RUF Fall Conference: A Spiritual Shower

This past weekend, I went to the RUF Fall Conference at Camp Greystone in North Carolina. At first, I thought I would be overwhelmed with the awkwardness that comes from being a freshman surrounded by upperclassmen. However, I soon got over my discomfort as I bonded with students that I hadn’t known super well and I’m so thankful for that blessing! Don’t get me wrong. I still awkwardly shot a strawberry from my plate to the floor with my fork and I may or may not have called an RUF intern’s face fat, but at least no one rubbed honey or shaving cream all over my face while I was sleeping.

My friends and I woke up early to watch the sunrise on the dock. Even though the sky was cloudy, the scenery was beautiful.

Let me just say that the sleeping arrangements and the food were amazing. For $55 (the prodigious Paul Patrick managed to raise donations to give scholarships to the Erskine students), I got to sleep in a semi-bug-free cabin with all of my friends, running hot water, a scarily loud toilet, and cool wooden bunk beds. Oh, and the food was delicious! There was fresh fruit, steaming plates of yummy dishes like grits, meat, bread, taco salad, etc. I thought the camp food would be nasty, but I’m pretty sure I gained three pounds this weekend.

Every morning and evening, there were sessions where all of the RUF groups from different schools would congregate and worship God together in an outdoor pavilion. That was my absolute favorite part of the trip. There’s something magical about being outside and singing praises to God with a body of believers that gives me more joy than anything I’ve ever experienced.

Saturday’s evening session as we stood united in worship.

The speaker at the sessions was the previous campus minister at Western Carolina, Dave Osborne. I really enjoyed his style of teaching because he would save his main point of the lesson until the end and I would never expect the point to be what it was. He focused on the book of Mark and the four things that we can’t exist without: the Father’s voice, knowing our place in the world, understanding the progress of waiting, and being beautiful only through Jesus.

I won’t go into a whole lot of detail about his lessons, but I will share the biggest lesson I got from his teaching:

I need to be thankful for my circumstances and situations, because God has put me exactly where He wants me. Lately I’ve been griping to my friends about how obnoxious people are or how much work I have to do or how annoying it is when people take my clothes out of the dryer without my permission. This weekend, I realized that I had lost focus on what really matters. Instead of making my life about furthering God’s kingdom, my heart was set on expanding my kingdom. I just want to say that my kingdom is a miserable, dark place and the deeper I go, the more miserable and dark I become. When we turn to God, He gives us a refreshing light to cling on to in a dark tunnel. We don’t get happiness from God because He takes away our trouble. God gives us joy by giving us something to depend on and hope in as we deal with every day’s struggles.

I absolutely love singing hymns because their words are so powerful and the melodies are so beautiful. This morning, we sang one of my all time favorite songs, “Let Us Love and Sing and Wonder.” The third verse literally made my heart feel like it was being filled to the brim with joy.

Let us sing though fierce temptation

Threatens hard to bear us down

For the Lord, our strong salvation,

Holds in view the conqueror’s crown

He, Who washed us with His blood,

He, Who washed us with His blood,

He, Who washed us with His blood,

Soon will bring us home to God 

Praising God despite all of the temptation and the guilt and the hopelessness that stem from temptation… That’s so powerful. I think that if I walked through life, always keeping “the conqueror’s crown” in mind, I would always be so joyful and I would be so much better at “pressing on toward the goal… for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14). That’s honestly something I desire more than anything else in life and I’m so thankful that God used the RUF Fall Conference to wash away my distractions and to refocus me back on Him.

Erskine takes Camp Greystone

Service Learning at the DreamCenter (Men’s Volleyball)

The Erskine men’s volleyball team just returned home from a trip to California that included a couple matches at West Coast colleges plus five full days of service at the DreamCenter in Los Angeles.

The DreamCenter is an organization staffed by volunteers who serve thousands of individuals and families in the LA area via humanitarian outreaches, education, and community programs.

The volleyball team spent 5 days working at the DC, and pitched in to help with everything from child care to loading the food truck, doing construction, talking to folks, and picking up trash from local streets. Their days were jam-packed with activity, led by DreamCenter volunteers who themselves have often been recipients of help and care from the DC.

Coach Derek Schmitt writes in his final entry about the trip,

We closed our week [at the DreamCenter] with some $5 Hot-n-Ready pizzas from Little Caesar’s as each of us talked about how we are different from when we checked in to the DreamCenter on Monday afternoon.  There were a lot of great things shared including spending more time in prayer and in the Bible, having more of a servant mentality, being more appreciative of the things we have, having more faith in God and His power, and much more.  It has been exciting to see the guys invest in the DreamCenter this week and the impact it is having on each one of them.  

Read more from Coach Schmitt about the guys’ experience at the DreamCenter:

First day at the DreamCenter

Day 2 at the DreamCenter

Day 3 at the DreamCenter

Day 4 at the DreamCenter

Last Day at the DreamCenter for Men’s Volleyball.

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! 🙂

 

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).

Jeremiah 29:11-13

This afternoon I turned in a rather interesting first assignment for my Research & Criticism class (the final course for senior music majors) – my musical autobiography.  I had to write about several events, people, or other experiences that have helped develop me into who I am now as a musician.  It was interesting to sit down and think about all the causes, since I was little, that have led me to where I am today; putting all this into a narrative, though abbreviated, gave me a new perspective of how profoundly everything affects us, even when we do not realize it.

The more I mulled over and analyzed these events in my life, the more I was struck by what a marvelous plan God has for me, putting all these elements in place to bring me to where I am.  At twenty-two years old, I have found my passion in music, my dream of where I want to take it, and my motivation to work hard to get there.  I have been blessed along the way with so many supportive teachers, and had countless opportunities to learn, grow, explore, and perform.  What a comfort to trust in the Lord and His control over our lives – to be able to see it clearly once in a while is a convicting experience.

So, with this new comfort and renewal of faith, I am determined to worry less about my impending grad school auditions, and focus more of that energy on doing what I can to prepare – He will take care of placing me where I need to go, as long as I stay open and trusting.

 

“For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare, not for woe! plans to give you a future full of hope.  When you call me, when you go to pray to me, I will listen to you.  When you look for me, you will find me. . .”