Chapter Focus Week

There's so much to be said about Chapter Focus Week, and yet I've put off writing about it for so long because it's difficult for me to find the words to do my experience justice. For starters, on May 12th, 11 individuals from InterVarsity - including me, but 13 including our staff - set out on an epic adventure to Cedar Campus in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. An 8 hour drive was the first step of our journey, and although I didn't get much sleep the night before, I drove my car with fearless tenacity the whole way. Luckily, I had a great group in my car that gave me lots of support. Good times.

Cedar Campus was absolutely beautiful, and the ladies and I were blessed with a cabin that had a bathroom connected to our room, a great view of the lake, and that was close to the Meeting Center. After arriving and having a few hours to settle in, we jumped right into the week. Now, I have to be honest - I didn't really want to go to CFW. I wasn't sure if I was going to walk away challenged, retreats come with a price tag, and I needed to work so I could pay for college. But at the last minute, everything fell into place so I could go, and I was determined to get the most out of it. For the week, we were separated into different "tracks." The members of our leadership team would meet together everyday to plan what InterVarsity would look like for the next school year. Those who were going to be small group leaders were in the small group leadership training track. I was in Mark I with 2 others from my InterVarsity chapter, and we went through and dissected the first 8 chapters of Mark. Talk about intense! I was never very good at manuscripting, which is a specific way of looking at the text and picking it apart (focusing on who, what, when, where, and how, and spotting any references to other parts of Scripture - we were provided colored pencils so we could color code our findings), so I was incredibly intimidated. Not to mention we were split up into 6 tables, and our table made up our small group for us to share and discuss with. I was way out of my comfort zone, but God knew that was exactly what I needed. Throughout the week, the overarching theme we focused on in Mark was Jesus' authority, and how that authority should have an affect on the way we live our lives.

In the large group meetings, our speaker Rick taught on Moses. He connected it to us by saying that Moses was destined for greatness but he didn't know it - we, on the other hand, know that God is getting us ready for greatness. After all, there are no insignificant roles in God's big picture. We need to find our identity in Christ and be faithful, humble, and willing to take risks.

Now, something that my chapter does that I absolutely loved was "Secret Encouragers." The first night we were there we all drew names, and we got to encourage that person all week. People came up with some creative ways to secretly encourage, and I know I had a blast with it. But my secret encourager blew me away by drawing me this picture. Sled dogs, of course, hold a special place in my heart, and this picture is such a great reminder to me that I have to obey my Master and follow His direction. Not only was this picture an encouragement and a challenge, but it also serves as a great reminder to all the things I learned during CFW, and how I grew so much closer with all the individuals that went.

Every night we had "chapter time," to meet up and catch everybody up on what we were learning in our tracks and see what thoughts our leadership team had for next year. There were plenty of laughs shared, but we also got incredibly vulnerable with one another. God moved. He broke our hearts for our campus. He challenged us to be intentional with our summers. And for me personally, He taught me to not write people off as being too far out of His reach. I was face-to-face with someone I had known from before, and I knew wasn't a Christian before, but it was amazing seeing the transformation, and God convicted me of how easy it is to give up on people. But even though we might give up on people, God doesn't, because of His great love for us!

After a week like this, it was hard to leave and say goodbye. I had an amazing time and learned so much. I'm excited for what the future holds. God is awesome. Life is an epic adventure.

Some highlights from the week: running into my small group leader Hannah from Summit, the girls serenading the boys cabin with "I'll Make a Man Out of You," hiking to Gnome Rock, hiking Narnia trail, being prayed for by my track leader, having group time out on the Floating Bear (the pontoon boat) one night despite the cold, being a rebel and going to the other side of the lake with Justin to eat dinner our last night, and jamming out in the party car.

With that, there's only one thing left to say...

Go team.

Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

We've all had them. Those terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days, where one not-so-good thing domino effects into a whole list of other things, which ends in a bad day. Mine started with dropping two glasses of water off of a tray at work. The first two glasses I broke on the job. But not only did I spill water all over myself, I also spilled water into my apron pocket, where my phone happened to be residing. Not a whole lot of water, mind you. But apparently enough so that when I checked it later, it had black screened and read me the message "USB Download Mode." I promptly took the battery out to find a few drops of water, which I knew was going to be a bad sign. After I got home from a long day at work, I threw my phone in rice, hoping it would come back to life - before my phone had short-circuited, I saw that I had text messages and voicemails waiting for my attention.

