push 'play' to pause

It is good to be back.

This first week after coming back stateside has been nothing but hectic, running back and forth from classes and seeing familiar faces, standing in the longest caff lines you ever clapped your eyes on, and just the kind of fellowship that is characterized by both bellyaching laughter and moments of deep sincere care that I have grown to love and miss of the tribe over the summer.

The freshmen are taking over the campus! From filling up the chapel to the brim and over, to making it a well-meaning fight in the caff over the last banana, the freshmen are truly everywhere. Praise the Lord! He is indeed using this school to reach more and more young men and women to prepare them from being unworthy vessels, to be still unworthy vessels, but now consecrated and aligned to hearing the Word of God.

Chapel is something that i have missed sorely. The opportunity to be in a hot gym packed with students with one accord praising our Heavenly Father does not present itself every day, and I cherish each moment.

This year, I am a junior! my my, how time passes quickly. I don't know about you, but after hitting junior year, school suddenly seems to speed up. The brevity of 15 weeks is suddenly glaring one in the eye, while the list of tasks that demand attention and completion seems to grow longer than the hotchkiss stairs.

I have found that the sweetest moments in my day are not when I'm walking with friends to class, or even enjoying a decent meal at the caff, but they are in the morning when all is still and i have a moment to spend with my Savior. It may seem tempting to sleep that extra 10-15 minutes, then lazily lumber over to the restroom to get cleaned up for school, then let one's thoughts wander as we get ready for the day, however it is crucial to take time out of the day to spend with the One who by far loves us the most. Indeed, this is the only way that we can truly enjoy our day: by pausing before it begins, to spend but a brief moment with the Lord.