Erskine blessings

Merry Christmas everyone!  Today is born our Savior!  I pray that the holiday season finds you and your family healthy, happy, and enjoying the many blessings God has bestowed upon you.  I know that, personally, I am so grateful for surviving the last month of school, including a rather stressful exam week.

In honor of the Christmas season, I wanted to resume my blog posts by writing about some of the greatest blessings that God has given me through Erskine.  I do apologise in advance: I have no photos to do this post justice, so my ramblings will have to suffice.  I will make up for it in future posts.  So…(in no particular order) here we go!

I am grateful that, as a Christian college, Erskine brings us all together through our shared faith in so many ways: college chapel services; prayer before classes, meetings, and performances; various organizations and clubs; small-groups and Bible studies; impromptu gatherings in the residence halls; and so many others.

I am grateful for being able to live in Carnegie Hall for 3 of my 4 years at Erskine.  As a freshman, Ms Ruth and my SLAs were always supportive and helpful no matter the emergency (of both the small and large varieties).  I met so many great girls my first year that I still study, laugh, and cry with.  As an upperclassmen, I’ve had the ability to serve as a Student Life Assistant for 3 years (this is my second in Carnegie).  I have an even greater appreciation for my awesome freshman year now that I understand more fully what goes on behind the scenes, and I love being able to watch out for and get to know my girls.  And, lets’ be honest: Carnegie is probably the prettiest building on Erskine’s campus. Who wouldn’t love living in a beautiful hundred-year-old hall?

I am grateful for Ms Ruth, the RD in Carnegie for the past 20 years.  This woman wears a whole lot of hats, most of which she wears quietly.  She has the best stories, knows absolutely everything about Erskine, and has lived a terribly exciting life.  I have learned so much from her and she truly has the best advice.  As an added bonus, Ms Ruth makes sure that the halls of Carnegie are truly decked with boughs of holly, lights, trees, and bows.

I am grateful for every professor I have had the opportunity to learn from.  They challenge me academically and personally–often intertwining–and have truly helped me become a better, stronger, more well-rounded individual.  I am confident that they have prepared me fully for graduate school and beyond.  I know my professors not just as teachers, but as individuals.  I know their backgrounds, their families, and their hobbies.  I cannot think of another college where you would form this type of relationship with one professor, let alone most or all of them.  Erskine often talks about “thriving,” and my professors are the reason I thrive here.

I am grateful that Erskine gave me the opportunity to study abroad at the University of St Andrews.  All of my scholarships transferred, making it very affordable for me to spend this past spring there.  I was more than ready to get there and heartbroken to return home.  St Andrews was so much fun and a priceless experience that I will never forget.  It is hard to be so far away from all of the friends I made there; but on the plus side, I have friends to visit all over the world now!

I am grateful for the psychology department.  At many colleges and universities, psychology can be the “easy” major.  Not here.  I have definitely worked hard for my As and I am amazed sometimes at both the number of pages I have read over the past 3.5 years and how much I have learned.  I know that learning is the point of college, but we as students (and by “we,” I definitely refer at least to myself) tend to get caught up in grades and GPA.  Dr Elsner, for example, always laughs when we come to his office stressing about grades.  As he and the other professors have gradually gotten us to accept, it’s most important to focus on the work and the learning; the grades are secondary.  As a psychology major, I have gotten to write countless papers, learn statistics software,  conduct and present original research, collaborate with other students, participate in a summer research internship, be accepted to intern at a mental hospital this spring, and become the psychology lab manager.  Graduate school? Bring it on.

I am grateful for the music department.  Despite not majoring or minoring in music, I have a music scholarship and get to take voice lessons and sing with the Choraleers.  I’ve also been a member of the Chamber Choir and Bella Voce and performed in opera workshops and various other performances over the past several years.  It is definitely a blessing to practice and perform with such talented individuals, and the faculty … talented doesn’t even begin to describe it.  Some of my favorite college memories relate to Choraleers retreats and tours.  I have grown as a musician and as a Christian and I know my experiences with the department will serve me well in future ministry and life in general.

