mf_workstudyblog

I am a part of a small group through the Koinonia ministry.  About six or so of my closest friends and I meet together once a week to study the Bible and pray for each other.  It is a great way to stay accountable to each other and also to grow in our relationship with the one who put us on this campus in the first place.  It is hard to balance having homework, friends, family, activities, sleep, and most importantly God, when there is only 24 hours in a day.  By having an hour once a week to spend time with my friends, not having to worry about anything else, I am able to unwind and bring my focus back to what is important.  Now, I know that you have been reading this and wondering what Flubber has to do with a small group.  Wonder no more!  The leaders of my Bible study (aka my roommates) have organized a retreat for all of us to go on.  It is called F.L.B.R (First Ladies Bible Retreat)…which my roommate figured out sounds like Flubber.  We are all going to a mysterious location to spend time worshiping and studying God together…and have fun while we are doing it.  It is so great to fellowship with my friends and know that we are worshiping God and honoring Him together.

I’m going to let you in a little secret. When it snows at Messiah, the best sleds are trays from Lottie (specially the blue ones over the newer teal ones). Only thing is that Public Safety doesn’t like this fact so be sure to sneakily get them to Cemetery Hill. Cemetery Hill is that huge hill by the entrance to Messiah College. Whenever it snows students like to take time off from homework and studying to bundle up in their warmest clothes and trek up the hill. I have seen Messiah kids pack 6 people onto toboggans and speed down the steep slope of Cemetery Hill. Other students like the blow up tubes and lock arms and legs together for added weight and a faster ride. Either way it is a good time and a great way to enjoy the beautiful campus that Messiah College has to offer. Be sure to check out the hill on your right hand side when you come into campus.

As a junior, I feel like I’ve pretty much figured out the way things work around here, slowly but surely.  There is one huge lesson here at Messiah that for some odd reason, has taken me a while to learn.  The art of procrasination is a skill that I’ve strengthened and sharpened after years of practice.  In 6th grade, after staying up past midnight studying for a test that I had put off.  Then, Jr. year, I pulled an all nighter while working to finish a big project.  Both times and many instances in between, I would vow…”NEVER AGAIN!!” to my mom as she feared for my academic survival. It was a historical moment, when I had my 1st “college all nighter” I felt so collegiate as I lined up 3 energy drinks in front of my computer, looking at the dragon that I was about to slay.   The next morning, just as I was printing out my 1st college essay, I couldn’t help but equate the 3 empty energy drink cans to trophies of my hard work.  Since then, I’ve had less and less “NEVER AGAIN moments,” as I’ve learned the proper ways to plan ahead and work on things in advance.  As lessons have been learned over my last 3 years here, I’ve replaced my empty energy drink cans with “A” papers on my apartment fridge and real achievements on my resume.  My mother is so proud

O Chapel, Chapel of mine! Save my faith one teaching at a time!rnrnHaha! I just made that up! But it is funny how that has been so true in my spiritual life this semester. Last tuesday one of our own professors, Brian Smith, spoke again in chapel. A chapel that started in a low tone as we sang very old hymns picked up after this professor jumped up to the stage and reminded us all about the most important commandment: to love God with all heart, soul, strength and mind. Or as he clarified it, we should love God with all our inner being, our life and all our ability! That is what is so good about chapel! This is not just one more sermon you get to here every Sunday in a church! It unites the faith we profess with the academic study of that same faith! Sometimes it is easy to forget that intellect and faith walk hand in hand. But chapel is just a great time to be reminded of this “faith seeking understanding” as this 11th century Christian thinker once put.rnrnO Chapel, Chapel of all! I will surely miss the awe of it all!rnrnhaha!

