Caffiene + an essay = my night; leaves + worship + mafia = my weekend
This is a study break. I seriously have been pounding away on Plato, but my brain needs a refresher. I wish I could say that my study habits have gotten better in college, but they haven't. I've lately been realizing that this is something I have to work on not simply because of my grades, but because it affects my Christian character. If I don't have the self-discipline to crack down onto homework, I certainly don't have the discpline I need to maximize my spiritual growth or testimony. I mean, self-control is one of the fruits of the spirit in Galations. And by 'work on it', I mean through prayer and dependence on the Holy Spirit instead of caffiene. It's just a little late for that on this paper.
Anyway, I have had an amazing weekend. The local church I've been attending had a weekend reteat for their college group, and I signed up kinda on a whim. I've been wanting to get more connected to the group by meeting more people, so this seemed like an awesome oppotunity. God even provided a "campership" through the church so that I wouldn't have to ask my parents to pay for it. Transportation was with individuals driving up and whoever could fit in their cars. I didn't realize how long this would be, so feel free to skip around. I tried to bookend the whole thing with two important points.
To Terence and Michelle, I think I caught a snippet of Autumn. There should be pictures appearing on-line soon of me and a friend in a pile of leaves throwing them in the air. I can't ever remember doing that back home. The air was clear and cold, there were orange and brown leaves everywhere, and I loved it. I see God's beauty in the ocean constantly, but this was delightfully unexpected.
It was great to meet so many people. There were a ton of freshmen on the trip that I had never met before (one guy even lived in my brother dorm, and I couldn't remember ever seeing him before). I love meeting people; I'm honestly not shy if I don't know someone, and will just introduce myself and start small talking. It's getting beyond that that I have trouble with. So it was a real blessing that the guys I rode with became "big brothers" of sorts to me. We had great discussions on the way up about school, being a Christian on the 'party' teams at Pepperdine (lacrosse, volleyball and waterpolo were represented), and theology. I even dropped John Piper's name and introduced them to the concept of Christian Hedonism. I've honestly missed the intellectual and spiritual stimulation of Mr. Duenes' Romans class. My religion class on the OT focues more on background and context and decipering God's character through instruction rather than discussion.
The focus of the retreat was how we, as college students, relate to God with our money. The speaker really challenged me to think of my posessions in new ways. Not just tithing and everying belonging to God, but what our money supports (free trade vs. sweatshops) and how our mindset about competition and comparsion affect our hearts. We also had a talk about nutrition and body image with the speaker's wife, a registed dietitcian. I was really surpised and blessed by how much everyone got out of it, because it wasn't just an info session on eating disorders. My main take away point was about how much body comparisons have entered my regular speech. It's like that scene in Mean Girls where the plastics are all talking about the parts of their bodies they hate, and Cady feels obligated to join in, only for real. I think all girls do it, but its especially easy on a sports team to complain about body shape or muscle mass, and I'm totally guilty joining in to that sort of talk just so I can have something to say instead of being content with the body God's given me.
Other popular ways to meet people were through inquiring about International programs and playing huge games of Mafia. I applied to study abroad in London next year, and right before I left for the retreat I found out I got in. Most of the freshmen at the retreat had at least applied to a program, and most were accepted, so it we could all relate to each other's excitement. As for Mafia, there were some intense games. We also invited other groups at the camp to join us, particularly an secular Arts Institute group. One of the students to join us was an obviously gay guy that really added a lot of animation to the game. It was really nice to meet him and the rest of the art students, and I know that God used out interactions with them to bring glory to Himself somehow. The other thing that really bonded everyone together was the organized food fight that was held on the field. After you doused someone with chocolate syrup, you'd dash off and later go up to them and introduce yourself, exchanging a messy handsake. It was so much fun, and totally worth the freezing shower that was need to get all of the mess off.