Continuing with the arts, I am grateful to be an active member of Erskine’s theatre department.  Actually, we technically aren’t even a department, but that certainly does not stop us from acting up a storm!  As a member of Alpha Psi Omega, I get to help make the magic happen both on the stage and behind the scenes.  I had to take a break from the improv this group this past semester, but I hope to finish out my time at Erskine as an active member again this spring.  My fellow Thespians are, quite frankly, talented. And did I mention funny?  They are definitely both.  In sum, if you have never seen any music or theatre performances at Erskine, you are missing out.  We’d love to see you in the audience!

I am grateful for my friends.  Late night studying, paper writing, rehearsing, procrastinating, finding amusement in Due West, 2AM excursions to IHOP, cooking together, and so much laughter …  I wouldn’t trade it for anything!

I could probably easily spend another thousand words  writing about how great Erskine is and how God has blessed me in my time there, but my mom is about to take the baked ziti out of the oven and I am too excited to eat a big chunk of it.  I hope your stomach is as happy as mine is about to be.

I pray that your heart may be content and that this season will bring you happiness and peace.  Joy to the world, the Lord is come!

Thanksgiving in the UK

As an American sojourning in a foreign land, I felt that it was my personal responsibility to introduce my fellow students to the happiness and joy that a genuine spirit of thankfulness can bring to a person (especially when that spirit of thankfulness is expressed in a large turkey!) In other words, I really wanted to cook a whole bunch of food for my friends over here, and let them know what a real American Thanksgiving is like!

It makes sense that they don’t celebrate Thanksgiving over here. After, Thanksgiving is a celebration of a first harvest in the new world, and Scotland is certainly part of the old world. It’s a little more surprising that none of them seem to know what Thanksgiving is about, and many seem to guess that is has something to do with Lincoln. (A fact that I find quite interesting, Lincoln was the first to declare Thanksgiving a national holidays, but US citizens are more likely to think of pilgrims.) What really got me, though, was my friend Rachel declaring that she had never even heard of Thanksgiving! I wondered to myself, what do they DO in Northern Ireland??

Every Thursday evening here in St. Andrews, I take part in a wonderful small group with some of the best people I have met here in Scotland. The group is diverse; we have two Americans, one person from Singapore, three Northern Irish, as well as a healthy blend of Scottish and English students! 🙂 And of course, because small group occurs every Thursday, the two Americans (Vannah and I) realized fairly early on in the term that we needed to introduce our small group to a proper Thanksgiving!

Our Thanksgiving actually happened the day before Thanksgiving, on Thanksgiving eve. Vannah was super amazing, she was the one who really made it happened and organized everyone! She invited all of the guests: all I had to do was show up and help prepare. She and I spent almost the entire day in the kitchen! We made homemade pies, chickens (since most people don’t like turkey 😦 ), green bean casserole, dressing, and sweet tea. The kitchen was exploding with ingredients! I think the best way to describe to you how messy our kitchen was is to tell you there was a point where we LOST an ENTIRE CASSEROLE! That’s when we knew we needed to think about straightening up! J

The most hilarious thing was watching all of the British students see all of our food for the first time. None of them had ever had green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, or even heard of dressing (stuffing!) They wondered at sweet tea and asked if they were supposed to add milk, or if it was alcoholic. They stared at their plates and made comments about how they had never had so many strange foods on their plate at the same time! It was basically hilarious! J  One of the best parts of the evening occurred at the end, when everyone around the table shared what they were most thankful for! It is always amazing to take time to give thanks to the Lord for all of His amazing blessings, and I certainly know I have MANY things to be grateful for!

A wonderful meal with wonderful friends! 🙂

Living Like Jonah

Hello Readers!

I am about to try something bold…very bold. You see, over the summer I was very blessed to be able to go to Wales on a missionary internship with World Witness (the ARP missions organization). My bold attempt is going to be to give a brief summary of an experience that took 42 blog posts over the course of the summer. But here it goes!

