Enjoying the Little Things

Hope Is Hard

This is a post from my friend Kayla who is not only an incredible writer but an incredible person.
Romans 12:12
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

Coffee Shop Talk

Hope is hard. It’s a fact of life.

But hope is also beautiful. It means we’re choosing to believe that there is indeed a light at the end of a very dark tunnel. That, my friend, is no easy feat.

Hope is counting on and clinging to what we cannot see. Hope is what we grab hold of as we’re searching for peace in the middle of a war. Hope is not always comforting, but sometimes it’s all that’s left.

If hope were a person, I wonder what he’d say or what he’d do. I’d like to believe that he’d take my hand and say “here’s my hand, you can squeeze it.” Hope would know that if I can’t change my present circumstances, I’m better off knowing I don’t need to endure the battle ahead alone.

Faith and hope work closely together. Without faith, how could we hope?  How else…

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Bear With Me…

A lot of things have been happening in my life and I have not been able to keep up. I will hopefully be able to share about the past few weeks in my next entry.I know that this is the lamest blog post ever but please bear with me….

This is going to be the best movie of the year.

Walk Much?

Two days ago I was headed to my first class of the day. This class is unfortunately at 9 a.m. and also all the way across campus. Normally the walk does not bug me, I can usually make it on time or with a little time to spare. However, on this particular day I was running a bit late. Key word in that last sentence would be ‘running’, that’s definitely what I was doing. At 8:56 a.m. I was rushed up the stairs that stood between me and my class, an apple in one hand and a notebook in the other (looking rather studious). Little did I know that those stairs would take a bit out of my studiousness starting with my apple. I was almost to the top of the stair case when my toe caught an edge and down I fell. Well, I guess I should say up. Yes, I did, in fact, trip Up the stairs! Insult to injury, hands that would have braced my fall were busy holding my notebook and my apple. My notebook slapped the ground and my apple scraped across the cement making a lovely skid mark on the ground leaving one side of the fruit completely flat. Cherry on top . . . the people walking up the stairs behind me made that noise . . . I know you know the noise. “Ohhhhhh . . .yikes . . .uh, you ok?”

Later as I recounted the story to my friend he mocking asked me through his laughter, “Geez, did you drop your glasses too?” Yes I was the kid who tripped Up the stairs, made cement apple sauce and lost a little bit of my pride in the process. After it was all over I couldn’t help but laugh. How funny we are, humans. Learning to laugh at our own mistakes is so important. I get to learn that lesson alot 🙂

To Be Continued. . .

The Conduit

THE CONDUIT

Conduit [kon-dwit, -doo-it, -dyoo-it, -dit]
(Noun) – a fountain (Archaic)
– a similar natural passage
Legal definition
– a mediator, a go-between, an advocate

The more I am alive the more I realize how much information is skewed as it is passed from individual to individual. I remember when I was younger I would play the game telephone with my cousins. For those of you who do not know, in the game telephone players sit in a circle close enough to whisper into each other’s ears. One player comes up with a saying or a phrase of his choosing. This participant then whispers it into the ear of the person next to him. The listener may not ask for a repeat and is then to pass the message he or she just received to the next person in the circle. The messaged subsequently moves around the circle until it makes it back to its creator. The last person shares what the message turned into by the time it made it all the way around the circle. What may have started out as “I have brown hair”, may have turned into “he uses Nair.”
I believe that this game is a comical and yet accurate analogy of what often occurs in academic, social and spiritual environments. Interpretation is, by definition, “a conception of another’s message or behavior”. Whether I admit it or not, I sit in my Psych 105 with a personalized set of biases and beliefs just like the other hundred students in my class. My beliefs and biases are composed of choices made and learning experiences that I’ve had.
Socially, telephone may be the most accurate description of interactions of people at all ages. Whoever said people are easier to be around in when you get older clearly didn’t live very long. I have been blessed with excellent friends in all areas of my life and do not deal with the “telephone game” of misinterpretation and hurt very much at all. However, I see it happening around me daily.
I was walking on campus the few days ago when two elders from the Mormon Church stopped me. They asked me where I was going and I truthfully told them that I was headed to a small group for my church, Resonate. “Oh, Resonate. . .” they said with slight disgust, “People from that church don’t like us very much.” “Huh,” I said. “Why is that?” “Well,” said the more outspoken elder “A lot of people have really bad views of Mormons in general.” “Oh man,” I smiled “That is something we share. A lot of people have really bad views of Christians as well.” Misinterpretations about people, their behaviors and messages are happening all the time and much more than we think.
This long-winded lead in is just to say that in all areas of our lives it is necessary to strive for wisdom and to always be conduits (mediators and advocates) of the truth. The goals of this blog are to write with wisdom and truth while giving you, the reader, the window seat view of life of a student living in the ever-changing world of academia. My hope is that you will laugh (as I do) at the lack of sagacity of some people, morn for the disparity of others and lastly be filled with encouragement and joy as my friends and I learn the true purpose of our lives and strive to be conduits of truth.

