Let's Play Some Kickball

I was asked to do an admissions event out at Camp Laurelville over this past weekend. Basically, I just had to go to this weekend high school retreat, set up a table, tell kids how sweet Bluffton is, and then just hang out. It was a pretty good experience, especially getting to know some of the other college reps talk about their own college experiences to the high schoolers. I think the thing we all agreed on was how crucial the visit was to our decision. Until I visited here, I thought I wanted to go to BGSU but when I got here for the tour I remember thinking "Wow, I didn't know college could be like this." I always had thought of college as being surrounded by millions of people all the time and not really knowing any of the professors or even a fraction of the other students. I feel so blessed that God led me here. Some people are all about the huge college experience and that's fine for them, but Bluffton just fits for me.

Anyway, I told the kids how sweet Bluffton was for a few days, then I ducked out early Sunday morning so I could be at Eastminster (the church where I interned) for worship. It was great to see everyone and be back in a place where I've just felt like God was definitely alive and moving. The sermon was actually one of the best I have heard probably in years. Pastor Paul actually quoted from one of the books we are reading for my favorite class this semester, Disicpling and Mentoring. Part of the sermon was about "cheap grace" that is so often offered by the church that is detached from any sort of discipleship. Like I did while I was living there, I went down after worship and taught the men's high school sunday school. We got to talk about the sermon and what the true cost of following Christ in our lives is. I'm not sure if anything really stuck with those guys, but I definitely felt like God was working in bringing me back for that one Sunday where I could talk about the things we were learning about in class. If nothing else, it was good to be welcomed back so warmly.

Tonight in Bible Study we watched a Nooma Video and talked about how God has a perfect will for our lives even when we don't see it or realize the good things we have. The video was about a kid not getting the toy he thought he wanted, but instead getting the kickball his dad knew would be better for him. I think I realized how much of a "kickball" my experience in Pittsburgh was. Before I decided to do the semester, it seems like I had applied for, or tried out for, or hoped for a ton of different things that just one by one fell apart leaving me crushed. It was only the fact that I didn't do any of those things, however, that I was able to go to Pittsburgh and really find some great direction for my life. Then, thinking about this made me think about prayer. Sometimes I feel like my prayers just turn into shopping lists of things to ask God to help me with. Over time this really just turns the relationship inward and makes it into something that's just about what I can get from God. I think it's ok to ask God for help in all sorts of things, but in the end there needs to be a recognition like Jesus portrays in the Lord's Prayer of "thy kingdom come, thy will be done". I think I'm ready to give up my crappy toys and start playing some kickball.