I realized yesterday evening that I hadn't taken a picture of my feet yet, but I wasn't too concerned about it because it had been a pretty uneventful day. I just decided there would be no post on, or about Tuesday, January 25th 2011. But as I have been thinking, I've had some thoughts (I suppose that's redundant), and so I will share them...
My first thought (and I think this a lot) was, that I am so tremendously blessed to have the job that I do! The first main thing on my agenda yesterday was to get together with Jillian, Hannah, and Chelsea. They were all in my freshman small group last year, I met one-on-one with them in the fall, and now we're getting together as a group of four each week. Anyways, We met up in The Cave, which is the food court/kill time between classes/area with lots of tables in the student center at ETSU. We caught up on school and ministry team stuff and then got into the Word; we're going through Mark, studying the different miracles of Jesus. After we were done I didn't have another meeting until 2:45, but I had decided to bring some work and just stay in The Cave for the afternoon, instead of walking back across campus to the office and back once more. While I was there my friend Ryan happened by, he ended up staying and eating his lunch and we had a really good time catching up with each other. After he left I was able to plan a last-minute lunch with Laura. Laura is one of the upperclassmen who helps lead the freshman Bible studies. We talked about the new study that we had just started the night before, about school, and spring break plans. After Laura left I wrote Thank You notes to some of our supporters and prepared for my next meeting, with Stacie. Stacie was also a part of my freshman small group from last year and we continue to meet one-on-one. I love my time with her. We laugh a lot, we're open and vulnerable, we cry sometimes, we search the Scriptures, we pray. It's wonderful. After I left The Cave yesterday I had been there for over four hours and I was reluctant to get back to some of the not-so-fun but necessary, administrative aspects of my job.
And I tell you all of that not to make much myself or what I am doing, but to give you a taste of what I get to do so you'll understand why I consider myself so blessed! I am blessed to live in a country that allows me to do what I do - on the campus of a public university! I am blessed to have a job that requires that I spend time with students. Just being with them, doing life together. I am blessed to have family and friends who support me financially, so that I can do this kind of work. And even more than that, family and friends who know that ultimately it is all for the Lord and His eternal Kingdom!
Ok, that was just my first thought about yesterday! I have one more. At Passion, I was in the community group for leaders and we were privileged to have John Piper come speak again just to us on the last morning. He talked about the importance of memorizing Scripture, and not just random verses, but whole passages and even books! Some of us from The Well were really challenged by this and picked out some passages to try to memorize. I'm working on 2 Corinthians 4:1-12, a passage that has been very meaningful to me for a few years now. I write each verse on an index card and try to have them with me all the time. I look at them while I straighten my hair in the morning, at the gym, and other random times, and I have the first six verses down! I studied them some yesterday in The Cave and had an "ah-ha" moment. 2 Corinthians 4:4 says, "The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." I am so thankful for the students I know and get to work with that love the Lord and are seeking to live their college years for Him, but the harsh reality is that they are a VERY SMALL minority. Most of the students sitting around me in The Cave, on the treadmills next to me at the gym, and walking down the sidewalk in front of me have minds that are blind. Whether they realize it or not, they are all seeking for something to fulfill them, and they don't know that Jesus Christ is the only one that ever will. Unfortunately, I don't think about this reality very often, but it should be on the forefront of my mind every day and one of, if not the, reason I am in ministry.
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