My trip to Wales was an amazing experience, and I was able to go abroad with my fiance, who worked with a church a few hills over from where I was. We left on the last day of May and returned to America on the last day of July. I was given the opportunity to do work with the churches and young people in the Pontypridd area in South Wales. The trip was rife with a lot of hard work, a lot of joy, and more new experiences than I care to try and count. This was not my first overseas mission trip, but it was the first time that I had been abroad for so long. It was also the first time that I was able to do ministry as a day-to-day occupation.

I met so many amazing people on my journey and was able to work alongside of so many Welsh brothers and sisters. They were a great encouragement to me in my faith and taught me so much about hospitality and evangelism. Being in Wales gave me such a different perspective on my view of what it means to be a Christian. The European Church culture is far different than that of American Christianity. It is humbling to see people who face such scrutiny and mockery holding on and working so hard for the sake of their Savior.

One of the coolest things about this trip, and a point of relevance, is the connectedness that it had to Erskine. At Erskine I have made connections with many people who have encouraged and supported me in my various endeavors, especially in Wales. Not only have my Erskine relationships been important for my trip to Wales, but Wales was an important step in my Erskine education as well. It served as my practical internship for my Christian Ed major and, aside from the fact that I was able to receive school credit for my trip, it provided a platform for me to use all of the things that I have learned in my time here. My time in Wales has been invaluable to my growth as a student of the Bible, and I am truly blessed to have spent time in such a special place.

If anyone would be at all interested to read more about my trip the link is: http://livinlikejonah.blogspot.com/

God bless!

-BD

 

The BEST WEEKEND of My Life

If you have ever met me before, you may know that I love to describe everything as “the best thing in the entire world!” or perhaps, for some variation, as “the best thing that has ever happened to me!” Most people roll their eyes at my obvious enthusiasm and tell me that I am exaggerating and that whatever has recently happened to me is actually not the best thing that ever happened. This then starts the frequently repeated discussion where I explain that it really is the best thing that ever happened, because it was happening at the same time as I remembered all of the other wonderful things that ever happened to me. And if something wonderful happens tomorrow it will be even better because tomorrow I will also have the memories of today and every other day!!

Most people think I am crazy.

On that note, this weekend was possibly the best weekend of my entire life! For one thing, I did not even have to solve even ONE math problem or attend ANY extremely long lectures. Instead I got to spend the weekend learning about the Word of the Lord and fellowshipping with Christian friends (and drinking lots of tea!) At this point you are probably wondering to yourself, how did Holly manage to have such an awesome weekend?? What a great question! Cornerstone St. Andrews (the church I have been attending here in Scotland) decided they would arrange a weekend away for the Uni students and I decided I would go along.

At first that may seem like an easy enough decision to you: to leave on a Friday afternoon and go for a weekend away in Comrie with your fellow Christian students. Sounds easy, but I was really scared. After all, I have only been in Scotland for one month (today is my one month anniversary in Scotland!) and have only known these girls for a couple of weeks. What if they did not like me? What if I had an awful time? What if they all thought my American accent was weird and decided not to talk to me for the entire weekend! I was quite scared about how the weekend would go.

Despite my somewhat ridiculous fears, the weekend turned out wonderfully! We left on Friday afternoon and drove for about two hours to a small house in a small town called Comrie. Let me tell you, Comrie has got to be one of the most beautiful places ever! It is surrounded by rolling hills, forests, and rivers with riverbeds of small stones. It was one of the most beautiful places in the entire world! One of my favourite parts of the weekend was going out to the river each morning to spend a half hour praying and reading the Word.

Honestly, I am not quite sure who WOULDN’T want to live here!!

The theme of our weekend was ‘Facing Reality.’ We talked about how in our Christian lives surrounding our whole selves to God is more than an afternoon walk in the park and much more than occasional afternoon or evening entertainment. In our small groups we talked about how surrendering your life to God is something that is more about asking the Lord to change your heart and your thoughts than just trying to be a “better Christian” by just doing more “religious stuff.” It is about changing your entire outlook on life and living your entire life for God. We also had an amazing speaker (called Laurence) from the Netherlands who came with us for the weekend and shared his testimony about how he surrendered his life to the Lord at the age of 17 and the ways that the Lord has grown him in maturity and understanding since that time.