1 Timothy 2:5 (KJV)
5 “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus…”

When Transition is Absolutely Necessary

This is a post from my great friend Kayla explaining the importance of relationships during transitional periods in our lives. College is a constant state of transitioning and I believe that it is in this ever-changing environment that growth may truly occur.

Coffee Shop Talk

Creative Commons// Darin Marshall

I am back! These past couple of weeks have been rather busy these past couple of weeks wrapping up my summer classes and tearing apart my room. Since I’m in the currently in the middle of a transition, I’ve decided to share with you my thoughts, and why I personally believe transitions are important!

Before I go any further, you should know that I despise packing. I’ve always been one to over-pack. It’s really silly because I could bring everything with me to wherever I’m going and still be convinced that I don’t quite have everything I need. For me,  traveling is never enjoyable until the moment I actually arrive at my destination. Nonetheless, transition and change are very healthy. Moving is hardly enjoyable, but it forces me to re-evaluate my life. Putting my life into boxes is a wonderful reminder of what I value. Trust…

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5, 5:30, 6:00. . .Screw It.

This past sunday was our very last BBQ on the beach. This is seriously important due to the fact that 1. it is the last time that my church family would meet all together on the beach with our co-workers and hopefully be given the chance to share the gospel with them 2. one of the people that we had met down in La Jolla named Clyde was getting baptized after accepting Christ not a week earlier. He would share his story in front of all of us and our co-workers. Significant to say the least. All summer I had been given favor with my co-workers and had one of them come to every single BBQ that we had. For the last one I pulled out all the stops and invited seven of them. I wanted desperately for them to come, to see my community, and to be touched by the deep joy that my friends have in Jesus. I spoke to each of my co-workers individually, “Hey, it starts at 5, Ill see you there.” “Hey, It starts at 5 but if you cant come tip 5:30 its totally cool.” “Hey dude, come to my BBQ, its the last one and I probably wont be able to see you afterwards. It will be one final last Hoorahh!” Sunday night, its 5:00 and no one is there yet. . .5:30 and still no one is there. . .6:00 rolls around and still not one of my co-workers is there. A little ticked to say the least I stomp away from my church family to the porta-potties that are just a little ways away from our site. I was so upset that I found myself looking at all the writing inside the bathroom and saying to myself “Are you serious. . . thats real mature! Writing on the inside of a porta-potty!” As I was finishing my pity part in my porta-potty I looked up at the door and saw an inscription set apart from the other ones. It said HAVE FAITH IN OUR GOD….dang…dang. Ok Lord. I am not lying when I tell you that every single one of my coworkers that invited came. Not only did they come, they came in time to hear my friend share his testimony and the Gospel. Praise God . . . Praise God. Later I was talking to one of my co-workers boyfriends and he looked at my friends and then at me and then back to my friends “You guys are kind of different arent you?” he asked. Yeah we are . . . Yes, we are.

To Be Continued. . .

The End and Filling in the Blanks

12am wednesday morning Elevate 2014 came to a close. This program was one of the most pivotal and important experiences of my life. I learned that Our Lord is a relational and intimate Father and that my community will never leave me. Throughout the summer I tried to blog some of the most important and most interesting things that happened. However, I would like to apologize for the long and agonizing gaps in between each blog post. I promise that I tried very hard to keep up on it but quickly learned that working a 9to5, volunteering, spending time with my church family and coworkers, AND creating blog posts that were actually readable and interesting was a little bit a struggle. After the program I realized that some of the most amazing stories had not shared yet. Do not feel like you need to read them, but I will be continuing to blog about the funny, amazing and some tear jerking things that occurred during this trip. Thank you for all of your support and for your prayers. Prayer is something that more and more I am learning to turn to and I know that yours truly did make a difference in my life this summer. To the end of a summer and the beginning of a beautiful life long mission that is forever To Be Continued. . .

