who knew...

I had no idea that this many people actually checked my blog regularly. I thought that by the time I had figured the whole situation out and posted the next blog many people would have yet to have even read my first one on the subject. Well apparently I thought wrong…and thought right at the same time. Let me explain...

When I wrote the first blog about term ending and the notion that I would most likely be changing my major things were still very up in the air. I have some outstanding faith mentors in my life that have always helped me process my thoughts and feelings through my faith. These talks always lead me to the realization that I have always had all the answers but had yet to receive the insight to know what to do. So when I was writing the initial blog I had finished talking to a few trusted individuals about the subject and had been reassured enough to know that in the end things would be more clear with some thinking, prayer, and time. As usual these people were right but I still didn’t know at the time. To avoid false information and the wrong rumor mills from starting I chose not to write what I had changed to until I knew for sure what it was.

The other reason was that I had yet to tell my parents that I wanted…strike that…needed to change my major. With my parent’s things are well…delicate to say the least. You have to plan specific topic talks to coincide with certain moments and levels of happiness. Some of you might not agree but it is very true. It didn’t go over the best but it could have gone over much worse. I will admit the my parents and I don't see “eye to eye” on many matter involving my future vocation or my road to it but I know that I must try to honor them at least to some degree while keeping honest to myself and honoring Gods plan.

Ok…so in short here it is. After a horrible stressful term of biology I knew I had to get into something that didn’t make me want to die at the thought of it. Something that I was passionate about, that I enjoyed reading about, would not get sickly stressed over (yes I do understand that all University courses cause stress to a degree…) and could do for the remaining years I had at the U of L. After much thinking, U of L course calendar checking, degree planning guide checking, rethinking, praying, I came to my final decision. Come fall I will switch out of my Biology/ Education major and switch into a religious studies major with a biology minor and I am stoked. Some people have advised me against this but when it comes down to it the reasons they present really are the reasons I am doing the degree. If I talk about that this blog will get far too long.

Any who the bubbles is home and she got a card today with this quote on it. I thought it was outstanding and really fit my feelings over the past year and weeks.

“Faith is risking what is for what is yet to be. It is taking small steps knowing they lead to bigger ones. Faith is holding on when you want to let go. It is letting go when you want to hold on. Faith is saying yes then everything else says no. It is believing all things are possible in the midst of impossibilities. Faith is looking beyond what is and trusting for what will be it is the presence of light in darkness, the presence of God in all.”
-Ellen. M. Cuorno

all over

My day progressively got better as the hours went on. I would not go as far as to say that it was exponentially better with ever hour…but none the less the day ended better then it started. For better or worse it is all over and I am changing my major. I am actually looking forward to next term and that says a lot. Leave to see bubbles tomorrow via 15 hr greyhound bus ride. I must love her or I am nuts. Either way I will see her soon.

Every morning is Easter morning

Ev'ry morning is Easter morning from now on! Ev'ry day's resurrection day, the past is over and gone!

1.Good-bye guilt, good-bye fear, good riddance! Hello, Lord, Hello, sun!I am one of the Easter People! My new life has begun!

2.Daily news is so bad it seems the Good News seldom gets heard.Get it straight from the Easter People! God's in charge spread the word!

3.Yesterday I was bored and lonely; But today look and see!I belong to the Easter People! Life's exciting to me!

Ev'ry morning is Easter morning from now on! Ev'ry day's resurrection day, the past is over and gone! Ev'ry morning is Easter morning, Ev'ry morning is Easter morning, Ev'ry morning is Easter morning, Frommm nowww onnn!

I sang this once at a chruch ... I still dont know what to think...or rather how to put it nicely in to words.

Skakes

ECM Message given Sunday April 15th based on John 20:19-31

“Peace be with you”. These are the first words the frightened disciples hear Jesus speak that night in the locked room. The first words they hear after witnessing his brutal death on the cross. The first words after they have witnessed the empty tomb and feared the worst. These are the words Jesus chooses to use the first time he sees his disciples after he has been raised. Out of all the greetings He could have given to the disciples upon their reunion He chose one of peace. What did these words of peace mean for those disciples and what do they mean for us today?