Needless to say, it's been a long day. There's been tears, and fervent prayers, and telling myself how stupid I am, and researching online to see if anyone else had the solution to my problem, and going to the Verizon store with my dad to see if there was anything they could do, and more tears... You never realize how much you need something until it's no longer available. I find my reliance on technology somewhat pathetic after something like this happens. I shouldn't be so attached to an inanimate object that it causes me to shed tears. But unless some sort of miracle happens, everything I had on that phone is lost: all my pictures, and text messages that had sentimental value. I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do.

The one good thing that did come out of this circumstance is I got to spend time with my dad. He calmed me down when I was upset over my phone, took me to the Verizon store, went shopping with me at Wal-Mart, and then came over to the house I'm dogsitting at to watch a movie with me. Since I won't see too much of him tomorrow on Father's Day, I enjoyed our time together. Thank you, dad, for always looking out for me.

Well, there's gotta be a silver lining to this situation somewhere. I just gotta trust that God will work this all out for His glory. Until then, I have a husky literally laying in my lap during a thunderstorm. I knew sled dogs made the best cuddle buddies.

It also happens to be my dear friend Kelly's birthday today. Happy Birthday, darlin'. May God bless you abundantly in the coming year!

See You Soon

I can't believe it. My freshman year of college is coming to a close.
I turned in my last assignment last night - I'm officially done!

I still remember move-in day, with all its uncertainty and excitement, and now I'm packing up and moving out. The beginning of the year feels like ages ago, and yet like it was just yesterday, all at the same time. And people keep telling me that every year after this continues to get faster. Not quite sure what to think about that.
Two years ago, I never thought I would be at Whitewater. But here I am! And this year has been absolutely wonderful. Sure, it's had its fair share of drama, tears, stress, and lack of sleep. But there's also been laughter, joy, excitement, and adventure. I've met some incredible people, and I don't know what I'm going to do without them this summer.
Also, the men of Whitewater took me by surprise these past couple weeks and have been opening doors left and right! I am blessed and impressed.
I've had so many adventures these past few weeks as I enjoyed the short time I had left of my freshman year in Whitewater. From sleepovers, to late night walks, to snuggling with puppies, to secluded riverside lookouts, to jumping over waist-high lamp posts, to how-to-drive-a-manual-car lessons (I dare say, if picking a major doesn't pan out and I run out of options, I could teach a driver's ed course on driving stickshift) - I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Not to mention, I got to room with my best friend. Some cautioned us that it might not work, but I think we made out just fine! We're rooming together next year, so that's a good sign, right?

My dad will be here soon to move me out, and I'll only be home briefly before I head up to the UP for Chapter Focus Week with InterVarsity. I'm excited - it's going to be amazing.

So that means saying goodbye to the campus I've fallen in love with, my room, my friends, and to my freshman year. Some of the goodbyes will be harder than others.

Goodbye, Benson 329. We've had a good run.

And freshman year, I've learned a lot - I've grown so much, and I'm excited for what next year's going to bring.

To the rest of you, however, this isn't goodbye - I've never been very good at goodbyes. But this is, simply...

See you soon.

My Hat

Some of you may already know the story behind my sled dog hat, but for those of you who don't, it's about time you did!

Trust me, it's a good one.

This dates back to December 4th (or 5th, if you want to get picky). It was a Sunday, and I had a huge amount of reading to get done for English. After church, I went to the library and literally spent the rest of the day there. Around 12:15am I got back to my room, exhausted. Sitting on my desk was a Wal-Mart bag, which I assumed was some of my belongings that had gotten moved around on the floor that my roommate Emily had picked up and set on my desk. Upon closer inspection, I found a note attached to the bag that read:

"Cora, Stay warm like Balto during your favorite time of the year. Merry Christmas."

No name.

I opened the bag, incredibly confused, and discovered a sled dog hat. Sitting there. 

Meant just for me.

I was dumbstruck. I looked at Emily and asked where it had come from. She told me that someone had knocked on the door earlier, and when they didn't come in when she called, she got up to open the door and found the bag sitting there.

