Blindness

I could talk about me, I could talk about I, I could talk about number one, oh-my-me-my. (I hope you got that reference.) But instead of talking about me and my college experience (which is going pretty good for those of you who are interested) I want to talk about something else. Something that has more meaning that the ho-hum of everyday life.

But I don't actually know what I want to talk about.. talk about a plot twist, huh?

I'm just tired of talking about me and how my life is going, the point of being a journalist is telling other people's story. And there are so many stories to tell.

In the past week or so, God has started to put something on my heart. Over the past week, I have heard the passage in John 9 about three times in three different situations. If that isn't a sign from God, then I don't know what is.

This passage is about the blind man whom Jesus heals. The disciples pass the man and ask Jesus if it was the man's sin or the man's parent's sin that caused him to be born blind. Jesus answered: "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him." John 9:3. I want to just focus on that little bit.

This isn't a sermon, I'm far too under qualified for that, but I do have some thoughts on this passage and how it applies to life and why I've been hearing it everywhere.

First of all, we are all blind. We all have trouble seeing what's around us and seeing the truth.When Jesus heals the blind man by spitting, (yeah, you read that right) spitting into some mud and rubbing it on this man's eyes, he not only cures his physical vision, but he gives him spiritual sight as well.

Now, you may be asking, "What the heck does she mean by 'spiritual sight'? Is that just another Christian-ese word that sounds good but doesn't really mean anything? No, what I mean by that is that the man came to know Jesus as the Messiah after his healing. He gained spiritual truth and knowledge, not just his vision.

 I know I need help with seeing past my own little world everyday, and I think that even though I already know Jesus is the Messiah, He is still opening my eyes to the world around me. He helps me see what I need to work on in my life, as well as what is good and beautiful in my life.

The second thing that I've gotten from this little passage is that Jesus says neither the sin of this man nor the sin of his parents was the reason he was blind. He was blind so that the works of God could be revealed in him. I get a feeling of peace when I read this. It means that yes, I am a sinner, and yes, I have imperfections, but God, who works all things for good, is using me and my imperfections and my blindness, to reveal himself to others.

No, I'm not saying rejoice that you are a sinner, sin is still bad and evil. But God is good and merciful and he has good plans for us.

Biola has been so great for me. I'm so happy I'm here, learning about God and about myself and how to be a good journalist. But sometimes I'm blinded by everything I feel I have to do. I get blind to the fact that where I'm at right now, won't always be where I'm going. And where I  think I need to be in my life: in my walk, with my schoolwork, with my boyfriend, might not always be where God has me. I need to constantly remind myself that His plan is better than any plan I think I have. And I know I'm going to mess up, I'm a part of this fallen world, but this passage reminds me that even though I live with sin, God can still do good works with me.

So somehow I ended up talking about myself anyway (nice going there, Grace) but I hope each of you gathered something from this and hopefully understood what I was trying to say. Maybe leave a comment if you have an idea for a blog post that isn't centered around Grace, I'd much appreciate the feedback:)

"I think we all suffer from acute blindness at times. Life is a constant journey of trying to open your eyes. I'm just beginning my journey, and my eyes aren't fully open yet." Olivia Thirlby

-Grace

These Past Few Months

As I settle down to write this post that has been in the making for a little under two months now, I feel nervous. What do I say to the family and friends who faithfully followed my blog until I moved to college? How do I let them know how much has happened here in just a few short months? Do I tell them that I miss them like crazy, but I'm having such a wonderful experience at the same time?

The answer is simple, I just start typing.

The last time I wrote, I believe it was move in weekend here at my wonderful home of Biola University. A lot has happened since then. I can't give enough details to give you guys a full insight into what my life has been like but I'll try and do my best.

First of all, my classes have been great, stressful, a little boring at times, and always worth it. I'm not sure if I told you my schedule. If I have, then too bad, I'm going to tell you again.

I have Foundations of Journalism with Dr. Longinow Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 11:30 a.m. I love this class. At first, I didn't. At first, I was frustrated. He had us doing weekly blogs, which I am okay with (obviously) but the problem was I didn't know how to log on to the stupid blog. It's through Wordpress, and I'm not bashing on that site in any way, shape, or form, but dang! Could you make it ANY harder to get on to the site! I got logging on figured out around the third week  though, and it's been smooth sailing in that class since. Cross your fingers, we're barely at the midpoint of the semester.

