just plain foolishness

Rand Hummel's conference at the beginning of the week was awesome. It felt like I was reliving my "camp" years--no one should ever outgrow camp. Why did Winterfest feel like camp? Well, along with having pretty much everyone's favorite camp speaker, we had class-focused spirit week. The week was filled with spiritual wisdom, but overall, it was just plain foolishness.

Each day of spirit week had a general theme, but to add to the foolishness, each class had a subcategory all their own. The freshmen, sophomore, junior, & senior classes were distinct as each student dressed according to theme--excited to have a week of just plain foolishness.

Monday: Holidays
Christmas in . . . February, at least for me & the other sophomores. The other classes celebrated Thanksgiving (freshmen), St. Patty's (juniors), & the 4th of July (seniors). Crystal & I went all out for Christmas--Crys dressed as a Christmas tree & I was a snowman. The freshmen had great enthusiasm and imagination--I saw a pumpkin pie & more than a few overly stuffed individuals--it was just plain foolishness!

Tuesday: Eras

This day was soo much fun. I have always loved playing dress-up, so when the opportunity arose, I pulled out all of my costumes hoping that my roommates (or someone on my floor) would be able to use something. Fashions of ancient Greece & Rome (freshmen), the Middle Ages (sophomores), the Colonial period (juniors), & the future (seniors) were put on display. With all of the sheets-turned-togas, girls in formals, colonial outfits including bonnets, and tinfoil, it was plain that everybody was enjoying this day of just plain foolishness.

Wednesday: Stages of Life

Toddler, teen, mid-life crisis, or senior citizen: which stage of life would you prefer to emulate? Well, we didn't have much of a choice, though I did enjoy reliving my teen years (not really) on Wednesday. The freshmen mostly copped out by simply wearing a pacifier with normal clothing and there were far too many pregnant middle-aged women. I would have to say that the gray haired senior citizens and the side-ponytailed, over-makeuped teens definitely topped as just plain foolishness.

Thursday: Class Color

Go Green! Crazy chapel is always a highlight of spirit week. Seeing everyone decked to the hilt in their class color, whether it be pink, green, red, or black & blue. Even Dr. Phelps joined in on the fun as he officiated the fun activities done during chapel. My class may not have won the week, but hey, at least we didn't get last . . . the afternoon was just plain foolishness.

Friday: Blue & Gold Day

The week closed with a tribute to the school itself. No class divisions on Friday. We all unified to one student body decked out in Maranatha's blue and gold. There is little sweeter than seeing 800+ college students being "true to [your] school"--and yes, all the crazy blue & gold proved that, sometimes, life is just plain foolishness.

grow up!

Have you ever read J. M. Barrie's "Peter Pan" or "The Boy Who Would Not Grow Up"? I was reading thru the play for fun, little did I know that the Lord would use that play to show me that I need to grow up.

This week was Winterfest--a fancy name for revival and spirit week. Rand Hummel of the Wilds came to speak Monday thru Wednesday. Due to my work schedule, I was only able to attend one service--the one I needed. Rand spoke on Peter Pan (what a coincident) & how he chose never to grow up. Though this is a great play, it is a horrible life lesson. Rand encouraged the college students to grow up & become all that the Lord desires of them. I cannot affectively serve the Lord if I am still acting like a child, refusing to grow up.

To add to the irony, the story I selected for the Tantalizing Tidbits (a weekly menu I put out for the dining common at the college) dealt with the life of James Barrie. His older brother died suddenly at the age of 12 or 13 & his mother refuse to give up weeping over the loss of her son. Young Jimmie vowed to imortalize his brother by refusing to grow up. Jimmie's desire effected every area of his growth, including his physical growth. James Barrie barely measured 5 feet. How sad that a young man gave up his life for a selfish mother. Rand used Peter Pan as an example of Christians who refuse to "put away childish things" & grow in the Lord. Rand was right, like many others, I need to grow up!

I did enjoy reading "Peter Pan", but as a Christian, I don't want to stay in Neverland or even yearn for it forever. I want to grow up in Christ, for then I am sure I will find that dreams can never compare to reality. Unlike Peter, I will discover that life is my greatest adventure.

E-X-C-I-T-E-D

Dorm Devos--before coming to college, I could not wait for dorm life, especially the devos. What would be cooler than getting to hear others share their heart for God? Now, don't get ahead of me & assume that I detest dorm, core, room, & floor devos; quite the opposite. I love devotions, but I felt something was missing, but what? My roommates & I began discussing the subject. Our conclusion: excitement was lacking.

Devos had simply become a 15 minute intrusion on study time where we were forced to sit in the cold basement, listen to someone share a short devo, pray with the same group of people, & then return to homework & phone calls to Mom or boyfriend. I was disappointed. I had been learning so much from chapel & personal devotions, I could hardly wait to see what the Lord was going to teach me in dorm devotions! As Hayley (my dorm sup) & Melissa (my RA) would share their heart some would stare blankly into space, some talked with the girl next to them, & some, a disappointing few, listened intently & soaked in some precious truth from God's Word. I am NOT getting down on my fellow dormmates. I, too, have been guilty of not paying attention, but something needed to change, something needed to be done to bring excitement back to devos.

Elle, a transfer student from PCC, joined our room this semester full of excitement (& opinions) about everything. After devos one night, she came back to the room disappointed. Before we knew it, Hayley was in our room & we all were excitedly talking about how we could make devos more--exciting. We realized that the change had to be within us before we could ask others to be as excited. As a room, we challenged ourselves to some goals so we would not fall back into the form of normalicy--fall back into complacency.

A plan was made that night, & tonight, Weeks 109 was able to carry out the most radical form of excitement for devos you have probably ever heard.

Elle prepared a challenge for the dorm. A challenge to be different. A challenge to stand out. A challenge to be excited about dorm devotions. Before Elle talked to the dorm, we, uh, encouraged the dorm to get excited about devos--specifically core group devos. What did we do? I'm glad you asked.

First, we painted our faces. Now, you are probably wondering what facepaint has to do with devos. Nothing. We just wanted to paint our faces. We painted our faces green & black (Weeks' dorm colors) & each of us wore a dorm shirt. Part of devos is getting together as a family, so we weren't just getting everybody excited about devos, but about being part of the Weeks family.

Second, we made signs. Bright green posterboard spelled out C.O.R.E. I also came up with an acronymn for C.O.R.E.

• COME ready to learn about & rejoice in the Lord
• ON TIME--devos start at 10, not 10:01 or 10:10
• REJOICE in what God is doing in your & the other girls' lives
• ENJOY fellowship with those in the dorm (especially the ones you may not know)

I don't know if anyone else will remember the acronymn, but it sure has been a help to me to remind me why I should be excited about devotions.

We put the signs to use in our third activity: we ran in (ironically, late) cheering! With the signs lifted above our heads, we encouraged the girls to "give me a C!" as Elle sprayed silly string on our confused & skeptical dormmates. Yes, I'm sure we looked like fools with our faces painted & signs above our heads, but nothing beat how excited we were about devos.

Finally, Elle challenged the girls to get excited. Even though we had talked for hours about the topic, I couldn't help be get excited as Elle shared her heart with the others in our dorm. Why isn't everyone excited about what God is doing & will do in our lives?

You may think we went to the extreme, but I'm glad the Lord gave me the opportunity to get others excited about Him. Even if our litte pep rally didn't effect anyone else, I know that Weeks 109 will never be the same. Praise the Lord!