Cedarville University

Like most, if not all, writers, I was first a reader. And even though college’s hectic schedule keeps me too busy to read for pleasure very often, I still love to do it and look forward to any free moments I can spend curled up with a cup of tea and a book. One of my all-time favorite books is The Giver, by Lois Lowry. It’s the story of a society that has eliminated all fear, pain, agony, conflict, and choice… and also, resultantly, things such as color and love. Eleven-year-old Jonas has been chosen as Receiver, to receive memories of these things from one called the Giver, and carry the memories so the community need not be subject to such pain and difficulty. But as he learns that what he sees is color, and as feelings of love and family come rushing in, he begins to wonder if this life of theirs is really the best way to live. This Newbery-medal-winning book is extremely powerful and incredibly well-written, and I think I reread it every year.

Christmas break is coming up in about a month (wow, only another month left of fall semester of my junior year…) and breaks are always perfect times to get caught up on some reading and discover some new books. So, I should get started thinking of a list of books to read over Christmas break this year! So far, I have:

1. The Great Divorce, by C.S. Lewis
2. The Newbery-medal-winning book of this year (I forget the title)
3. As many plays as I can get my hands on

What about you? What are some of your all-time favorite books? And any suggestions for things I should read?

Church was wonderful tonight. I walked in, and little Kayla runs up to me, saying, “Kate!” and wrapping her arms around me for a hug. The love I see among people in the little community of Midtown is immense and powerful and oh-so-beautiful. Towards the beginning of our service, Greg was speaking, and he said one phrase about God not having forgotten about us. It got me thinking. It’s so easy to run through my life and forget about God, or at least do things on my own and still talk to him and things, but not put him first. We forget just how relational he is, and how he is like us. God created humankind in his image – in his image – and so he is not drastically different from his creation. And he cares about us, so much…  and even when we forget about him, he never will forget about us. A friend mentioned thinking about how God feels at different times the other day – when people sin, how does God feel? When people turn to him, how does he feel? When we have been running and running and running away, but finally look back towards him, how happy that must make him feel. God is not a stagnant, nonresponsive God. He cares about what we do and think and say. He feels.

And there tonight, I felt his presence among such a group of people loving each other so actively and compellingly and beautifully. I needed it, too: it’d been a difficult and stressful week for me, and I think I’ve had a headache on and off since Wednesday. It was amazing to simply spend some time being welcomed into the arms of God and the family of this community at Midtown. Even in the midst of everything, God does not forget about me, even if I forget or it feels like he does. Perfect love. All of that may sound cliche, but living like this in a real way is not. The genuineness of this when it is truly lived out the way it is  supposed to be is a glorious thing.

We sang this last week in church, and hearing simple voices and instruments rising together up towards the sky was incredibly powerful.

“I will Praise Him Still,” by Fernando Ortega

When the morning falls on the farthest hill
I will sing His name, I will praise Him still
When dark trials come and my heart is filled
With the weight of doubt, I will praise Him still
For the Lord, our God, He is strong to save
From the arms of death, from the deepest grave
And He gave us life in His perfect will
And by His good grace I will praise Him still

Have a restful weekend, faithful readers. Seek a way to live a life of love tomorrow and every day.

I’ve had an insanely busy week… for each one of my classes, I’ve had a huge project and an exam, or a huge project and a paper, or an exam and a paper due. For each one. In addition to all of that, I sing in Concert Chorale, and we had three performances this week: two in chapel, then it’s Family Weekend, so we sang in the big All-Choral Concert for families on Friday. And all of this with spending four plus hours in rehearsal a night… insanity! For a while, I kept telling myself, “Okay. Just get through the next thing. Do the next thing, and then the next one after that. One thing at a time.”

So, as one might expect, pretty much my every moment has been full. This past Wednesday evening, I got back from rehearsal about 10:20, and was out of my room again in ten minutes to go to the Theatre Design lab and finish a project for my design course. Well, on my way, I ran into my friend Andy. We talked for a couple of minutes, and then he said, “You know what’s a really good thing to do when you’re stressed? Jump in a pile of leaves. Way back there” (he gestured in this expansive field sort of behind my dorm and the student center) “is this huge pile of leaves some friends and I discovered. Let’s go jump in it! Do you want to?”

I thought about it. I looked at the student center, with the theatre lab, and thought about my project, then I thought about the time I had before chapel to finish said project. And I looked out at the expanse of darkness that was a field, and up at the stars above. And then I looked back at Andy to give some sort of a hopeful and affirmative response, and we went walking across the field towards the pile of leaves.

He was right. It was big. Ten to fifteen feet, probably! Beside it was a large pile of dirt, and we climbed up that. “Go. Run, and then just jump,” Andy said, and so I did. We jumped from the one pile to the others several times. Afterward, we just talked for a while, and looked up at the stars to find constellations. The stars are really bright when the sky is dark and open… we found both Dippers and Orion, and some other ones, too.

I felt a lot more lighthearted as we headed back to our respective dorms. It’s amazing how lying there, doing something lighthearted and fun and looking up at constellations, can make me let go of the stresses of a crazy week and busy, confusing life. It’s relaxing in a very deep way, and it was amazing. I think I need to remember to let go like that more often, and not to be afraid to do things that are spontaneous and fun and relaxing.

And, I finished my project on time and everything.