A favourite memory from the weekend occurred on Saturday afternoon. After lunch on Saturday we were given a free afternoon until dinner. I was sitting there thinking to myself, what am I going to do with myself all afternoon? Everybody here looks like they all are going to have fun things to do, but what if none of them wants to do anything with me?? But before I could worry anymore about how I would entertain myself, the girls from my Bible study group invited me to come the nearby town of Crief with them! And we had the most FANTASTIC time! We went to a coffee shop to have some tea/coffee and then we went to the park. Let me tell you, Scotland playgrounds have the funnest toys EVER! At first I was not sure if they would all think I was crazy if I threw my backpack on the ground and ran over to the swings and bouncy things, but then I decided that the opportunity was too good to miss!

You have got to admit it looks like a lot of fun! We were running around like crazy! 🙂

After this wonderful weekend in Comrie, I am starting to realize that I really love being in Scotland. I love the scenery, and the weather, and the people I have met. I LOVE the girls in my small group and the time we spend studying the Word together every Thursday evening. I am really starting to feel like I am part of a community here in Scotland!

The 8 girls who went to Crief: 4 mums and their 4 academic daughters!

(P.S. Another sweet moment occurred on the first night we arrived in Comrie. My small group of 8 girls were all staying in one room together in a set of 4 bunk beds. That night everyone was getting ready for bed when I went to take a shower. I took quite a long time and expected everyone to have gone to bed when I got out. I came into our room to find that everyone HAD gone to bed, but that they had left the light on for me anyways! All seven of them were rolled up in their duvets like little burritos to keep the light out, but left it on for me so I would not have to search for my bed in a strange place in the dark. It was one of the sweetest things ever and made me feel really welcomed and loved ❤ )

We were quite excited to find a sweet shop in Crief! 🙂

 

Home Away From Home

Hello Readers!

In keeping with my one blog streak of talking about Christian growth, I felt like this would be a good opportunity about how meaningful and beneficial it has been to have a church home while at college.

For starters, I am a part of a small denomination called the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church or ARP for short. I have been a part of the ARP ever since I became a Christian, and I love it for a lot of reasons. For being a relatively small denomination there are actually quite a lot of ARP churches in the Southeast. That being the case, it was not hard to find an ARP church nearby. There is even one right in town only a stone’s throw away from my dorm room window. As it turns out, due to various long time friends, I find myself a three year attendee of the Greenwood ARP Church about 20 minutes away.

Having a church at college is really like having a home away from home (given the right church at least). I have found in these past few years that the friends and leaders at GARP (I like abbreviations) have been such a great help and encouragement in so many different ways. I have received words of wisdom from my pastor and other men in the church concerning a variety of things from tips for my college classes to marriage advice. I have been a part of several Sunday School classes and have even been able to teach Sunday School on one occasion! When I endeavored to go to Wales for a missions internship this past summer, I found this church to be more than willing to support me in prayer and with their finances. They wanted to hear about my intended mission before I ever went over seas. and then they were even more eager to hear about my adventures once I got back!

My involvement in campus ministry has been a huge part of my spiritual development in these past years of college. That being said, there is no substitute for being a part of a church family that faithfully preaches the word of God and loves with the love of Christ. I have formed bonds with the members of GARP as well as the other students who attend with me.  We ride to and from the church together, listen to the same sermons and even head out to lunch afterwards (when the college budget allows). This “home away from home” has become so much more than that. Erskine has been my home since August 2010 and in that time this church has loved me like any home church would or could. Thier hospitality has been a huge blessing and no matter where I go, this church and all the people in it will have a special place in my life.

God bless,

-BD

About to FLY to SCOTLAND!!

Today is going to be one crazy day!!

In fact, it has been a rather crazy week. For the first time in my life I am planning to fly (which I have never done before) and also to leave the country (which I have never done before). I will go ahead and stun you with the fact that I am actually planning to fly out of the country, which is a rather overwhelming combination of these two new things.