On the way home, one of the girls invited a bunch of us to lunch at her house on the way back to Malibu. We were able to eat a really good home-cooked meal of chicken and ribs and beans and pie for dessert. During our prolonged meal we played every party game we could think of that involved confusing people not in on the game. As eager as I was to get back to school to work on this paper (to avoid working on it now), it was totally worth the detour; I was with a group of gals and guys that loved the Lord and had a great time just talking and laughing over a table. For the first time since August, it felt like the same fellowship I had at home.
I am so blessed.
Anyway, I have had an amazing weekend. The local church I've been attending had a weekend reteat for their college group, and I signed up kinda on a whim. I've been wanting to get more connected to the group by meeting more people, so this seemed like an awesome oppotunity. God even provided a "campership" through the church so that I wouldn't have to ask my parents to pay for it. Transportation was with individuals driving up and whoever could fit in their cars. I didn't realize how long this would be, so feel free to skip around. I tried to bookend the whole thing with two important points.
To Terence and Michelle, I think I caught a snippet of Autumn. There should be pictures appearing on-line soon of me and a friend in a pile of leaves throwing them in the air. I can't ever remember doing that back home. The air was clear and cold, there were orange and brown leaves everywhere, and I loved it. I see God's beauty in the ocean constantly, but this was delightfully unexpected.
It was great to meet so many people. There were a ton of freshmen on the trip that I had never met before (one guy even lived in my brother dorm, and I couldn't remember ever seeing him before). I love meeting people; I'm honestly not shy if I don't know someone, and will just introduce myself and start small talking. It's getting beyond that that I have trouble with. So it was a real blessing that the guys I rode with became "big brothers" of sorts to me. We had great discussions on the way up about school, being a Christian on the 'party' teams at Pepperdine (lacrosse, volleyball and waterpolo were represented), and theology. I even dropped John Piper's name and introduced them to the concept of Christian Hedonism. I've honestly missed the intellectual and spiritual stimulation of Mr. Duenes' Romans class. My religion class on the OT focues more on background and context and decipering God's character through instruction rather than discussion.
The focus of the retreat was how we, as college students, relate to God with our money. The speaker really challenged me to think of my posessions in new ways. Not just tithing and everying belonging to God, but what our money supports (free trade vs. sweatshops) and how our mindset about competition and comparsion affect our hearts. We also had a talk about nutrition and body image with the speaker's wife, a registed dietitcian. I was really surpised and blessed by how much everyone got out of it, because it wasn't just an info session on eating disorders. My main take away point was about how much body comparisons have entered my regular speech. It's like that scene in Mean Girls where the plastics are all talking about the parts of their bodies they hate, and Cady feels obligated to join in, only for real. I think all girls do it, but its especially easy on a sports team to complain about body shape or muscle mass, and I'm totally guilty joining in to that sort of talk just so I can have something to say instead of being content with the body God's given me.
Other popular ways to meet people were through inquiring about International programs and playing huge games of Mafia. I applied to study abroad in London next year, and right before I left for the retreat I found out I got in. Most of the freshmen at the retreat had at least applied to a program, and most were accepted, so it we could all relate to each other's excitement. As for Mafia, there were some intense games. We also invited other groups at the camp to join us, particularly an secular Arts Institute group. One of the students to join us was an obviously gay guy that really added a lot of animation to the game. It was really nice to meet him and the rest of the art students, and I know that God used out interactions with them to bring glory to Himself somehow. The other thing that really bonded everyone together was the organized food fight that was held on the field. After you doused someone with chocolate syrup, you'd dash off and later go up to them and introduce yourself, exchanging a messy handsake. It was so much fun, and totally worth the freezing shower that was need to get all of the mess off.
On the way home, one of the girls invited a bunch of us to lunch at her house on the way back to Malibu. We were able to eat a really good home-cooked meal of chicken and ribs and beans and pie for dessert. During our prolonged meal we played every party game we could think of that involved confusing people not in on the game. As eager as I was to get back to school to work on this paper (to avoid working on it now), it was totally worth the detour; I was with a group of gals and guys that loved the Lord and had a great time just talking and laughing over a table. For the first time since August, it felt like the same fellowship I had at home.
I am so blessed.