A Full Weekend That Left Me Feeling Empty

This past weekend, my brother and a couple friends of ours made the trek to Notre Dame to see what we set out to see back in 2005 - that is, beating SC at home. 4 years ago, we maybe saw one of the best games in the storied rivalry that didn't go ND's way. We thought 4 years later we'd be able to witness something similar, but with the good guys coming out on top.

We got to see another exciting, nay, thrilling game, but were left with the same empty feeling. The similarities between the two were incredible. The scores were similar, the fact that the field had to be cleared in both games for one last play, and the fact that despite the great football played, ND simply couldn't pull it out.

We have now seen two of the best finishes between these two teams and neither has gone our way. However, the weekend was fun as I was able to spend time with my brother and a few friends. We were able to go to the Rallly on the Green, see the first half of the #7 ND women's soccer game, and the Midnight Drummer's Circle Friday night and then did normal game day stuff Sat. morning around campus. We had a blast, but ended up driving home a bit bummed.

Here are a few pics...
Nothing like ND Stadium on a beautiful fall day

Here Come The IRISH!

One second left...

Same empty feeling

My Spirit... It's All About Discipline

I've been fortunate enough to find a graduate program that places a tremendous amount of emphasis on the importance of facilitating whole-person education. The benefit is that in learning how to facilitate, I also am wholly educated. Right now my cohort is taking a Spiritual Formation class and it has made an impact on me, to say the least. If nothing else, this class has pointed me back to the spiritual disciplines, and I've begun to find a new, refreshing power in them.

I hope the title was a bit intriguing to you, and maybe even found you disagreeing with it. However, what I've been finding, both through study and personal experience, points to that statement being true. I'm beginning to see that the spiritual disciplines are foundational elements to my faith, and without them, my foundation becomes less like concrete and more like sand.

A simple example is reading the Bible every day. I've heard people say that you shouldn't read your Bible unless your heart is in the right place, ready to receive the Word. Or I've heard, "Well, I just didn't feel like reading my Bible today." In my opinion, those are classic examples of how your heart can be deceived.

I'm reading a book for class right now called Desiring the Kingdom and I can sum it up for you in one phrase: "Habits are formative*." If that is the case, then shouldn't I make it a habit to read my Bible? Shouldn't I read it even if my heart is in a terrible place, if I'm ticked off at God, or if I just feel lazy? I have not been perfect, but since Jan. 1 I have tried harder than ever to make this an everyday practice. This class is only confirming what I've learned and experienced in the past year; if I open up my Bible, even out of habit, his Word will not return void. I notice that my SPIRIT is different on days that I start it all off by opening up my Bible. It's the same way with the disciplines of fasting, solitude, prayer, submission, service, confession, and celebration**.

My generation, and that includes a good portion of the people reading this blog, have strayed from Discipline, especially of the spiritual variety. I know everything I've written is not groundbreaking, but I want to encourage you all (if you're not doing so already) to pick one of the previously listed spiritual disciplines and try to make it a habit (either daily or weekly) and see what God teaches you through being diligent and disciplined. No, it's not a bad thing to daily open your Bible or pray, or fast a day a week out of habit. That's like saying it's a bad thing to put your seat belt on or to not swear because they are habits.

Make some of these disciplines habits and watch your spirit grow and change to become more like Christ!

*I'm not kidding. You really don't have to read the book because I just gave it away. It's not a huge message, but it's an important one to understand.
**If it sounds like I took a bunch of these from Foster's Celebration of Discipline, it's because I did.

New Season... New Thoughts (This one is for Allie)

After a two month hiatus from this blog, I'm back. I was just recently thinking about how life has grabbed me by the neck and I haven't posted anything on my blog. Then, the one and only, Allie Clark specifically asked for a post, so this post is entirely just for you Allie.

I've learned so much in the last 2 months that I'm not sure where to begin. I've been extremely challanged in my faith through my grad work and through some amazing relationships that the LORD has placed in my life. I don't know where these two months have gone, but hopefully over the next few posts I can catch you up to speed and offer you all some challanging and refreshing thoughts.

Grace and Peace

Suffering... Who knows it?

I've been stuck on this topic of suffering since last May. I've talked to friends and mentors about this, and yet no one seems to fully grasp the concept of suffering in our lives. One thing I know is that we are called to it as Christians and we must choose it as Christ chose it, but I still don't know what that looks like in my life.

In the past week alone, Caleb Bislow and Kyle Lantz both put Piper videos about suffering on their blogs and I had a lengthy conversation about it with another friend. Last night I listened to a Piper sermon about how we can arm ourselves to suffer and it got me fired up enough to actually do something about it. So I'm going to dive into a massive* study on what the Bible has to say about suffering. If anyone has anything they can add or if you just want to join with me in this, I would be more than happy to accept help or other views/thoughts on the subject.

*Relative to Eric Gingerich's normal Biblical topical studies

Saying Goodbye to LCC

I'm just a few minutes away from walking out of my apartment and dorm that was home for July. I can't say that I'm feeling too much emotion, but that is probably because I'm too tired to feel any. I've had 4 hours of sleep since I woke up Friday morning (it's 5:30 am Sunday morning here).

I am definitely going to miss this place, but have a feeling that I will return to LCC again at some point in my life. The school stands in stark contrast to the culture here, and I was able to just get a glimpse of the impact it makes on students' lives while I was here.

Pray for safe travel for me on Monday. I'm looking forward to getting some sleep the next few days.

Swinging a U-ey

The title has to do with a change in my attitudes and feelings throughout the day/last 18 hours. It's 4 am and I'm going to bed, so I can send students off at 5:45 am, but I wanted to write because I'm so very excited. I just finished a great conversation with 3 students about their experience at SLI, and it helped solidify my question of whether I/we made an impact in the lives of the SLI students. I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt that the answer is yes. What we did the past 3 weeks was absolutely counter-cultural. So much so, that the students couldn't help but notice a difference in the way the teachers/staff work, play, and live. I likely may never see the fruit of the seeds that were planted here, but I know that lives were changed. Thanks to all who provided prayer support and financial support to make this a reality. I can say that your gifts and sacrifice have made a great impact for the Kingdom.

There will be more thoughts and reflections to come, but for now I'm going to bed. Thanks again to everyone who sacrificed to make this a reality for me. I love you all very much.