Admist the national champ soccer and softball players, star swimmers, and stellar…well pretty much any type of “ballers” here on Messiahs campus, its pretty easy for a non-athlete like me to have some serious feelings of inferiority. Look left- a soccer game is being played on a nearby field, turn right and a Frisbee is being passed amongst friends, all within a setting of joggers and bikers at every glance. When I first got onto campus, having not played any sport seriously in years, I was.. overwhelmed to say the least. I was certain I was the only person on campus who was not a super jock - and I did not like that one bit. So, when recreational sports opened up, I jumped on the chance to finally do something with myself, and my eyes were opened to the opportunities to stay active here on campus. From rec sports and my Rec-Soccer team “the Underdogs” (which was NOT an understatement), to the sand and indoor volleyball leagues, to the gym which is open every day (practically ALL day), it became easier to find chances and reasons to get fit. Don’t worry- I’m still not close to the level of our fantastic athletes- but hitting up the gym and embracing all Messiah has to offer athletically- has become a fun part of my life here on campus, which I never believed would happen. I’m happy to say that I no longer feel like the lone non-athlete and my inferiority complex is all but gone!

As a soccer player, I had the opportunity to play for a lot of different schools. One of the schools I knew, without a doubt, I would never play for was Messiah. When my older brother, who is a junior here, told me that he had chosen Messiah, I thought it was a joke. Growing up in Akron, Ohio, I didn’t even know where Messiah was. My brother had the chance to play for some big schools, so I couldn’t understand why he would choose a small Christian college in Nowheresville, PA. That is, until I visited Messiah for myself. I went on recruit visits from Boston to LA, but Grantham blew them all out of the water! After spending a weekend with the soccer team from Messiah, I knew it was the team I was looking for. One of the goals of our team is “to be the best place in the country to play college soccer.” Our coaches want to leave an “unspeakable impact” on every player who comes through the program. During high school, I never imagined myself at a school like Messiah; but today, I couldn’t imagine myself anywhere else.

As college drew near for me, I kept praying that I would have a roommate that I could get along with. I planned out the type of decorations that she would support me putting up in our room and how we’d decorate together. When it came down to it, though, I was placed in a supplemental triple and my eagerness to get to know people at college was a little hampered. We were actually untripled within the first week of school, and although that was great, I now had to invest the time to get to know yet another roommate. God had heard my prayers, though and this room was a fit even down to the decorations. I had found someone who, despite the ups and downs of our relationship, I could really relate to. It took me investing the time and getting to know her on such an intimate level that really made the difference for us. It wasn’t simply being nice or getting along that helped us to bond. Yes, we were both open and giving, but after awhile that’s not what holds you together. It’s the being there when life happens and the support that you can find in the common ground of Christ. I know it was God who held us together!

Games, movies, snacks, general good times. Community. During my fist year here at Messiah College there was a group of Witmer residents who were deemed the “Lounge Rats”. Almost every night we would hang out in the main lounge of Witmer and watch movies, play games, and just hang out getting to know each other throughout the year. Many of these people are still my closest friends here at school and continue to spend a lot of time together. At Messiah College, we talk about community a lot. This group of lounge rats were a great example of how community grows in the residence halls and across campus. As time passed we “adopted” residents of the other first years buildings that would come to Witmer just to hang out and enjoy the festivities and grow in the community. As a senior looking back, those were some of the best times I had here at school. Not to say the rest of my time hasn’t been fun, but that we had a lot of fun that first year. You never forget your first year of college and I’m really going to miss this place once I graduate in May. The community here is incredible and I hope to keep these friends for the rest of my life, even if we were just a bunch of lounge rats.

Ever wonder how God is going to use your theater gifts in college when you are not a theater major, have twelve papers to write, five tests to study for, three chapters to read,…and…and…and!!!  Well, first of all, don’t panic.  It is never quite that bad but I know how you feel.  I was worried that I wouldn’t have time to be in the shows here on campus and I love doing theater!  That was when God dropped Spirit Force into my lap.  Spirit Force is a drama ministry team that takes mimes, skits and human music videos into the local churches and organizations.  It was the perfect opportunity for me to use the gifts that God had given me for theater.  Since I found Spirit Force, I have been actively involved.  I am now the co-leader for the second year in a row, giving me some leadership opportunity.  We are currently working on a major chapel presentation focusing on different issues that people deal with “Behind Closed Doors.” We are also performing at the local nursing home and assisting at a local church.  I have so much fun participating and we are able to touch lives in so many ways.