I'll be honest - I burst into tears. I definitely did not feel like I deserved such a thoughtful and amazing gift! I am so.incredibly.blessed.

To this day, I still don't know who my mysterious benefactor is. But I'm ok with that. 

The magic is in the mystery.

However, if the giver of this phenomenal gift happens to be reading this...

Thank you.

From the bottom of my heart.

Wedding Bells

It's about time I blogged about it.

2 weeks ago today, two of my favorite people in the whole world got engaged! Chris proposed to Carolyn on her golden birthday - so sweet! I couldn't be happier for them.

Chris has basically been a part of the family since I was 3, so I'm thrilled to officially be able to call him my brother in the near future.

I am so blessed to have Carolyn and Chris in my life. They've always been incredibly supportive of me, and made every effort to be actively involved in my life. They lead by example, and I am so proud to call them family!

So I'll keep this short and sweet, but I just wanted the world to know how excited I am!

Here's to you, Carolyn and Chris, setting out on your next big adventure!

Saved by Grace

It's hard to find the words to talk about today, Good Friday, which represents the day Jesus died on the cross for my sins. And the sins of the world.

Because of His great love.

He suffered, bled, and died - the punishment and fate that should have been mine.

I can't even begin to understand a love like that.

His death changed everything. (Not only His death, but His resurrection as well. But that's a subject for Sunday.) We are no longer separated from God, Who loves us so deeply and longs for a relationship with us. John 3:16 comes to mind: "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."

I've done nothing to deserve a love like that. Which is what makes Christ's action so amazing - because of His death, I need only to repent of my sins and accept Him as my Lord and Savior, and He extends His grace to me, despite my imperfection.

As I drove out to meet some friends for dinner, there was a cloud in the sky (see it?) that reminded me of two things.

What first came to mind was a dove, which reminded me of Matthew 3:16-17: "As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, 'This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.'"
As I looked at the "dove" in the sky, I thought of what it would have been like to be in the crowd that saw this happen, and how incredible it must have been.
The second thing I thought it looked like (which might take a slight stretch of the imagination) was a cross. After all, it is Good Friday.
Jesus sacrificed Himself for me on that cross to pay the price for my sins.
And because I can't come up with anything profound to say, listen to this song.
Another song that's been running through my head all day is this one. Give it a listen, too.

All in all, today is an incredibly humbling day.

So if you're ever feeling unloved or unlovable, remember this:
Jesus thinks you're to die for.
And He did.

Since Christ sacrificed everything for me, how am I living my life to glorify Him in everything I do?
I want to live my life with intention.

Camping Adventures

I'm taking a break from my homework to blog. It's been a while.

And, let's be honest. I would much rather blog than do homework.

(I thought I was getting better at not procrastinating. I guess not.)

This past weekend, to finish off my spring break I went camping with friends from InterVarsity. And might I say, it was the most relaxing part of my whole break. It was cold, there's no denying that. But the friends that were there made it totally worth it. No electricity, no running water, but plenty of good conversation and a whole lot of fun.

Thanks, Joey, for planning the whole thing!

Trying to sleep Friday night was an adventure in and of itself. Thank God for Hot Hands - the little packet warmers, and the body warmers that stick to your shirt and last for 12 hours...or more! Toe warmers were not discovered until Saturday when we made a run to the gas station to get more Hot Hands packets. We all survived the chilly night though, and Megan, Katherine and I made up for it Saturday night by zipping two sleeping bags together to create a giant sleeping bag - perfect for snuggling. One of my favorite parts of the whole camping experience.

Camping highlights: roasting hot dogs over the fire, making s'mores, playing guitar and singing at the top of our lungs, worship around the campfire, awesome God conversations, playing Scattergories and Clue, singing lullabies to the camp, and letting Kaleb and Dan practice their stick shift driving skills on my car.

There were a lot of fun parts to this camping trip. But these were the highlights.

Then it was back to Whitewater to get ready for the final stretch of the semester.

Biggest regret of my spring break?

Not doing any homework.

Which means tonight, and tomorrow night, and possibly Saturday night as well, I will be up til 4 or 5 in the morning trying to get this stuff done.

5 weeks left? 

I can do this.

Also, I'd like to give a shout out to my big brother Kyle, whose birthday is today.

Happy Birthday, bro! 

I hope it was as amazing as you are.