Seven More Semesters to Go!

Hello, world! It's me again! I just closed out my first semester of college yesterday. It's been a tremendous learning experience on several fronts--not just academically, but socially and spiritually as well. This is the first time I've really been out engaging with people who don't know Christ on a regular basis, and I'm learning a lot about what that's like. There have been ups and downs, days that I wanted to cartwheel through the hallways and days that I just wanted to go into a corner and cry over the depravity of man. I've been reminded that I can't trust myself--that my own heart is desperately deceitful. I've been reminded that Jesus Christ is my only hope, and the only hope for the world. I've seen the importance--the crucial importance!--of being in community with other Christians and seeking to "encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called "Today," lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin" (Hebrews 3:13 NASB). I've been reminded of the precious truth of the Gospel, and how Christ has freed those who receive Him by faith from the wrath of God and the twisted bondage of living for ourselves and the half-baked idols I manufacture in an attempt to find an "easier" shot at happiness. I have seen that even "If we are faithless, He remains faithful; for He cannot deny Himself" (II Timothy 2:13 NASB). How much more could I say? So much more, things that would take a long time to write. Perhaps I will write them later.

To all NCLC's out there: I miss you, and I'm praying for you. I know that God has been at work in your life this last semester. Maybe it's been a fantastic five months where you've just seen God everywhere you've looked! Maybe it's been a really tough time, a testing time for you. Maybe you're like me, and it feels like a confusing middle. I want to share something that God showed me today that has been tremendously encouraging:

"Thou hast dealt well with Thy servant,
O LORD, according to Thy word. ...
Before I was afflicted I went astray,
But now I keep Thy word.
Thou art good and doest good;
Teach me Thy statutes. ...
It is good for me that I was afflicted,
That I may learn Thy statutes."
Psalm 119:65, 67-8, 71

I wouldn't say that I've been "afflicted" this semester. It's true, I've dealt with disappointments and different roads than I had hoped for, but I've seen my socks blessed off, too. But even when God does choose to afflict us--it is in faithfulness! God chastens the ones whom He loves--Hebrews 12 says that! Because He knows that the way of His Word is a better way than the empty promises that the world offers us, He brings us through circumstances to bring us to Him. Praise Him for that, that even in the midst of hard times, we can look to God and say with a voice of triumph, "Thou art good and doest good; teach me Thy statutes... It is good for me that I was afflicted."

Before I close out this post, I want to make a fervent plea for prayer on my behalf. Today, I was offered a summer position at a very special camp that will remain in my heart (NCLC's--you know what I'm talking about). I have dreamed of working there for years. But on their ministry salary, I wouldn't be able to afford my tuition for next fall. If I take the job (which I'd like to do), I'll be in a financial pickle. I need God's wisdom. I want Him to be glorified in this. I don't want to put my own feelings and desires ahead of His perfect will. NCLC's (and anyone else, for that matter)--if you happen to drop by my blog (an unlikely situation, since it hasn't been updated in months), see this post, and will pray for me, would you drop me a comment?

God Bless and BLUE POWER!

Kate