One of the great things about Messiah College is that every Friday and Saturday night, our Student Activity Board brings recently-released movies to campus. They only cost one dollar, which is unheard of considering at a regular movie theater, after popcorn, a ticket and a soda, you can easily spend twenty bucks! These movies are played at Parmer Cinema, our very own movie theater on campus, complete with plushy seats, cup holders, and fantastic surround sound. What’s even better is that these movies have yet to be released to the public as DVDs. For example, last weekend they showed 500 Days of Summer, a FANTASTIC movie, this weekend they are showing The Hurt Locker, and at the beginning of the year they featured the summer blockbuster, Star Trek. $1 movies at Parmer Cinema are a great way to kick off your weekend without burning a hole in your wallet or even driving off-campus!

It’s Friday afternoon, and I’ve just finished my classes. With any luck, my weekend will start as soon as I finish my work. So, what’s there to do on campus? Tons! And I’m having trouble deciding. The department of Theater’s A Comedy of Errors opens tonight, the one dollar movie shows twice tonight and again tomorrow. There’s an African Student Union celebration tonight and a Multicultural Seminar tomorrow where I will be helping to run a donations table for relief in El Salvador (where I’ll be spending Spring Break with a group of Messiah Students). There’s a concert tonight featuring a big artist and a band with Messiah Roots, and several exciting Bible Studies as well as an alternate chapel with a discussion on hunger and homelessness to tie up this week’s focus, or a kayaking trip through the Outdoors Club, and that’s just getting started. Oh, I almost forgot, I’m logging on to Skype to talk to a friend who is studying abroad in Lithuania at 5pm, which is midnight her time and my roommate is playing in the play-offs for field hockey this weekend. How will I ever decide what to do? Who shall I meet for dinner?rnWhat would you do?

Here at Messiah there are many, many opportunities for community service. I remember my freshman year hearing about this ministry called Adopt a Grandparent. While envisioning a small, elderly woman with a sad face and a sign that says pick me, I was thinking what does this group actually do? Well, turns out that this group goes out to some nursing homes in the area for weekly visits. Each student is assigned a “new grandparent”. I decided to try this out and received my new grandma named Ardys. I would visit her every Tuesday night for about an hour. She is an absolutely lovely woman with an endless amount of fascinating stories about growing up as a missionary kid in India and raising a few missionary kids of her own as a teacher for 20 years in Zambia. As enjoyable as it was for her to have a visitor, it was a great time for me as well. She has taught me many things and we still keep in touch to this day. Maybe next year you will have a “new grandma” of your own too.

I remember- just days before leaving for Messiah last year- running from room to room of my house yelling until I finally found my sister and forced her to listen to me worry, stress, and whine about how I would surely get lost, fail all of my classes, and absolultely NEVER make any real friends. I had been certain that I would be able to make friends, but in those last few days my normal confidence was completely gone. Was I going to be that one girl without anyone to talk to, eat with, or laugh with? And even if I did manage to make a few friends, would we ever actually have a real, deep, God-centered friendships? Well, it is a year later, and I somehow managed to not be that friendless girl. Not only that, but I have found that the frienships I have made here at Messiah are beyond what I would have ever hoped for- especially spiritually. I was reminded of this when, in one four hour period yesterday, I had three separate conversations, with three different groups of friends, about God, faith, and love. These conversations weren’t for class, but just the what happened when we were together, and it was awesome. I guess that just comes from friendships that are centered on shared beliefs like the ones I have here at Messiah. God has been working in my life so much in this past year, and I know that the community of my friends here at Messiah are a huge part of that.