Last weekend all of my friends gathered together to host a going away party for me! It was pretty much the best moment of my entire life! I was especially happy because at the party they gave me a box of letters for my trip, so I can read them while I am gone and think of them! My friend also gave me a friendship bracelet she made for me, in Erskine colors, so that I would not forget where I came from while I am away 🙂

After the party was over I stayed at my friends’ apartment. Heather and Sam graduated from Erskine last year and now share an apartment in Greenville. They were the ones who hosted the party and then let me stay with them for two nights and played with me all weekend. Heather and I spent almost the entire day on Sunday worshipping the Lord, by going to church and having our own Bible study. On Monday morning she then drove me to Erskine.

 

It was lovely to see all of my friends one last time before I cross the pond!

Monday at Erskine was crazy. It was the first day of school and all of the students were running around trying to find their new classes and greet each other after a long summer of separation. It was super weird to be there but know that I would only be there for a few hours; I was not there to sign up for classes with everyone else. I was there instead to try to get several forms filled out for graduation and my work-study job, a process which took about 6 hours of running around campus and required about 13 signatures from various people. I had a huge long checklist that I carried with me and it was super fun to check everything off and feel accomplished.

On Monday afternoon Tiffany and I gathered up my suitcases and left for her family’s lake house in Columbia, SC. We arrived and have spent the week with her family, with her parents and also her extended family. Tiffany and I have also spent a lot of time preparing for Scotland. We have filled out paper work and more paper work, ordered bedding to arrive when we get there, and arranged everything we can think of for our trip. Tiffany’s family has been super nice to me all week and I have really enjoyed spending time with them!

Now it is Friday morning. In about 3 hours I will be at the airport, and in about 5 I will have boarded my plane and be ready for takeoff. I am excited, I am scared, I am nervous. I can’t wait; my heart is beating a thousand beats per minute. Adventure lies ahead!

Is Erskine a Christian College?

One thing that I get asked a lot by family, friends, and random people I meet on elevators is whether Erskine is truly a “Christian College.” (I will clarify that the people asking me on elevators are usually those curious sorts of people who have first asked me where I go to school and what I major in.) Does Erskine really offer a Christian education? Do they truly have a combination of faith and academics?

My answer has always been yes.

No, Erskine is not one of those colleges where students are required to sign a statement of faith before attending their first day of class. But the overwhelming majority of the professors are Christians and actively striving to incorporate that faith into their teaching. Some professors choose to do this by getting to know their students on a personal basis and spending quality time as mentors. Others ask students to think about how what we are learning could apply to a Christian’s walk with Christ. Several of my professors have prayed in class before tests or lectures. It is my personal opinion that at a Christian college, even if you are not directly speaking about a faith related topic, you will see more fruits of the Spirit in people then you might anywhere else.

At Erskine there are many opportunities for students to get involved in discipleship. Besides the actual discipleship movement (which just started this year), we have ministries such as Baptist Collegiate Ministries (BCM), Reformed University Fellowship (RUF), Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA), and a whole host of other large and small groups that students can be a part of.

My favorite times of Christian fellowship are when we all meet spontaneously. When my friend Sarah comes to my room and when we decide to read the Bible together. The times when I see Lolly in Java City and end up walking around campus for an hour talking and praying together. When Heather and I go on runs and pray together. When my roommate, Victoria, decides to share something in her life with me, and we pray together.

One of my most treasured memories from Erskine will always be from the night before the 2013 graduation. This was the year of the class ahead of mine, and I had been in a sort of weepy mood all day because I knew most of closest friends were going to graduate the next day. That afternoon the seniors had a whole bunch of ceremonies and classes, and that night was baccalaureate. Everybody was busy running around and doing the last things they wanted to do before graduation the next morning. (For our friend group this was packing, since none of us had bothered to pack pretty much anything in our dorms before that night!!)

