Monday, 23 November 2009

I come home. I go away. I return. I am thankful.

It seems I'm finally home for at least a bit of a longer stretch of time. For a while, I felt like all I ever was doing was spending my weeks doing my thing at home prepping for the weekend and weekends were spent going to camp. Or Holland. Or in one instance, both, which isn't that bad.

I really like seeing my friends and reconnecting with them. I believe that I have some of the greatest friends that I could ask for, and that has been reaffirmed in the past three weekends. I've developed a closer relationship with some of my camp friends as we've studied discipleship together in a Bible study and thought about the persecuted church during the month of November (and in the process, at least personally, developed a greater sense of perspective on thankfulness, especially when we celebrate being thankful for all the things we DO have with one of the biggest feast days of the year). I find a certain sense of irony in that, but I'll reserve my thoughts on that for another post, hopefully.

Staff Reunion was shorter this year, but I think Nate and I made the exact right move in going down to Grand Rapids afterward and then to Holland on Sunday morning. I'm always glad to be at Engedi for church because it's like another church family along with Cornerstone (and now Temple Hill), but this last experience at Engedi now a week ago was special. The service was a baptismal service and Nate and I witnessed something that I think very few people have ever seen. As usual, a number of people had planned on getting baptized, some with extremely powerful testimonies. But perhaps the most interesting was something that no one had necessarily intended, yet God knew all along would happen. It was an impromptu baptism. This gentleman that I didn't even know of came, said he was at home and had this realization that he knew a church was doing baptisms and that he needed to be baptized that morning. And so he went to Engedi and asked to be baptized. The part that brought me, well, joy was the fact that some of the men didn't turn him away because of church policies and Brian didn't either (though he did ask him in front of everyone the same questions about if he knew Jesus died for Him and if he was a Christian and if he wanted to make the public statement of being a new creation and living for Him). And just like with its own close members, the congregation erupted in celebration.

And then there was The Gathering. Shane Claiborne was brought in to speak at Hope College during The Gathering, which was the biggest reason Nate and I stopped in Holland instead of going straight home and meeting Leah and Jessica at Hope. And it was worth it. For all the controversy that supposedly surrounds this man, what he talked about a week ago didn't seem that wrong to me. Shane Claiborne talked about how he lives in a tough neighborhood in Philadelphia and reach out to the kids. How he gets sad when one of them gets hurt, or worse, dies. How he wanted to serve alongside Mother Theresa in Calcutta. And how he keeps a soldier's dogtags, a piece of detonated bomb casing, and bullet casing in his pocket to remember to pray for the suffering. If the American churches are upset because Shane Claiborne wants to pray for those that need help and are hurting or confused and want to know Jesus, then they're getting angry at the wrong person.

While I was at The Gathering on the 15th and this past weekend, I was also reminded of why I loved spending four years at Hope College so much. I jokingly tell high school kids that I know that Hope is one of the best colleges on the planet. But this is one reason why I loved it so much. While I was in Dimnent Chapel waiting with N-Sto and company, I saw Trygve Johnson & Josh Banner talking and I just wanted to talk and say hey mostly because it's hard to catch them and actually TALK. But then when they asked how I was doing, I was honest and said that job stuff is hard and a little discouraging. And instead of being simply sympathetic, Trygve pulled me in and said, "Tyler, let me pray for you. Right now." And we did for something like 5 minutes. That meant a lot. Instead of being one of several thousand alums he's sent off now in his time, it matters to Trygve how I'm REALLY doing even beyond my four years at Hope. To be known and then forgotten is absolutely heartbreaking, but not so at Hope. Not only have I felt like I was SOMEONE with a story rather than just a face, but to know that I have a Dean of the Chapel that would pray for me because I'm discouraged about wanting to teach and can't find the right job yet means so much.

And this past weekend playing for Nate & Caitlin's wedding meant two things. First, I had the pleasure once again of getting to play music for two more of my friends from school on the day when they celebrate the bond of marriage together. That's lots of fun in and of itself, although I always wonder a little if the music will come together and if the music I pick will be okay (thankfully Caitlin & Nate both liked it!). Better yet, it was a time to reunite with TONS of my closest friends from Hope, which is my other favorite part of weddings when they involve my friends from college. It's yet another excuse to hold gigantic parties with way too many people and act silly together. Who knew you could stuff 10 people in a photo booth?! And did I mention I saw BEN at the same iHOP where we did Bible Studs iHOP runs?!

Yes, I'm thankful to be home for a little while. But I'm thankful for four years spent at Hope College, even if it cost money, for the good influences it has had on me. God taught me a lot there through EVERYTHING. And I'm thankful for all the relationship I have there. Gosh, I miss them all so much. I just get to see them and enjoy them for awhile and then I say good-bye again. And I am thankful for music too.

Currently This Is Our God By Hillsong Desert Song see related