Good Tired

I'll tell ya, this week is craZy. With a capital Z!

I got to school (Asbury University) on Saturday night after a 12 hour drive. At the end of the drive I experienced some of the craziest weather I've ever seen! I'll describe it for you.

Picture a two lane highway with traffic lights every 500 yards. Now picture vans and SUVs and red lights blinking brighter and dimmer as breaks are applied. Add in some pouring rain. It's about 8:30, but it shouldn't be dark yet normally. The sky above and to your left is dark. Angry, gnarled storm clouds stretch out before you as far as you can see ahead, behind and to your left. Suddenly, you drive past some of the taller buildings on your right and now there is a bright orange sun glaring at you, the sphere peaking below the clouds as orange as sunkist. It looks like something out of a Spider-Man comic book. You want to look at it, or at least glance at the orange sky to your right, but every time you do you get a green sun spot over your vision.

Looking back at the road ahead of you a slash of lightning comes blistering through the sky, cutting it in 15 jagged directions in a second. Still, it's the longest lasting lightning you've ever seen, and the entire sky lights up. More lightning comes, and more still. Another jagged line shoots down to the ground and multiple spider webs of lightning come shooting out in several horizontal patterns from cloud to cloud. Lightning strikes again, and this time the never ending line comes right down in front of you and strikes a street lamp not 20 yards ahead of you. The entire grid dies and the lights go out. The sun is still shining brightly to your right, a bright orange ball hanging below the thunderclouds.

Glancing to your left to see if there's more lightning you spot something in the dark mass of clouds. Coming all the way down from the sky to the ground, from a point somewhere too high up to see in the clouds, comes a giant arch of a rainbow. With the backdrop of black and gray clouds the thing looks out of place, but beautiful, and adds even more to the entire scene in such a strange way.

That was how I ended my trip to school.

Here at school I've been training since Monday morning to be Spiritual Life Assistant (SLA) for Johnson Second East, the Wolf Pack, hall. I've been meeting with all of the other SLA's in training on campus and we've been seeking Christ to make sure we are in the right place to bring our halls together and inspire unity in Christ, and unity for the whole school. I'm pretty excited about this year and all that is to come. I'm making some new friends and getting to see some old ones that I've missed greatly. I'm also sad to note that some old friends are not coming back, but in this game of life I don't have time to stop and dwell on the casualties, only time to look to the future and plan for the upcoming battle. The battles will be great, but my LORD is greater still.

Some of the verses and passages we've been focusing on as we go deeper with the LORD and prepare our hearts for spiritual leadership are John Chapters 14-17, Philippians 2:1-3, Hebrews 13:7, Matthew 6:33, 1 Peter 2:9-12, and many others that I may think of later and post on here sometime.

I am being simultaneously encouraged and discouraged. I am encouraged by the new friends I am making and the obvious message I am getting from Jesus that He wants me here and I'm where I am supposed to be. I'm also encouraged by the moving of the Holy Spirit among us, and the things He is already teaching us.
I am discouraged by trying to figure out how to pay for this year of school. I am worried by my inability to figure things out in this area. I'm having trouble communicating with my Dad and getting him to help me figure out how to pay. I am also discouraged by some new temptations that the devil is throwing at me and his obvious assault on my person. I am discouraged too, by a lack of self-confidence and a feeling of worthlessness. I find myself putting myself down a lot lately and not thinking I'm adequate for anything. And this is not in a healthy way.

My LORD is greater than all, but I am at the foot of a large mountain right now and I'm not sure how to start climbing it. I am holding on to hope.