College touring & trusting in God

I just (literally 4 hours ago) got home from a whirlwind college tour/dropping Lauren off. It was oddly...long. We drove to Nashville (toured Vanderbilt) then Winston-Salem (toured Wake Forest, plus dropped off Lauren....I know....I'll miss her so much!). It's weird going around Colleges. I've only really toured 3 colleges. There are around 3,785 colleges in the U.S. I've visited 3. Eek!! Obviously I'm not going to want to go to all of these colleges, but there are, I'm sure, a lot of good fits, but how do you know you're going to the right place? How do you know that this college is where you really want to go (and I not where your parents want you to go)? How do you know this is the college God wants you to go to?

Sometimes you have to trust. Praying for discernment is a hard thing, but it helps. Even if you don't get the booming voice down from heaven for a Charlton Heston moment (Ten Commandments, anyone?), it makes you feel better (it does for me).

Now I don't claim I know exactly how God works, but I believe he answers all prayers: he doesn't say 'yes' to all prayers though. He can answer 'no' or 'not yet.'

I'm going to connect this to Harry Potter (because Annie Gaburo wanted me to write an article for the newsletter, and because I've been listening to the 7th book on tape). There are some things you just have to figure out on your own. (hopefully none of you have not read the book, because I'm going to use the book, sorry.) In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry is frustrated for about half of the novel because Dumbledore has left him little information and a lot of do (specifically, killing Lord Voldemort). Hermoine, of course, responds by telling him: "Maybe you're supposed to figure it out for yourself." Ironically, she says this for the wrong reason, but Harry Potter takes it up as almost a mantra. At the beginning of the book Harry and his friends are left with a light-clicker, an old Golden Snitch, and a children's book. Hey have to figure things out from there. It seems impossible right? Well, hopefully you know the outcome. I won't say it directly in case anyone gets mad.

How does this connect to real life? How does this connect to college? Am I completely insane? Most people would answer all of these questions with yes. But seriously, just like Harry had to figure out how to defeat Voldemort with very little support from anyone but his friends, we have to go through this life with very little help. We have an old book (the bible is pretty old) and a few other small things, and we have to get through life...a pretty though cookie to tackle. We need to pray, but also, we really need to realize that God puts us into situations where we need to figure things out for ourselves. With our friends of course. I'm not saying that God abandons us, but we were given free choice for a reason.

Now, how does this relate to college? Well, for some of us, finding the right college may just be going to whatever school you get into. I'm not done in my college search, but it's just a scary prospect, figuring out where your future will be. However, when you do end up in a college, it may have not been your first pick. It may not have been the ideal place. The point is to trust. Trust that God has a plan for you, wherever you go, even if it was college choice number 3, 5, 7 (though applying to 7 colleges would take a lot out of anyone). Whever you go, God is going to give you enough to figure it out, and always he'll give you the friends to get the job accomplished.

Hold on! Hold That Line is coming to VI!

So, we (Lee, Dustin, Aimee, PC, Coleman[?], Rachel Martin, Bryan Georgilis, Drew Troller, Annie Memmott, Mike Keller, Hannah Mauk, Sam Franer, James Sayer, Angie Bell, NikkoBB [Nick Black], Audrey Black, Maddie Barnhill, Katie Keiser, Annie Gaburo, Laura Sloneker, Phil Bowdel, Sarah Meadows and I) went over to Indiana for the weekend for the Student Leadership Retreat. It was absolutely amazing, and I am really confident that this team of leaders can make a HUGE difference in VI. I wanted to let you know about my new ministry, apart from Musical worship and mentoring Slon for Breakfast Club, don't hold your breath...It's the HOLD THAT LINE!!! Ministry!

Inspired by Annie Gaburo's riveting cheerleading skills, I'm heading up the 'Cheerleading ministry' (baptized as the "Hold That Line!!" Ministry). It was Drew's idea, but I'm leading it. What it will be is a team of people from VI that will go to other people's events, soccer games, football games, wrestling matches, basketball games, musicals, plays, etc. and cheer you on, win or lose, rain or shine, 99 degrees or 9 degrees (well...we may draw the line somewhere below freezing point but...). What does this mean? We're willing to surprise you, catch you off guard and make your day, but as the head of the calendar (I'm trying to juggle ~5 sports schedules alone) it would help me if you let me -or James Sayer, my mentoree and awesome assistant in this ministry- know either what sport you play and when an event is coming up. If you're in musicals (like me) plug in the equivalent and please let us know. Even though VI is a great, loving place, sometimes you just don't feel like people want you there (I've felt that way in past years), well, in truth, we REALLY want you there, but it's hard to know when to say it. Now...you're never gonna know when we're gonna say it to you! We'll be screaming your name and waving posters and holding the line for you!

Devotional: Experiment and Compromise!

So… I think my blog hates me, because I have the hardest time doing things like log in…and yes, Phil, I am using the correct username (finally). Anyway, just some random musings; for a composition class this summer I was required to use the book Harmonic Materials in Tonal Music (I know, sounds like a real thriller! But really, if you’re looking for a good theory book, I’d start there). Anyway, I’m on the last chapter right now and a phrase caught my eye:

…don’t expect a harmonization to take shape instantly; it usually develops slowly, with the final product the result of much experimentation and compromise.

I thought about it for a second, and realized that our lives are like that! We’re all in the middle of composing the concertos of our lives, trying to figure out which choices and relationships produce the right harmonies, trying to avoid incorrect doubling of our mistakes, trying to write expressive melodies without being melodramatic or unappealing as people. So, this is to say that we need to realize that we’re not going to get it right all of the time, but that our lives develop “slowly, with the final product the result of much experimentation and compromise” with our Lord. Some of us go our wholes trying to write our music on intuition or sheer luck and talent; but the only way to really succeed is to have a great teacher. We’re lucky, we have Jesus as our teacher and he’s provided an excellent (if old) theory book for us to take exercises from: the bible.

In whatever you do, realize that life is a journey, not a destination, and that you’re going to make mistakes, even the genius composers had their off-days (heck, listen to Bolero…or better yet, don’t and spare yourself 12 minutes), just keep referring back to your true Teacher and his Textbook, and by the end, you’ll have a beautiful song.