Late that night, before all of us went to bed, we met outside in the memorial gardens for one last night of worship. They are some wooden benches out there and we all sat in a circle. There were somewhere between fifteen and twenty of us there that night, I am not sure how many. It was not formal at all, a bunch of seniors had just decided that they wanted to worship together on their last night of college and just invited whoever they saw throughout the day. We sat in the dark and had a hymn sing; whoever felt the spirit lead them to a song or a Bible verse would just start singing or speaking, and everyone else would join in if they wanted to. One of the boys brought his guitars and strummed a few simple chords to each of the songs that we sang.

That night was one of the most sincere nights of worship I have ever experienced in my whole life. The group who came was random, we were not all friends and not all of us knew each other. No one was in charge, and no one had written a script. We all contributed what was on our hearts and minds, and worshiped the Lord together. I think it will always be one of my favorite Erskine memories.

Running In the Mud

Have you ever just wished that you were miserable? As in, have you ever been sitting around and all of a sudden thought to yourself, “Dang! I wish that I was super uncomfortable and miserable right now!” Because I do! (But before you think I just love to torture myself, I suppose I better explain what I mean.)

Last semester my friend Heather and I decided that we were not in shape. I am not trying to say that we were only running four miles per day and eating ranch with our carrots, but that we really were not at all in shape. We mostly instead went to Java City and drank hot chocolate and ate cinnamon rolls every night, which many doctors agree is not good for you.

Lying on the floor and eating candy was a much more typical activity for us!

We decided that we would motivate ourselves by signing ourselves up to run in a mud run, which is a 6.2 mile run hosted by a group of marines in Charlotte used as a fundraiser. Not only do you run the six miles, but you also have to overcome 36 obstacles as a team of four. And, of course, there is a lot of mud! So Heather and I signed up with two of our friends, Joe and Marcos.

At first, we were super into training. We started running every day, and got to the point where we running five miles a day. We were basically super awesome. But then midterms came. And then projects, and grades, and papers, and everything else until Heather and I decided that the ideal amount of running is actually two miles per day. So after that we just ran two miles, twice per week.

Reading this blog impression, you might get the impression that I like to run. Let me hurry up and correct that for you, I HATE to run! I hate it with a passion! I loathe every second of it and wait impatiently for every run to be over.

Our friends made signs to motivate us to keep going!

But at the same time, I really love it. I think the reason is not because I loved running, but because I loved running with Heather. Heather and I would use our runs as an opportunity to pray for our school, and while we would run we would take turns praying out loud praying for the people in our school and the people of Due West. (I should point out here that because Heather is a cross-country runner and I am not, she had a lot more turns than I did, as I was usually panting for breath and falling behind 😛 ) The running was an amazing opportunity to really get to know each other and build our faith together.

And because of that, I sometimes really wish I was on a miserable run. I really miss going on those runs with Heather, because I hated them so much, and loved them at the same time. That is one of the major life lessons I have learned (or started to learn) while attending Erskine: sometimes the things you really love you have to work for, and they will not always be fun.

Heather, Joe, Marcos, and I looking super legit after we crossed the finish line!!

To conclude this post I will tell you the happy ending of this story. My 21^st birthday rolled around, and the four of us traveled to Columbia and ran for about two and half hours. We were covered in mud and had a fantastic time!! We then traveled back to Erskine for a gospel choir concert (better not even get me started on how amazing that was!) and then a dinner at Ruby Tuesday with friends.

(And for those of you who were wondering, I do not think I have run once since that big race. I wish I could say that I had, but most of the time when I wake up and say that I am going to go for a run, I once again find myself laying on the couch watching Alias and eating Cheetos!)

Post Graduation Thoughts

May 18, 2013 – my last day at Erskine College as a student…

It’s hard to believe that four years went by so quickly. It’s all so bittersweet. I guess the saying, “Time flies when you’re having fun,” is accurate. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Erskine. Sure it started out a little rough, but over the years I grew quite fond of Erskine and the community there. I left Erskine with tears in my eyes because I realized just how blessed I have been. I received a fully funded college education. I made life-long friendships with students and faculty and staff. I traveled to Europe with the Choraleers. I traveled to China during J-Term with Dr. Grier and Dr. Chaney and students from various departments. I met outstanding alumni who helped me find internships and jobs. I further developed my talents and skills. I was given several opportunities to be a student leader.

