New Friends, New Insights

Sometimes I sit back and I cannot believe I am actually in seminary...finally! I was sitting by the lake with one of my new closest friends yesterday, reading. I stopped for a minute and looked out onto Lake Michigan, at the city of Chicago, and at the waves crashing onto the shoreline. It took my breath away and I could not believe I was finally at Garrett after all of this time waiting to follow through on God's call for my life.

Today during chapel, the sermon preached by Dr. Mark Fowler made me think about another aspect of God's call that I had not really thought of before. He spoke about Moses and the burning bush and how Moses turned aside to listen to God. Dr. Fowler pointed out however, that this was not the whole story of Moses' call. In the few verses before this, people were broken and crying out for God, so THEN God called Moses to address the needs of these people and minister to them. His sermon went on to talk about how when we were called by God, it was because there were broken people crying out and God knew that we would be the right ones to minister to those people, wherever they are. When I think back to my call from God and my warmed heart experience with God, I knew that I wanted others to feel that same peace, warmth, and love. However, I had never thought about who these people were, what they looked like, where they were located, and what exactly they needed. God knows who they are and God knows that I will be able to minister to them. It is so strange to think about, but it is also so humbling.

Something I am truly thankful for since coming here are the amazing people I met: students, faculty, staff, and others outside Garrett. There were a lot of things I was worried about as I prepared to transition into seminary, but I thank God that God has put these specific people in my life. It might be strange to those of you who know me from other places besides seminary to be hearing how I have all these amazing friends already that I am really close to. I do not really know how to explain it, but I am extremely thankful for the fact that I have close friends. I guess it is a combination of having a strong belief in God, a calling to ministry, passion for the same things (social justice, helping others, ministry, etc), and just appreciation for being at Garrett that brings us all together. I pray that as we move forward on this journey together that our bond as friends becomes even stronger.

P.S. Classes are going really well too! I am not really a history person, but I loved my first history class last night on the early church. Old Testament is fascinating and I will have my first Christian as Citizen class at the Chicago Temple this Thursday night. I will try to keep you updated! Love you all!