Relationships

Next week marks my 2 month "anniversary" living the college life. Of the many lessons the Lord has been teaching me these past weeks, one of them has been about relationships. I wouldn't neceassarily call it teaching as I would 'hands-on review of what I was taught last year'. I've found myself being reminded of some difficult lessons I already learned about making and maintaining friendships. It's always nice when God helps you brush up on such basic principles as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, goodness, faithfullness, and self-control by putting people in your life to see if those 'principles' are present and active. After spending 2 months with the same people, everyone here on campus is finally getting into a routine/schedule and opening up more. You start to get to know people better, you draw closer together or further apart and as time wears on, you need more of the fruit of the Spirit in your relationships. Fatigue and stress start to bombard the bonds and ties of friendships, like little mice slowly gnawning await at the tiny spindles of an enormous rope. It's in those times of fatigue, stress, and hurt that we must approach each other from the 'Tree of Life' (Pastor Glenn - Bethel Temple 8/3/08 sermon) and chase out the 'foxes in our gardens' in order to preserve our relations.


I've seen not just mine but so many relationships (friends, roommates, etc.) that have come under strain and pressure these past few weeks. As the realization and stress of 'long-term commitement' sets in, everyone can allow their flesh to get in the way of their friendships. If you would like a specific prayer point for me, pray that I would have the strength to die to my flesh in the context of relationships and that I would better be the hands and feet of Jesus here at Southeastern.


Anyway, for those of you who don't know, I've determined that my roommate and I are practically polar opposites in everything; from musical tastes to ideologies to life styles to our viewpoints on Christian topics. I thought I'd include some photos from SEU in this blog!


My side of the room...




My roommate's side of the room...