By the standards of the English dictionary peace is defined simply as: quiet; tranquility; mental calm; serenity; or freedom from disturbance. While these are all valid representations of peace, within the Christian faith peace is much more then this literal translation. Within churches we often use peace as a form of greeting but how often do we stop to examine what this word mean. To really think about what it mean for us and for the person we are saying it to. The peace we are offering to one another is the same peace Christ first shared with us and with those disciples on that night in the locked room. A peace that is far greater then any dictionary could ever attempt to define. It is only within the human heart that we can truly know this gift of peace.

It is because of Christ’s suffering, death, and rising that we get to experience this peace and share it with others. On campus I see peace being spread in numerous ways though the ministry of ECM.

The care parcels and the LCC suppers are two physical ways of showing peace to the general student bodies. I have had the opportunity to be a part of the gathering/ sorting/ and giving away of the care parcels over the past 2 years and I cannot overstate their impact on the students and the campus as a whole. As the term winds down student’s funds begin to diminish leaving them with little or no food as well as finals to prepare for. One student told us that the food he received from us last term (roughly only $20.00 worth) was all he had to eat for the last two weeks he was in Lethbridge. And that is only one story of many. Students will start to accumulate in front of the area we are giving the bags out from hours in advance. Some even skipping class or going on behalf of someone that is in need of food.

It always amazes me that God provides for all those that come in need when the 300 out of 400 bags are gone within the first three minutes of us handing them out. When we give the bags to the students we tell them that they were assembled by people with in church congregations that care about them and their studies. Often students respond with “really? People care about me.”, “wow!”, or “are these really for free?” But the one thing that always is a constant is their request to thank the people that contributed to the bags. These same responses are also heard at the LCC suppers. So thank you from the students of the U of L and the LCC for supporting and bringing them peace in this way.

“As the father has sent me, so I send you”. Post secondary education offers a unique experience for all students. An experience that often tests their abilities mentally, physically, and spiritually. Often within their post secondary career students will have ideas, theories, and formulas placed in front of them which are contrary to those that they have learned to be true. At times these foreign notions can stir up doubt. In the early stages of his writing career the author Donald Miller came to the realization that our interaction with God could not be condensed down into a 5 step formula or an easily understood theory. Rather it became clear to him that our interaction with God was an ever changing dynamic relationship. Within ECM’s activities we try to embrace this relationship through a verity of outlets. In our bible studies, lecture series, and theology reading groups we are able to encounter God, ask and wrestle with tough questions, and support one another in our search and waiting for answers. In forming relationships with one another we are modeling our relationship with God which enables us to better understand His ways. It is through relationships with each other that we daily get to meet with, talk with, get support from, and laugh with a living Jesus.

Through Thomas in the text today we can see that doubt is a part of faith from the start. Upon appearing to Thomas and giving him the chance to place his fingers into his wounds Jesus did not get unset with Thomas for ever having doubted his rising. He did not even show the slightest bit of anger towards Thomas for not believing his fellow disciples. Jesus allows Thomas’s doubt because of their relationship with one another. He knows that it is in our human nature to doubt. However he also knows doubt leads to questions, questions lead to answers, and as a result of the process a deepening of faith occurs. While doubt is a part of faith it was never meant to be a permanent state. It is in the course of a relationship with God that we are able to wrestle our way through our doubts and come out on the other side of faith.

With a sure foundation built on Christ I have great hope for ECM’s expansion in the upcoming year. We will be adding another 2 new student Chaplain’s to better provide for the needs of students at the U of L and LCC. We are in the process of investigating new ways to reach students with events on campus allowing students living in residence the opportunity to more easily participate. Though increased office hours and presence on campus we will be able to meet with students forming relationship and walking with them along their journey and this is what I am most excited for.

The peace Christ gave us is not dormant or dead like his body once was in the tomb but it is alive and with us today in its dynamic and liberating power. While this peace does not exempt us from the pain, suffering, or doubt we face in our daily lives it grants us the ability to face these times and use them to deepen in our relationship with God. Becoming a student Chaplain for ECM has allowed me to explore my faith more in depth then I would have otherwise. ECM has forever changed me in the relationships I have made with other members and the support in friendship that I have found. Being a part of ECM has challenged my ways of thinking and interacting with the world around me and had allowed me to better focus on my continuing relationship with God. It has also given me a strong affirmation of my calling to a vocation in ordained ministry and confirmation of my continued role in ECM as a student Chaplain next term. I thank you for supporting ECM and in doing so supporting me and other students like me in our walk with God.

