Wednesday, 15 November 2006

GOOD News

The media seems to always be full of bad news. I get REALLY sick of that. Luckily, lots of cool stuff has happened worth mentioning here, so I'll do just that.

-Good friends, more good friends, and MORE good friends! This had to be one of the most social weekends I've spent in awhile, and I thought I was supposed to be studying. Jeannette's recital and freaking AWESOME reception at JP's, the annual tradition of getting soaked in a thunderstorm, movie at Jon's, and hanging in Brandon's dorm afterwards... it's a busy Friday night. And it was good to see Ben after over a month after his disappearance from the known world into the depths of Reeths Puffer HS. He was even nice enough to get soaked in that thunderstorm with me, just like last year. Luckily I had resources for us to dry off this time. Then there's Peter's (hilarious) recital the next day. His brother Paul gave us (the students, no adults allowed) all candy cigarettes at the reception and we looked sketchy. By the way, do NOT smoke real cigarettes. It's very bad for you. And candy cigarettes will rot your teeth, so don't eat too many of them. Add watching the Hope hockey game with Brandon and Stephanie and Saturday's busy with friends, too. Sunday afternoon I finally did work on my Bib Lit project and cranked out a huge research paper, but that's about it.

-The Gathering. When Josh Banner got things started, he said that we'd be focusing on prayer, and I got excited in a hurry. Prayer is something that I think we tend to neglect/not understand, so to take time to focus on prayer, pray as a congregation for specific issues, and just commune with God together was sweet. I wish we'd do that in the Chapel services more frequently. It's so healthy.

-I figured planning Monday's Bible study with Brandon after The Gathering would be fairly straightfoward. Instead it turned into a another really sweet talk about prayer itself, linking other areas of Scripture to Romans 8. Brandon and I really saw how we should be praying like Jesus. Romans 8 said that we don't know how to pray, but that the Spirit intercedes for us. It's true we don't know how to pray, so following the example of Jesus is the only way to go if we actually expect to communicate with our God. Anyway, Brandon and I finished the evening praying together for the Studs and for each other, which was sweet. I am convinced that's how I have forged my closest friendships at Hope College. The people I pray with are the people I'm closest to.

-Being a college student is just plain tough. But, as I told Brad after walking past the RA's duty box in Cook, God keeps all the madness in check in my life, thanks in part to the Bible Studs and the Chapel services/The Gathering. Nothing was more encouraging than spending some time discussing Romans 8:18-39 with the Studs. It was incredibly reassuring to read at the end of the chapter how God never lets us go. Psalm 100 says that we're the sheep of His pasture. Once we ARE in God's pasture, we're always in God's pasture.

It's almost Thanksgiving, and I can't wait to go home. Dad and Mom's Thanksgiving dinner is the best you can find anywhere, I want to see my parents & my older brother, and I need a break from school. But those are just the bonuses. What am I really thankful for?

-A home to go home to when I leave Hope.
-A place to worship both here in Holland and at home in Ludington.
-Those good friends that I talked about and the other good friends that I haven't seen in awhile.
-Those three furry cats that I always find waiting for me at the door when I come home.
-A family that loves me.
-A Heavenly Father that loves me even more and who gave me the chance to live with Him forever.

Comments(1)

Hey,

I just wanted to tell you about a new Christain blogging site that I found called www.battlecry.com and I am trying to get the word out about it. It is an amazing site and an incredible tool to help you in your walk with the Lord. Here is the link to my site: http://www.battlecry.com/battleplan.php?username=tknbk96. Check it out and then create your own. If you find that you like the site, post this on 5 of your friends sites.

-Brandon

tknbk96