I want to update on my past weekend before I get around to talking about this week. As I mentioned before, this past weekend I spent in Pittsburgh at what was called the Jubilee Conference. Basically it was three days of worship, large group seminars, smaller group workshops, and Christian exhibitions. I was really excited to be back in Pittsburgh and get to see my church family. But, more than that, I was also really anxious to just be able to get away from everything else going on in my life recenter myself. I realized last week that I just haven't really been worshipping lately. For the class Christian Worship, we have to attend various worship service traditions so for awhile now I have been going to worship but spending the entire time trying to analyze what was happening. Added onto that is the fact that I am working in the sound booth for the chapel services offered here every Thursday. I love these services, but it is really hard to simply worship when I'm trying to make sure the violin can be heard or that the awful buzzing noise is taken care of. So, I was really excited for this past weekend to just be able to be open myself up once again to the presence of God through worship.
I definitely think this happened, but it wasn't until Saturday night. I spent most of Friday worrying about getting there, finding my host family's home, trying to find food, getting lost in downtown, being angry about how much I had to spend on parking, and on and on. At first it seemed like the weekend was just going to be another endless cycle of worries getting in the way. But Saturday came, I found the place without getting lost, I felt ok about paying $10 for parking because I'd be there all day, and I knew a little better what was actually going on. Saturday night during the evening group worship session I finally felt the presence of God again. As someone planning to go into ministry, I know that this will be a constant battle I will have to fight. I think it's good that I am realizing the need to make sure I find time to worship without distraction now instead of getting to my first year in a job somewhere and burning out.
Besides this, the speakers for the weekend were pretty good. The lady who wrote a book called "Finding God Beyond Harvard" read part of a chapter during her message and I was completely blown away by the experience she described. They had already sold out of the book at the book table, but it's definitely on my list to check out. The other speakers included Chuck Colson (one of the guys sent to jail for Watergate who had a radical conversion experience and completely turned his life around) and Donald Miller. These two were a really interesting contrast, one being more the older generation, the other being more the postmodern-searching generation. Both were really inspiring. The only "sound bite" I can really remember from either of them is that Donald Miller talked about how our lives are like stories and we should evaluate what goal the main character of our stories is fighting for. Stories about overcoming obstacles to get that Volvo don't really do much for the reader because that's dumb. We should be living heroic lives that have real goals ahead of them. Our lives should be page-turners. I'm sure he said it all much more eloquently than I ever could within the confines of this blog.
I did get to spend some time with my church family. It's always good to see all the kids and the adults I spent the entire last semester growing to love. It hurts to leave every time, but for some reason I keep finding excuses to go back. Maybe my work there, in some way, isn't finished.
I'm going to go try to figure out something to live for besides the Volvo...because that makes for a pretty dumb story.
I definitely think this happened, but it wasn't until Saturday night. I spent most of Friday worrying about getting there, finding my host family's home, trying to find food, getting lost in downtown, being angry about how much I had to spend on parking, and on and on. At first it seemed like the weekend was just going to be another endless cycle of worries getting in the way. But Saturday came, I found the place without getting lost, I felt ok about paying $10 for parking because I'd be there all day, and I knew a little better what was actually going on. Saturday night during the evening group worship session I finally felt the presence of God again. As someone planning to go into ministry, I know that this will be a constant battle I will have to fight. I think it's good that I am realizing the need to make sure I find time to worship without distraction now instead of getting to my first year in a job somewhere and burning out.
Besides this, the speakers for the weekend were pretty good. The lady who wrote a book called "Finding God Beyond Harvard" read part of a chapter during her message and I was completely blown away by the experience she described. They had already sold out of the book at the book table, but it's definitely on my list to check out. The other speakers included Chuck Colson (one of the guys sent to jail for Watergate who had a radical conversion experience and completely turned his life around) and Donald Miller. These two were a really interesting contrast, one being more the older generation, the other being more the postmodern-searching generation. Both were really inspiring. The only "sound bite" I can really remember from either of them is that Donald Miller talked about how our lives are like stories and we should evaluate what goal the main character of our stories is fighting for. Stories about overcoming obstacles to get that Volvo don't really do much for the reader because that's dumb. We should be living heroic lives that have real goals ahead of them. Our lives should be page-turners. I'm sure he said it all much more eloquently than I ever could within the confines of this blog.
I did get to spend some time with my church family. It's always good to see all the kids and the adults I spent the entire last semester growing to love. It hurts to leave every time, but for some reason I keep finding excuses to go back. Maybe my work there, in some way, isn't finished.
I'm going to go try to figure out something to live for besides the Volvo...because that makes for a pretty dumb story.
1 comment:
It is great to hear that you were able to experience God in a living and boosting way again this past weeked!
On a side note, from seemingly hundreds of past experiences, the times I spiritualy absorb God the most are the times when I feel the driest. Jesus Loves you and I do too!
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