Skakes

“I'm just a doubting Thomas, i'll take your promise, though I know nothin's safe, oh me of little faith” - Nickel Creek -Song: Doubting Thomas

Peace be with you...If you will except it...

Right now I’m listening to Sufjan Stevens and putting the finishing touches on a message I will be giving at First United tomorrow (based on the ministry we do and on the gospel of the day Its on John 20:19-31). They are a supporter of the ministry I work for called ECM (ecumenical campus ministry) at the U of L as a student Chaplain . I really am not having any problem with the writing of the message however I am feeling very constrained by the time they are allowing me and the other student Chaplain Miriam to speak. Upon talking with the minister today she stressed the need for the message to be 10 min with the possibility of a maximum of 15 minutes. Which really only give me 7 minutes and 30 seconds to cover all of the following:
Introduce myself and where I am at currently in my life (which I could do for the 7 min 30 sec I have…)

• New student Chaplin ministry
• Campus care parcels/ LCC dinners
• Bible study/ Theology reading group
• Fellowship
• The future and role of ECM on campus as well as the role of the student Chaplin with in this (again this could fill up the whole 7 min and 30 sec)

Now I do realize I will not be crucified if I go over by a minute or two but the state of the “Sunday timeline” in general across many denominations is starting to make me irritated. Really how do you put a cap on the time you let someone share with you what they feel God is trying to say to you? If you think about all the time you spend doing useless and futile things thought out the week (thing that your time should not even be spent doing and yet you and I allow ourselves to get sucked back into doing them) and set it against the time you devote to God I think there would be a sad realization of where our worship is going.

Yet we easily let ourselves become deeply upset when the preacher goes over the 15 or 20 minutes we “allow” them to speak that week. And some weeks sadly this church service is the only time we devote to God. The only time we offer ourselves up to Him in worship. When we do allow ourselves the time to partake in these worship services we still drift off on trains of thought for the hours and days following the service. I really tried to say focused all throughout church last week and I could not do it for the entirety of the service. During a song I know by heart I found myself thinking about my looming exams and the lack of a response to all my summer job applications. This drifting off had nothing to do with boredom with the service as that is a rare case for me. I am blessed to be a part of an awesome church. But yet I still drifted off. Is it just human nature? Perhaps…but maybe its something more.

Enough of that I have to get back to widdeling down the message to my 7min and 30 sec time period. I will put the message me and the other student chaplin gave up on here after tomorrow.

Peace -Skakes

Oh my...who brought the camera!

Last night was the IVCF year end BBQ. It was a lot of fun but you dont have to take my word for it! Here are some links to the photos taken last night! Enjoy!

IVCF BBQ

The Story

After at Jon's

Skakes

lists lists lists

So here is a blog of momentous moments of late formatted in to a list format for all those who cant live with out them. Don't worry a real blog is coming soon. I just need the time to let my thoughts develop into a verbal form congruent to that which is in my head. With out further ado the list:

iTunes and the Joy of Sufjan Stevens. Illinois is hands down the best album I have ever heard!

Multiple momentous voice recitals.

World of drumming - 1 drum kit solo = sweet…realization that in fact there are 8 drum kits together = fan-freaking-tastic!

BP’s waitress - “How many people will be joining you?”
Lee - “there will be 7 all together”
BP’s waitress - “I’ll be back with the menus…do you need some childernes menus?”
Skakes - “Um…no…what?”

Don't worry the kids are all safe under Mel’s rug…

Bubbles and CLBI...amazing tour...cant wait to see the DVD!

Take 2 getting personal bests…its all I can hope to do playing against the greats

Getting to play in my first semi-organized soccer game ever…a playoff game at that…we didn’t win.

Still not being recognized.

“Um…So…I…have…somethingtotellyou!” – Otherwise known as “heart to heart” moments with an outstanding friend. I’m almost like a forecaster for these moments now. Heart to heart moments are best at round street calf especially when accompanied by a grilled avocado/ brie/ chicken sandwich and a latte.

Guitar hero and Wii make for some great moments.

Church peoples reaction to Skakes singing while playing guitar.

Lunch and great conversations had during it.