In thinking about what to write for this blog entry, my mind automatically drifted to the work of the Collaboratory, a group that I’m involved in on campus. Maybe because it consumes most of my free time aside from classwork and studying, or maybe because I was thinking about what I need to do to prepare for next week’s meeting. But, probably, it’s because being involved in the Collaboratory’s MicroEconomic Development group has completely turned my world and my perceptions of the future upside down. I didn’t know anything about economics or micro-finance when I joined the group Spring of my Freshman year, but I got involved after learning from various sources of the good that micro-finance is doing around the world, ministering to the world’s poor and empowering people to better their lives through giving small loans out to build businesses. Micro-finance is the way of the future in terms of working with the world’s poor and moving them out of dependency, struggle and poverty. Through working with the group to start small, rural banks that promote savings and small loans in a sustainable way, I am learning ow I can make a difference for Christ in the world where so many have so little. I’ve been blessed with so much, and it’s great to see just one small way that I can begin to give back! It’s funny how God works…bringing opportunities into our lives when we least expect them!

What about food at Messiah? Can anything really compare to mom’s homecooking? Well, let me reassure you, food at Messiah ain’t too bad. The first place you can venture to for some grub, is the main dining facility, Lottie Nelson. The options are endless in Lottie. It offers everything from bagels, Belgium waffles, cereal, French toast sticks, and omelets for breakfast, to a salad bar, deli, fresh fruits, and lunch specials like mac-n-cheese or chicken waldorf salad for afternoon dining, and a Mongolian grill, good veggies, deli, salad and dessert bars and dinner specials like turkey and stuffing with gravy or endless pizza for supper. The Union Café and the Falcon are your other two options. Both offer great food for on the go or seated dining; such things as wraps, sandwiches, Panini’s, soups, cheese steaks, burgers and the like. They also offer a nice variety of snacks and desserts for your eating pleasure. I hope this quick overview can help you out about the food options here at Messiah and settle your stomachs a bit.

So I was just on the phone with a student who asked me the ever ambiguous question: So, can you tell me about campus life? Don’t get me wrong, I love talking about Messiah College, but there’s so much that I can say that I often do not know where to start. Today, however, it was just on the tip of my tongue. I couldn’t help but talk about chapels and how unique they are to Messiah and my experience here. With all the demands of course work, mulling over the future, and finding time to hang out with friends, it is sometimes so easy to neglect our spiritual lives. For me, it is a daily surrender to focus wholly on Jesus, setting aside my own agenda for a few precious minutes with the Lord. However, chapel provides the unique opportunity to get away from classes, relax, and worship the Lord in the midst of seeming madness. What a fantastic way to take a break, lift our voices in praise, and expectantly listen to what the speaker has to share with us? Today, I was just overwhelmed with the blessing of being able to pause and take a look at the big picture. Sometimes that’s all we need to put our endless workload and commitments into perspective.

So, last friday I heard from the Oxford Study Abroad Programme that I have been accepted to their program! Woohoo! It is great to be able to claim three semesters abroad at Messiah!rnrnI don’t mean to “dish” Messiah and some people actually think I am running away! But in reality I love the fact that Messiah College gives you the opportunity of studying abroad so much! Yes, there are great classes that I am missing here; however, the cultural, the social and the experiences I will have abroad are simply too incredible to let them pass by!rnrnBoth of my past experiences, China and the Middle East, were so enriching and certainly added-on to the person I am today! The Chinese food I ate, the Chinese name I inherited, the Chinese friends I made just bring back memories of a lifetime experience that will never be forgotten! The Middle East, in the same light, with its dressing standards, its falafels and kosheri and the beautiful mosques are simply exotic pieces of a rich culture different than our own!rnrnAs my nervous self is once again reinstated through the “before the trip” experience, I am once again excited for the new adventures ahead! Oxford, like any other place, will have its own food, its own culture, and its own people. And I am ready to take on every bit of it as I did in China and the Middle East!