Service/Mission/Leadership Blog

This blog actually has nothing to do with berry lemonade, other than the fact that I am currently celebrating with berry lemonade Jones Soda.

Why am I celebrating, you ask?

It just so happens that I have recently received word that the prayers I’ve been praying for months have been answered.

If you’ve read any of my prior blogs, you can probably tell that God has really been working on me to be more involved in home missions by simply fulfilling my mission. I will have the opportunity this summer not only to attend classes here at Judson tuition free, but I will also be working with Sowing Seeds of Hope as a  summer intern!

I can hardly contain my excitement…I literally did a happy dance when I read the e-mail from the Student.go mission organization a few minutes ago (and I am soooo not even the dancing type!)

I’ll get to work with and serve the wonderful people of Marion in so many areas, but just between you and me…I hope to spend most of my time working with the kids in Marion. There will be other college students from all over who come to Marion this summer, and I think we’ll all be doing a little bit of everything (including construction work, administrative service, and children/youth ministry).

It’s so strange sometimes to look back and see how God brought you to a certain point in life. I never would have imagined I’d end up at Judson College with the chance to spend my summer doing something so meaningful, and I don’t really know what all to expect, but that’s definitely one of the best parts of following Christ.

My first “assignment” is an orientation in Birmingham May 26-29, and I officially start work on May 30! That’s only 53 days away, oh my goodness…can you tell I’m excited?!

Anyone who has talked to or spent time with me within the last couple of days can probably see how obvious it is that I’m stressed out to the max. I like to think that I play it off pretty well and give off this cool, calm persona, but I’m probably the only person I’m fooling with that act. In fact, if you read my last blog, you probably have a pretty good idea of how crazy the last few weeks of a Judson semester can be.

I have always had a problem taking on too much at once. This is partially because I always like to try new things and take on new challenges, but it is also partially a self-worth problem. Do you ever feel the need to prove yourself?

Quite honestly, sometimes I don’t quite know what I’m trying to prove, or whom I’m trying to prove it to…and it always leaves me feeling exhausted.

Today’s chapel speaker, a Judson alum with a beautiful singing voice, shared some music with us, and most of her message was through song. Not being a huge fan of contemporary Christian music, I basically zoned out for most of the service…until she began to share some stories with us about her time at Judson College, some of the things she went through, and what she learned during her years here. Turns out, this woman had fears and feelings remarkably similar to the very things that keep me awake at night.

During the ten or so minutes that she actually spoke, I was reminded of the significance I hold by simply being, and that the only “self-worth” I could possibly possess comes from the Maker, not the made. I felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off of my shoulders when I walked out of chapel, and I am happy to say that God has restored the calm that I usually possess.

I know that my habits of taking on too much, striving for an unreachable perfection, and always pressuring myself will probably always be a problem in my life, but I hope someone is always there to remind me that I am not superwoman. My prayer is that, if and when I experience the weight of insignificance and the pressure I put upon myself, just as this Judson alum did years ago, that I would remember the verses she shared with Judson students today in chapel and try to see myself through the eyes of the One who created all things:

"Can a woman forget her nursing child,
 that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?
Even these may forget,
 yet I will not forget you.
Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
 your walls are continually before me.

-      Isaiah 49:15-16

Without Wax

It always amazes me how quickly a semester can sneak right by you.

I feel like I really need some more sand in my hourglass. 

March is dwindling away, and April is almost upon us.

April…consisting of term papers, last minute tests and quizzes, income taxes, summer internship decisions, and finals.

I never actually got to sleep last night because I was irresponsibly cramming for a test, finishing up a take home quiz, and working on a speech. So, naturally, today I get to take the test, turn in the quiz, and start getting really nervous about the speech I have to make tomorrow.

Then I’ll be spending three or four hours at Albert Turner Elementary School, leaving only to attend the Perry County School Board meeting this afternoon as part of my field experience requirements for Judson’s introductory education classes.

Oh, and somewhere in there I need to squeeze in a meeting with my academic advisor to plan out the next two semesters (summer and fall) of my college career.

Have I filled out my paperwork? NO

Do I even have a copy of my scheduling information? NO
Have I picked up the course listings from the registrar’s office? ABSOLUTELY NOT

Can I remember where I last saw my beloved coffee mug?

How am I to survive this day without it?

I mean, the Redbull gave me wings, but I feel a crash landing coming on, and it’s not even 10am yet. I may appear to be calmly sitting on my bed, typing away and listening to the relaxing musical styling’s of Yiruma, but deep down I am a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown right now. And I am also secretly envious of the fact that my dear roommate is still sleeping peacefully, just as she has been for the past eight or nine hours.

Bottom line: College is hard sometimes, but I hear it’s not as hard as that conspiracy referred to as the “real world.”

So I’m going to enjoy my day, laugh at myself for being a ridiculous procrastinator, and advise any high school students and future Judson girls reading this right now to develop some serious time management skills now…you’ll need them.

It does seem like March just began, and now it’s almost gone…but I’ve always heard that time flies when you’re working hard or having fun. Thankfully, I’m doing both.

Off to class!

Without Wax

Let’s role-play for a moment, shall we?

Let’s step into someone else’s shoes and walk around for a while, feel what they feel, think their thoughts, and see the world from behind their eyes.

This should be fairly enlightening.  

First up...Satan.

If I was Satan, the devil, how would I react to…let’s say…a few Christian girls at a small Baptist college for women in the middle of nowhere?

During my first set of adventures of spring break I traveled to Missouri with my friend, Kezia, just for some fun, relaxed time before choir tour. The Sunday night before we returned to Alabama, we visited Kezia’s home church to hear a missionary speaker from Colorado. Little did we know that he would bring the exact message a group of Judson girls would need to hear right before choir tour.

So…what did this speaker say he would do if he were Satan?

Isolate the Church.

And not from each other, but to each other.

If I wanted to go to a church service, Bible study, or small group every night of the week and spend every waking moment of my time with Christian people, I could easily do that at Judson. Don’t get me wrong, time spent with other believers is crucial and one of my favorite things about the Judson sisterhood, but it can also very easily be used against us.

Jesus never said, "Hold church and hope that people show up. "

                     He said, "go. "

The speaker said that maybe it’s time we stop inviting people to church and start inviting them to dinner.

Let’s face it, church services can be incredibly boring, uncomfortable, and confusing…especially from the perspective of someone from the “outside.”

So maybe it’s time that I started being a little uncomfortable.

The awkward of getting to know someone who is nothing like you and actually building a relationship with them…actually being their friend. It’s time to commit to the awkward of being extremely intimidated by someone and having no idea what to say to him or her…but striking up a conversation anyway. We need to commit to the awkward of calling someone out, but only after we’ve taken the time to actually know how they think, what they feel, and what the world looks like from their point of view.

It’s time to stop seeing people as projects, and start seeing people as people.

This is, after all, Judson's promise...attending this school means that you'll be more than just a number or another face in the crowd.

Thankfully, my choir friends and I received the perfect opportunity to  “commit to the awkward,” during our tour to Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina. This year’s choir tour was much different than last year's in that most of our time singing was spent in high schools rather than churches…public high schools.

Trust me, I was definitely committing to the awkward. Many of the girls we talked to after we sang had some really great questions about Judson…and Christianity. My friends and I hope to see at least a few of them here at Judson within the next couple of years, but even if we don’t we’ve learned a valuable lesson to cease the isolation and commit to the awkward right here on Judson’s campus…let’s see how this plays out. I’m interested to see how Satan will react to this one.

  Without Wax