Tacky Prom

A Beautiful Night

Last Night So last night was Wednesday ie our village and this week was my turn to lead with Alec Karena and Emily Dwyer. I was excited and yet super cautious to not make anything I said during sound scripted. I wanted it to sound real. We talked about finishing strong with our time here and knowing that there are harder things coming for us when we get home. It was awesome. My favorite part was when one of the girls in my room told everyone in village that just the day before she had fully accepted and stated out loud that she had accepted Jesus into her heart. She said things in the simplest terms explaining that she couldn’t describe the past two years of her life in any other way besides the fact that she felt like “she was dying inside”. Not a dry eye in the room after Emily shared with her family her transformation of true joy. After village the leaders said they had a surprise for us. BriannJones stood up and thanked us all for being a great village then he told us that we needed to go back to our rooms get our swim suits on and meet each other at the hotel lobby. “But” he said “we would love it if you guys could not talk while you’re doing that. Silently reflect back on what God had done for you and taught you this summer” A little weirded out but still willing to put our full trust in our leaders we followed instructions and were met at the lobby by our leaders who handed us a piece of bamboo with our names on it and a letter that we had written to ourselves at the beginning of the summer. It’s funny how I never seem to remember what I wrote in the ‘letter to yourself’ things… As we silently drive down to the each we read our letters and had a view into our past selves. My letter was definitely past me because I spoke about myself the whole time and not until the end did I talk about Christ. “Help me connect with my girls. . .help me connect with my coworkers.” Not until the end did I tell myself to remember how much I wanted to truly fall in love with Jesus. This hurt and was amazing all at the same time. I realized that the reason i even thought that my letter was being selfish was because I had in fact fallen love with Jesus, Lord of my heart who changed the desires of my heart. At the beach we gathered and walked silently up the beach together as a giant family. Up ahead we saw the light from many tiki torches, one for each room. Treasure Island’s tiki shine brightly as my roommates now my sisters circled around it. Our leader Alex left us together to pray for a while. We grabbed hands and prayed. My bed buddy Mari prayed last, emotion cracking her voice as she thanked God for us, for new confidence, and for His amazing love. When we opened our eyes Alex was standing over us tears in her eyes “amen” she whispered. Alex asked us to follow her to where our lead Drew and his wife Jane were standing just off in the distance by a larger fire pit on the beach. We sat in a line facing the darkness of the ocean. Jane then approached Alex who sat at the end of our line of Treasure Island girls. She spoke to Alex and then proceeded to wash her feet with a towel that she had wetted in the ocean. Then Alex got up and as Jane spoke individually with each girl in our room she washed their feet in completely gentleness and humility. I did not hear what Jane said until she reached me. “Megan,” Jane said “you have run the race and defended your faith here in La Jolla. I pray empowerment over you as we go back to Pullman knowing that God has chosen you to be a leader in our church.” When Alex had washed all of our feet we walked as a family back to our tiki torch filled with emotion and love and courage. Alex sat with us in our group this time as we went around the group and individually encouraged each person telling of the growth and maturity that we as women had gained in Christ that summer. Drew interrupted our time and called all of the rooms to the larger fire pit. He told us that we had done and amazing job living missionally in La Jolla, but we weren’t done yet, there was still work to be done. The temptation to slack off and not love our co-workers and others that we meet fully as Christ would have is as great as ever. Now is the time for us to act as Cortez did when he went to capture the unattainable treasure. No on had ever beaten the army that he was going up against. He decided that if he and his men were truly to be successful he was going to take the ultimate step of courage; Cortez chose to burn his own boats so that retreat was not an option. “This is how we will finish this program” Drew said, “Burn your boats and throw everything you have at this last little time we have here.” We knew it was coming…”So now, with reckless abandon, we are going to, all together as one giant family, run into and dive deep in the ocean.” Ahhhhhh! At 11:30pm my family of 70 people ran and jumped in the ocean. Immense joy filled me as I stood in the ocean and just watched my friends laughing, singing, screaming at the top of their lungs. These people are filled with the Holy Spirit and although this program will end soon, I get to go home with them, go to school with them, entire into battle for the next three years of life with them. God has wrecked our lives with His love and grace this summer and I can’t wait to bring it back to Pullman.     To Be Continued. . .