christ said "Ask and it will be given unto you; seek and you shall find; knock and it will be opened to you" (Matthew 7:7) Can we at least trust that? If I can't have faith in the God who formed me, what do I have?