Reuniting with college ministry friends and reflecting on God's work in my life

Elliot, a friend from my college days whom I haven't seen in almost 20 years, traveled with his family from Austin, TX to our area this past week.  He actually went to Cornell University but spent a lot of time in our college ministry during co-op rotations.  Raised in Jordan as the son of missionaries, he offered a unique perspective on life which I appreciated (Gift #518), and I enjoyed the authentic Middle Eastern meals he liked to cook for my friends and me during our college days (Gift #519).  I'm not sure how we stayed in touch all these years, especially considering he was only in the area during his co-op rotations so I did not know him very well, but he has always made the effort to stay connected, even sending ministry resources to our family at times.

His college roommate lives in a neighboring city, so he was primarily coming here to surprise that friend for his birthday, but sickness struck his former roommate's family, so he and his family ended up spending much of their 6-day trip with us.  His visit taught me how much I have to learn about being flexible (Gift #520) because I had only cleared Saturday on my calendar since he had initially only asked me to host a little dinner party for his family and any friends he knew from those college days who were still in the area.  I realized how little margin we have in our family calendar (not good!), but we did the best we could to carve out quality time with his family.

One of my other friends from college, who I co-led Bibles studies with during our dorm years, accepted my invitation to the dinner party for Elliot and brought his wife and two children, who are both close in ages to our children.  They spent the night here with us on Friday night and left late on Saturday after the dinner party.  So, we got in lots of extra time to catch up with them as well (Gift #521). They are very laid back which makes them easy to host and were quite helpful. Their kids were also easy going, and our kids enjoyed their company. My husband cooked them a full spread for breakfast, and they helped me throw together a quick lunch while I was busy making preparations for the evening meal.

All the kids seemed to enjoy each other except when my kids'  Lego creations and marble runs, which they had spent hours assembling, were quickly dismantled by excited younger guests.  We all grew in our understanding of hospitality and in our willingness to put others first (Gift #522).  They played lots of checkers with a hand carved set my husband's cousin gave us as a wedding present.  This talented cousin engraved images of their grandfather's sculptures into the pieces with a cowboys vs. Indians motif, which is perfect for our "blended" family. (My husband has some Cherokee roots, and Mom is a direct descendant of Wild Bill Cody.) I always love to see the kids enjoying that set.  They also played some serious chess with my husband's Army/Navy chess set.  Go Navy; beat Army! 

The kids had Nerf wars, played laser tag, and played just about every board game we have while others built marble runs, snap circuits, or Lego creations.  And our weekend guests brought the movie, Frozen, so the kids FINALLY got to see the movie being referenced all over social media.

The kids also played outside on bikes and scooters, but that resulted in another dent in my car and lots of scrapes for the 4-year-old.   Always wear a helmet on our steeply sloped streets.  ALWAYS!  This little guy wanted to ride the scooter like the big kids.  My daughter says she told him not to, but be scooted down our hill and busted his face.  When I heard him screaming, I ran outside to see a tiny body with a head completely covered in blood and tears.  I nearly had a heart attack, but thankfully, none of the scrapes went deep or needed stitches.  He had a least a dozen scrapes on his face, hands and legs.  I still joke about the wonderful Southern hospitality I offered, but with so many kids at our home at once and most of my attention on engaging our adult guests, I could not have prevented the accident, or so they tried to tell me.  I did not even know the kids had pulled out the scooters, but never again will they be allowed to do that and certainly not without more adult supervision and helmets on EVERYONE.

Elliot's wife sells essential oils so she brought her kit with her and immediately went to work on his boo-boos to prevent scarring and speed healing.  She sent me these pics to show his progress after applying diluted lavender and frankincense daily.

Day 1:  5 hours after the accident

Day 2:  At the beach

Day 5:  Back home

The kids jammed with their assortment of instruments while our weekend guest played worship songs on his guitar as he did so faithfully in college. He is the one who took me to a music store in college to help me buy my first guitar for the purpose of strumming chords for praise and worship time in our small group Bible studies.

The weather was perfect on Friday and Saturday, a very rare gift (Gift #523) during this bleak and exceedingly miserable winter which has continued into what should be spring according to the calendar, so I was delighted when our guests agreed to join me for a hike along the greenway.  The kids complained about the hiking but were so glad they came with us when we let them build their immune systems in the creek that runs beside the greenway and probably carries more germs than I want to consider.  They had a blast in the creek and thanked me for taking them on the hike they had initially resisted (Gift #524).   I had hoped the hike would give my husband some much needed quiet downtime at the house, but my daughter stumped her toe as she is prone to do, so we had to call him to come rescue her, and of course, all the other kids wanted to ride back with him in his fancy car.

