Brerah

This day in history

This day for the past two years has been a very interesting one for me. 2 years ago, I was venturing into my first Vanderbilt RUF meeting, which was at that time, a new job. I was in charge of the music and I was supposed to meet as many people as I could and get phone numbers, set up meetings to hang out, etc. It was a daunting task, but I can remember enjoying it quite alot. The semester that followed that night 2 years ago proved to be the hardest in my life to date. I found out who I was probably more than I would have liked. And people found out who I was, more than I liked. But it was good. Real good. The Lord was using me and wrenching my heart for His glory and my sanctification, and if you are a believer, you know how painful and sweet those times are. Today, I feel like I am more known and loved than ever before in my life, thanks to a certain Sarah that I did not even know on this day 2 years ago.

Last year on this day, I was playing the role of a veteran at the first RUF meeting. We had a new campus minister, and instead of meeting all new faces, I saw many that were familiar and only one class of fresh ones. I felt much more comfortable at the first meeting than I had at the meeting only one year prior. But when you're desire is to meet students and befriend them unto the gospel, a night of meeting new people isn't so much of a drag as it is a joy. Stacey wore a pink/purplish lacoste shirt, which screamed "I can roll with Vandy" as he gave his first sermon. I have grown very much to love Stacey and his wife over the last year. They are indeed 2 people that stay in my mind, and that is probably because of their dear love for Sarah and me over the last year. Sarah and I were only a few days away from getting engaged, and she had NO idea.

Today, I had a normal day at the office (which in reality, is the back right corner of our living room). As I sat throughout the day, I couldn't keep myself from thinking about these past two years. I miss the students. I spent two years giving myself and hopefully presenting Christ to many many guys and a few girls on occasion. And today, I wanted to see them. I text messaged a few that I grew particularly close to, but mainly I just thought about them. I hope for them, I hope that the Lord is drawing their hearts to him still or perhaps in a new and exciting way. I hope that the older guys will pursue the younger guys, not for RUF's sake, but for the sake of the kingdom. Today I am convinced me even more that the normal working of the kingdom is through relationships. Relationships provide the nutrients for the soil that is the Kingdom's field. Handing out tracts and standing on a street may have been effective at some point in the past, but I really believe that the normal working of the gospel is through people. God does choose to use extraordinary means. But none, and I mean none are so extraordinary as that He uses us, sinful and broken people, to spread the good news of Jesus.

Do you want to know why the gospel is sweet to me today? Because it tells me that my struggle is not to be free from sin, but rather it gives me freedom to struggle with sin. And the beauty of it all is that the Lord calls us into relationships so that we can go through it all together. I have the privelege of going through life with Sarah and many others. And i hope that on this night, some new freshmen at Vanderbilt will find some friends with whom they can run toward Christ and find all that has been so wonderful to me over the past two years.

posted by corbs @ 8:56 PM