And the darkness decends

Ok, who's brave enough to confess they've watched the Harry Potter Order of the Phoenix preview more than 20 times by now??? Anyone, anyone? Are we the only dorks out there? Sooooo excited...but man, definitely not a kiddie movie anymore!!! And can you believe how old these kids are looking? Wow.

Hmmmm...may need to get the book out and read it again.

For those who don't get a spring

work update

Well, I attended my first ever Alumni Department Annual Planning meetings. Actually it was the first ever for the department! I guess there's never really been a team before.

Alumni ministry is such an strange ministry in that unlike most colleges or universities alumni associations we don't actually do a whole lot except try and keep tabs on where alumni end up and then to support staff in the field as they interact with alumni. Yet it seems the growing edge is to find ways for InterVarsity to be a continued resource and support for alumni as they end up where ever they do from a national level.

Through most of the meeting though I felt like I was playing catch up in trying to learn a lot of new terminology and acronyms! There's a lot more to this alumni thing than I thought there was :)

On Matt's end, he's been chugging along with his 2100 project on the environment. It seems like the script is pretty much together now and he can start filming/editing. It's a pretty cool piece that ends up comparing the creation story with facts on the environment today. I'm going to stop with that since I'll probably butcher the whole thing if I try to explain it any further.

So that's the work front. I'm glad it's almost the weekend!

Spring Break Camp

So this is what you end up with when you have 13 seniors studying the wrath of God for 8 hours a day during spring break! Just kidding.

My brief time in California was really good! I was there for about 9 days, 7 of which I had the opportunity to return to my old stomping grounds (the UCSB's InterVarsity Chapter) and teach a manuscript study of Amos on Campus by the Sea.

It was fun to challenge students to thing about what God may or may not hold us responsible for and to think through what God might be calling each of them to after college. It was a pretty powerful time of prayer and scripture study. (And it was fun to see my former students!)

Personally, I was challenged to not let my hunger for God go unchecked. There is an interesting verse in Amos which says that "God will send a famine upon the land, not of bread but of his word" and that the young men and women will "wander to and fro looking for God but will not find him." I was surprised to find myself identifying with the hunger for God and convicted of the fact that even though I know I'm hungry for him, I've done precious little to be filled by him. I am not to unlike the young men and women "wandering looking for God" but not finding him because I get distracted by breakfast or laundry or physical food or spider solitaire! It's been a good lesson for me as I have returned back to life in Wisconsin.

and the winners are...

Yup, it's that time of year again when Beloit puts out it's well tried and true "Mindset List for the Class of 2007". Below you will find my favorites!

• Iraq has always been a problem.
• Paul Newman has always made salad dressing.
• An automatic is a weapon, not a transmission.
• Gas has always been unleaded.
• They would never leave their calling card on someone’s desk.
• Banana Republic has always been a store, not a puppet government in Latin America.
• They have never seen a First Lady in a fur coat.
• They have been "dissing"and "burning" things all their lives.

-taken from "Mindset list for the class of 2007", click link for full list.

Do things really change this quickly?

April 21, 2007

Today just flew by:

• spent an hour watching Matt help coach a second grade soccer practice
• bought a bike for $20!
• went to Farmer's Market
• ate lunch with friends
• read a little from "Learning to Pray through the Psalms"
• found out Dave Matthews will be in town in August (now if only I can convince Matt to go)
• found out one of my best friends from CA will be in Chicago in August

No complaints here! And the weekend isn't even over yet!!! All I can say is spring is here and both the flowers and people are popping out into the world from no where!

How long, O Lord?

“How long, O Lord? Will you forget us forever?

How long, O Lord? Will you hid your face?

How long must I wrestle with my thoughts

And every day have sorrow in my heart?

How long will my enemy triumph over me?

Look on me and answer, O Lord my God.

Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death;

My enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”

And my foes will rejoice when I fall.

But I trust in your unfailing love;

My heart rejoices in your salvation.

I will sing to the Lord

For He has been good.” -Psalm 13

How long, O Lord? Will you forget us forever?

How long, O Lord? In so many ways, that’s the only phrase I’ve been able to repeat as I think of what has happened in Virginia these past days. I’m sure I am not alone in asking the question “Where was God in all of this?” And while theologically I am convinced He was there and that He will redeem the situation for His glory, it doesn’t remove the questions of “why” or the pain of seeing lives ended tragically.

How long, O Lord? Will you hid your face?

How long, O Lord? This past month I had the opportunity to lead a manuscript study of the Old Testament book of Amos. In preparation for the study, I spent much time pouring over current event news articles and sadly the shootings in Virginia are one among many messed up things going on in the world today. Spend 10 minutes looking at some of these news articles about Darfur, Modern Day Slavery, Philippines, or Afghanistan and it is not very hard to see all of creation screaming to be rescued from pain. But who hears those groans? Do we even hear them any more?

How long, O Lord? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts?

How long, O Lord? It’s so easy to emotionally want to disconnect from the pain in this specific tragedy as well as other horrific events. It’s so easy to move on and ignore the hard questions and the unknown, yet my heart yearns to cry out in anguish over the suffering that so many are going through right now. And I feel like we need to. My heart longs for the day when our Lord will return and set things right. When he will put an end to the bitterness of this world.

How long, O Lord? I urge you to pray this psalm with me and wrestle with the fact that while we are saved though Jesus, we are still living in a world that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense and are still waiting for our Lord’s return.

Pray with me for the InterVarsity staff and other Christian workers/professors at Virginia Tech that they will cling to God’s promises amidst the questions and pain and that they will have wisdom from the Holy Spirit in counseling students. (click here for more info on how to pray for them)
-sarah

April Showers?

April showers bring May flowers right? What does April “6 inches of sticky snow” bring you? How about dead flowers? Anyway, last night and through today we got 4-6 inches of snow, and because it was so sticky, it stuck to all the tree branches and made for a beautiful snowy wonderland. (and that is why we have this picture, because I [matt] HAD to go outside and document it of course)

More sleet and snow scheduled for tonight! Who hoo!!.

Happy Spring from your good ol’ Wisconsin!!