My next class is Communications 100, and its basically public speaking. Mondays and Wednesdays at 4:30p.m. I'm not so in love with this class. The professor is great and the class has a nice rhythm, but, I don't really have a fear of public speaking and the professor really hasn't taught us much in the way of creating a speech, so speech writing feels like a chore and busy work for me. What am I to do? Nothing, it's a required class.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays I have Foundations of Christian Thought and English. Foundations is awesome! The professor is a star and you can tell he genuinely cares about his students and about what he teaches. I also think he looks like Paul Blart from Mall Cop. And English is... well.. I hate to toot my own horn, but I like to consider myself a fairly decent writer and that class is all about the basics of good academic writing. I definitely feel like I'm above the curve in there. But get this! I know my English Professor! He's from Chico and he went to Calvary Chapel Chico with me when I was a middle-schooler.  I thought that was just crazy! He's a really good professor and I like the way his class is set up. It's more discussion based than lecture based. And we all could use a few less lectures in our lives.

Friday I also have World Civilization 1 with Professor Wamagatta. Yes, Wamagatta. He's from Kenya and he has the best personality on campus! He never fails to make me and my classmates laugh. His explanation for the pyramids? Aliens! (Which I think is valid.) His class on the other hand, is the easiest thing I've ever done. He has you take an online quiz each week, and you are allowed the book. Then he has us take notes in class on the subject we just tested on. It's kind of backwards, but I assume there is a reason. Even if that reason is to make it easy peasy for kids like me.

Enough about classes! I'm sure you want to hear about all the ragers and crazy beach parties I've been to! Well, I'm sorry, but Biola is the 4th worst party school in America, so we don't have those kinds of parties. And I'm perfectly okay with that.

I have been having fun though:) I've been to the beach a couple times, I went down to San Diego to visit Zach once and he's been up here a couple times already. That's really exciting for us, we haven't been able to see each other on a regular basis in about a year. He's actually coming to see me again this weekend!

I recently went on a floor retreat for Sigma Third Long, or as we call it Phoenix. That's our theme, Beauty from Ashes, Isaiah 61:3. It was so amazing to be with 25 other young ladies with a passion for the Lord and a desire to love on one another. We went to one of our R.A.'s friend's house and, I kid you not, it was a mansion, complete with backyard pool house and volleyball court. All 26 of us stayed in the backyard oasis. It was absolutely amazing. We had fellowship and worship and just a grand ol' time.

Since many of you don't know a thing about Biola except that it does indeed start with a "B" not a "V", I'll let you in on some traditions.

Nationball. For Biolans that word strikes immeasurable joy and adrenaline into our systems. It's basically a huge dodge ball tournament including all the dorms on campus and the "OCC" off campus commuters. Usually Sigma (my dorm) doesn't stand a chance because we're one of the smallest dorms. But this year we made it all the way to the finals! We had to play against OCC and they had more than twice our population. It was a great night. I could go on and on about Nationball, but this is already a very long post and there is too much to tell.

I'll try and keep you updated on more events like Pumpkin Pie (the school wide talent show) and GYRAD (get your roommate a date). I really do want this blog to be more that once every two months!

Other than parties, friends, and crazy fun events, I've been joining a lot of different organizations around campus.

I got a job at the student-run school newspaper! I am on staff as a writer for the features section and I have four articles already published. I would love for you to go check them and the rest of the newspaper at chimes.biola.edu. If you would be so kind.

I'm also part of the poetry club here on campus, which is comforting to me. I love poetry, listening to it, writing it, watching spoken word (if you don't know what that is, I beg you to look it up) so getting to hear it every week keeps me a little bit calmer and helps fight the stress.

I'm on an Ultimate Frisbee team. random, right? But I'm on it and we are currently undefeated!

But what I love most about Biola, isn't the fun things we do, the friends I've made, or the career opportunities I'm getting. It's the Love of Christ that is so obviously here. Here, I am challenged to think about my faith, I am challenged to examine that all important question, "who am I?" and I am encouraged to find my identity in God.

It is wonderful here, and I apologize that this post was so long, but that's what happens when you're a freshman college student and you feel like you don't have any time to do anything. Than you all for bearing with me and I hope to talk to you soon!

P.S. How 'bout that government shutdown? (I had to throw that in to show that I'm not totally self-centered in my blogs...)

"I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, and all the friends I want to see." John Burroughs

-Gracie