Redeeming creation one byte at a time
Archive for August, 2007
thoughtful post.
0http://www.drslewis.org/camille/?p=631 - is a link from a mom’s blog in South Carolina. It’s a really good article on grace; for being a grown man, I almost had to push back tears at a couple of spots. It makes me wish I wrote better 
.
Enjoy.
Correction: It’s a blog from a mom, not my mom. doh!
We’re under way
0
Well, we’re under way; this weekend, our building hosted all 3000+ incoming freshman to ISU. I spent most of the weekend hanging around the building, teaching people the virtues of the ISU system and getting to see the new students.
I have to admit, the freshness of the air around campus is always infectious; it’s nice to see people see a familiar environment with new eyes and for a while everyone is open and willing to talk and even watching wave after wave of new students this weekend, I remember conversations that, at the time, were small but ended up resulting in friendships I have to this day.
I distinctly remember my first interaction with InterVarsity that fall. I had came back one night after being out and wishing I could connect with a community and listening to a conversation while brushing my teeth amongst the Watterson Towers small group. That conversation led to my involvement in a group that grew me as a believer and gave me friends that saw me through very dark days.
My time at ISU as a student really drew me into the idea of academia and the ministry
surrounding it; it’s such an important time and such a key group of people that it’s hard not to call work in academia insignificant. I’m appreciative of those IV staff who invested in me and served me as a student and I look forward to another year of caring for students as well. I guess I just appreciate these days because, even though it was insanely busy this week and will be even busier this weekend, that rush to this first friday coming will be fun.
Thanks for your patience as posting has been a bit sparse recently; things should pick back up now that the opening weekend is done.
A cultural weekend.
5Yup. It was quite the cultural weekend for us.
First, we made it up to Chicago this weekend to see the Mesgana dancers, a group from Eithiopia made up of girls who are raising money for an education fund in their country. The Evanston Vineyard hosted the program and I have to say it was a blast. I have a few pictures I’ll get up soon. I think for me it really got me excited for the adoption and going over there. According to the site, only around 1/3 of Ethiopian girls get an education compared to around 70% of boys. The goal of this group, primairly, is to provide an education for the girls in the program. It really surprised me too that a basic education for the girls is only around 200/year. Picts will be up soon.
The other cultural experience for the weekend came at church; we ended up visiting a friend’s church in Joliet that was a bit not what we were used to. It’s always nice to be in a church environment where I’m different (and it’s really obvious), especially with Melissa. It really has a thing of making me appreciate the diversity and beauty of God’s kingdom. It also forces me to listen alot more not knowing what is going on and alot of the words to the music; it requires that you find the true and beautiful and pay attention. There are times I go into church and it’s repititive and shaking me out of that every once in a while is a good exercise; there are times I need the familiar but the unfamiliar frames what I know really well.
To walk into the unfamiliar requries I look for the familiar and it often is from a different angle.