Elliot's family has a host of food allergies and sensitivities, with none of them able to eat gluten, so I got to learn how to prepare healthy quinoa salads, gluten free marinades, and gluten free desserts.  I'm hoping that weekend of cooking healthfully gave me the motivation I need to return to more healthful food preparations for our family (Gift #525) after nutrition got sidelined a bit during the hectic pace of building the house and multiple moves.  I also discovered that I must have suffered some brain damage from too many sleepless nights, because I can no longer multitask effectively.  Whenever I tried to prepare meals while engaged in meaningful conversation, I made a detrimental mistake...like forgetting to spray the wax paper with olive oil and ruining an entire bath of gluten-free cookies, unless you like waxy cookies (the kids were happy to peel off the paper from the back to salvage the tasty treats).   People are more important than food, so at least I had my priorities in order (Gift #526) which has not always been the case for this task oriented woman.

Since Elliot celebrated a birthday last week, I turned the gluten-free chocolate torte into a birthday cake for him.  While we sang, "Happy Birthday" he switched the candles to make him "24" instead of "42", and he blew out the candles by clapping his hands instead of blowing air across the cake.  Thank you, Elliot, for teaching me a more sanitary way to blow out birthday candles and for keeping your germs to yourself. :-)

Gluten-free chocolate torte cake for Elliot's birthday

I was thrilled when our college ministry teachers accepted my invitation (Gift #527) to our little dinner.  She has been battling Parkinson's Disease for a decade now, and it has taken a toll, so it required tremendous effort for her to get here, and she did have to leave early when the disease affected her legs too much.  She suffers a lot but never complains.  Her husband now teaches a retirement aged class, and her only complaint is that the time of taking prayer requests sounds more like an "organ recital" (pray for this organ that doesn't work or that organ that hurts) than a prayer for the nations or for more opportunities to share Christ with the loss.  Instead of sorrowing over her losses and increasing struggles, she is focused on making the best use of her time here to win more people for Jesus and to strengthen the body of believers (Gift #528).  What a blessing she has been in my life as she still shares her heart, home, and books with me to help me mature in my faith 20 years later (Gift #529).  Thousands of students have been forever changed by their loving kindness, but each of us feel like their only child when we are together (Gift #530).  And that fact helps me begin to understand how God can make me feel like His only beloved child as he tends to each of my petty needs while also sustaining the universe and caring so intimately for billions of others all at the same time (Gift #531).

These amazing servants of God poured out their lives and wallets into teaching, discipling, feeding, serving, and even housing (some of  the students) us in college for over 15 years.  Hundreds of hungry students came to their home every Friday night in the summers and on many Sundays at lunch during the school year to feed on the rich meals they served (our mouths still water at the thought of Sam's homemade bread) and on the word of God which they taught faithfully after investing many hours of study time into every single lesson.  Saturday morning discipleship meetings with Nell and a few other college gals (she called us WOGs = Women of God), college ministry beach retreats, and weekly Bible study and fellowship at their home or in the bar at church (Our church bought an old hotel to serve as their church facility, and our class met in the hotel bar/lounge..complete with strobe lights and dance floor - so funny - which has now been converted into an indoor basketball court.) are my favorite college memories (Gift #532).

I accepted Christ at a young age.  I studied my Bible, prayed, and sat under phenomenal Biblical teaching every week at church.  But I think my faith was more works based instead of being centered on the gospel of grace that truly saves.  I never really rebelled in the prodigal son sense of the word, but I did not understand the fullness of His grace to the extent (we can never fully comprehend it this side of heaven, but my understanding certainly grew by leaps and bounds during that time) that I did during those college years.  God transformed me during that time from a prideful girl who was relentlessly striving to succeed in this world to a broken child of God whose passion became striving to take up His cross and live for Him, investing in eternity instead of in the things of this world.  I have often been unfaithful in putting the kingdom before myself or before my wants for my family, but He is always faithful.  He never leaves us or forsakes us (Gift #533) even we fail Him.  Looking back to His work in my life during that time is a memorial stone for me which renews my focus and reorders my priorities back into proper place (Gift #534).

I feel strongly that college-age ministry is one of the most vital as students leave the faith support system under their parents to decide for themselves what they really believe for themselves.  Our parents' faith cannot save us.  We must know why we believe what we believe and own it, live it, defend it, and proclaim it!  Sam called it the "sophomore year" when each student would finally decide who he would serve (Joshua 24:15) and which path he would take, the narrow road that leads to life or the wide road that leads to destruction (Matthew 7:13-14).  One of my passions right now is to equip the next generation with evidences for the faith so they will not be fooled by the deceivers (often college professors and administrators during that season in life) who bully, pressure, and issue threats to confuse believers into abandoning their faith.  I want to invest in students so they will grow deeper in the faith and be able to defend it.

These two college ministry leaders are loved more deeply by more people than most anyone I know because they loved first, sacrificially and wholeheartedly, not for their glory, but only unto the Lord.

1 John 4:19
"We love because he first loved us." 

They do not want to be honored by us, for they would never accept any praise for themselves because they know that every good and perfect gift and every effort that resulted in eternal fruit for the Kingdom came from God and that all praise & glory belongs to Christ alone.

I have been so richly blessed by faithful servants of Christ, and I know to whom much is given, much is required.  Help me to be poured out for you, Lord!