James 1:12 (NIV) Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial
because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that
the Lord has promised to those who love him.
Wow!
Time is flying by and I’m not even realizing it. The last time I wrote I was
just getting into my two week winter holiday. It was a pretty good holiday of
thinking and reflecting, relaxing and planning what the youth group will be
doing this semester. Not much went on during the holiday because we didn’t have
youth group and I wasn’t studying. Then the last weekend of the holiday, July
13-15, we had our family camp at the church. The youth were awesome and helped
take care of the children while the parents were in the sessions. Then we
played laser tag which was really fun as well. The youth also made this awesome
video for the talent show. It was really cool being at the church and meeting a
lot of the different families there. It was nice to meet people that I hadn’t
really had a chance to talk to before that. It was just overall really fun. The
church is talking about Faith at Home which I think is a really cool concept.
It mostly just talks about how important it is to have a home where you honor
God together and teach your children about God. For instance praying together
before bedtime or doing a Bible Study. I find it awesome that the church is
encouraging us to have a faith at home, even if we live by ourselves, or with
flatmates. What can we do to live a Christian life at home and not just on
Sundays?
Then from July 16-20 I went to
this place called Finlay Park for my fourth block course and the start of the
new semester. It was really cool seeing all my friends and meeting the new
mid-year students. One of the new guys is a guy called Josh from California. It
was really cool being able to talk to another American. It did however make me
miss home a little bit. Block course was really fun though. We went on a boat
ride to see glow worms, which turned into almost a bumper boat ride because the
water had risen so much and was flowing quickly. We also visited a Maori Marae and
learned a little about the Maori culture and how Christianity spread throughout
the Maori Culture.
We also had lectures and learned
what courses we are taking this semester. We are taking Ethics, Christian
History, Youth Elective, Christian Leadership, Pastoral Care, Supervised
Practice, Systematic Theology, Mark, Marae Visit and Spiritual Formation. This makes us having 22 assignments this
semester! Crazy stuff. However, I feel pretty confident that it’s going to go
well as long as I schedule my time wisely. Luckily at the moment I’m about a
week ahead in assignments, hopefully I can keep it up. I am really looking
forward to these courses and learning everything I can about them in this short
time. Right now I’m reading a book on Christian leadership. It’s pretty
interesting understanding how leadership is a spiritual gift and that we really
do need good leaders in our churches. I’m excited to finish the book.
This semester the youth group is
going to be talking about how to live out a good Christian life at school,
home, or anywhere they are. I’m really excited to see what God does in the life
of the youth the rest of the time I’m here. Last week I thought a good place to
start was to talk about the Bible and why it is important to read it. If we
want to know how to live as a Christian we need to know what God has to say and
what better place to look than the Bible? I am really trying to encourage the
youth to not just rely on the internet to find answers or to just believe
something because they heard it from an adult but to really search the Bible
for what God has to say. The youth is also having a few social events this
semester consisting of board games (this Saturday), more laser tag, a beach
trip, September Serving Month, and a Thanksgiving dinner in November. Also, we
are going to have chill days every once in awhile. The guys will hang out with
Ye-Gon and do their thing, while the girls hang out with me and we do our
thing. I’m so excited about these chill times! This semester with the youth
group will be great.
Last week consisted of me
getting back into the swing of things on top of some tough personal issues going
on. It has really been a challenge to keep my head on straight and trusting God
in it all. Honestly I sometimes get really frustrated with God, myself and
others but in the end I know that I must truly rely on God for all. A few
things that I learned these last two weeks have been really hard but really
good lessons.
The first lesson that I’m
working on is that of gratitude (which I recommend clicking the link to see an
article I wrote for the church). With gratitude I’m really working on getting
rid of my expectations in life, both of what others have on me and what I think
should happen. Without the expectations I can be surprised when things happen
and it also takes a lot of pressure off me. I am able to be truly thankful for
what God is giving me every day. When the sun rises I’m thankful, I’m thankful
for my hot water bottle that keeps me warm, and I’m thankful for the surprise
letters I get from my friends. I have learned the more I wake up and thank God
the happier I am throughout the day. And when I don’t take that time to talk to
God and thank Him my day seems a lot harder.
Speaking of friends sending me
letters, I’ve also learned these last couple weeks how much I truly need them.
I have always been a person who thinks that I can go through things alone but I
am truly realizing how important relationships are for me. I feel so blessed
having such amazing friends in my life who encourage me every day. Even taking
me out to get pancakes and just walking around town with me. I have decided that
this semester I want to work and grow my relationships with people because they
are so important to have. Without these wonderful friends that I met this
semester and ones at home I don’t know how I’d be doing right now. I thank God
that He put them in my life. But I truly realize that God created us to have
relationships and to live as a community of His people. Everywhere I read or
discussions I get into is about this very thing. I realize that no amount of
studying or planning will do me any good. The real thing that helps me get
through life is the relationships I have with both people and God.
The last
thing that I think I’ve been learning is about perseverance. Dictionary.com’s
definition of perseverance is, “to persist in anything undertaken; maintain a purpose in spite of difficulty, obstacles,
or discouragement;
continue steadfastly.”
James 1 talks about perseverance as well, James 1: 2-4. 2 Consider it pure
joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because
you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let
perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not
lacking anything.
I’ve
been thinking about perseverance a lot lately, with a lot of things in life.
The other day I was meant to be running (since my mom and I are doing the Couch
to 5k thing) but it was sprinkling outside so I decided to wait. The rain sort
of slowed down so I decided to go run. I honestly wasn’t in the mood to run and
kept wanting to go back to my flat, I knew all the short cuts after all. As I
was running my legs were tired, I couldn’t breathe and on top of it all it
started raining harder. “If only I ran earlier,” I thought. “This is too hard,
I should just turn around.” However, I decided that I should just keep going.
As I ran I realized that a lot of times this situation happens in life. Things
might look a little hard, like with the light rain, so we put off the things we
know God is telling us to do. Then when we decide, “fine, I’ll do it now” It
might rain harder and things might be harder than if we did when God was first
calling us. However, it’s good that we started so now what, It’s tough and we
are tired so we can either take the short cuts or we can run the whole way. I
decided as I was running that I needed to persevere. In my mind I wasn’t just
finishing this 2 mile run I was determined to run the race God had set out for
me. No matter how hard it gets I want to persevere. As I ran I kept telling
myself you can’t give up, no matter how hard it is the prize at the end is so
worth it. The prize at the end of my run was a nice warm shower and a cup of
hot chocolate but the prize at the end of life’s race is so much more, it is
life with God. Like James 1:12 says, “Blessed is the one who perseveres under
trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of
life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.” No matter how hard I
think life is right now, or how hard it can get in the future, I want to
persevere.