For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.

– Luke 12:48

I was given four years at Erskine to grow academically and spiritually. I gave back to Erskine as much as I could. But all of my accomplishments and accolades aren’t of importance. Over the years, people will eventually forget what I’ve done. My only prayer is that I left a legacy that reflects back on Christ more than it reflects back on me.

As a student, there were times when I complained about Erskine and got tired of the school and church politics. I got caught up in the rumor mill. I talked about things I didn’t fully understand. But I implore current students to realize just how much of a blessing the Erskine community can truly be. It’s not a utopia of higher learning, but it is a fine institution. You will be pushed academically, but that will prepare you for your future endeavors. You will be nurtured spiritually, but that will help you define what you believe and why you believe it. You will be given opportunities to lead, but that will teach you how to deal with people from different backgrounds.

Above all, you will make friendships that will last a lifetime. You may meet your future spouse. If not, you’ll at least meet your future bridesmaids and groomsmen. You will meet professors that actually care about your well-being. They will push you to succeed not only in the classroom, but in life! We have a tight-knit community and many times it’s seen as a curse instead of a blessing.

Choose to see it as a blessing. Choose to focus on excelling academically, growing spiritually, and reaching out socially. Squeeze that Erskine education for all it’s worth! Then, when your day of commencement comes, you will be able to walk underneath the towers (I’m still a little bitter that I had to graduate in the gym…) with a smile on your face, knowing that you grew as a person and are adequately equipped to take on the world and impact the Kingdom.

Under the Towers

Choraleers Friends

Magna Cum Laude

He’s Always At Work

I have a confession to make. I don’t like hard things. For someone who has long been an avid reader of the Harris twins’ blog The Rebelution and book Do Hard Things, the necessity of such an admission is both humbling and sobering. First, let me say that, as I enjoy a final semester at Erskine and look back on my wonderful years here, it is imminently clear to me how very richly the Lord has blessed me. As a sinful human being, however, I quickly forget my first love, and so, when a painful trial makes an entrance, I often discover just how unsanctified I actually am.

If there’s anything that tends to turn our eyes toward eternity, it is experiencing some sort of acute discomfort or suffering here on this earth. Whether our trial is emotional, physical, spiritual, or relational, a situation that causes us to—at least for a short time—feel that earthly happiness is simply unattainable is an incredibly effective tool that the Lord often uses to cause us to long for heaven. With regard to this truth, Colossians 3:1-4 is a verse I’ve been meditating on lately: “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you will also appear with him in glory.”

For the believer experiencing a trial of some sort, such verses provide both comfort and great hope. When I find myself responding to hard things with bitterness, asking the Lord, “Why, why?” I know both that He is big enough for me to ask the honest, emotionally raw questions and that such a response, though natural enough, does not honor Him if it’s where I remain. It’s easy to become comfortable and complacent when our lives seem to be going just as we’d planned and we feel fairly in control of our circumstances. Such a state of apathy and illusory self-sufficiency, however, is not one with which the Christian ought ever to be content. We are called to something higher, greater, and richer, by the grace of the One who is faithful never to leave us where we are.

I love this quote of Elisabeth Elliot’s: “Our vision is so limited we can hardly imagine a love that does not show itself in protection from suffering. The love of God is of a different nature altogether. It does not hate tragedy. It never denies reality. It stands in the very teeth of suffering. The love of God did not protect His own Son. The was the proof of His love – that He gave that Son, that He let Him go to Calvary’s cross, though ‘legions of angels’ might have rescued Him. He will not necessarily protect us—not from anything it takes to make us like His Son. A lot of hammering and chiseling and purifying by fire will have to go into the process.” How I resonate with her words! I recognize in myself that limited vision of which she speaks, but I am also inexpressibly thankful for the God of comfort who is loving and compassionate, even as He molds and shapes us (II Corinthians 1:3-5).