Riding the London Train

     Upon waking up, her first thought was, "I'm going to see London today." She had her outfit picked out for weeks.  The camera was charged with new batteries.  And journal and pen were in hand.  "What is this day going to teach me," she thought.  She got dressed and went downstairs to meet the group.  There was a quiet buzz of excitement in the air.  Everyone else in The Manor, besides the group traveling, was asleep, but attempts to be quiet were arduous, especially while making their plans for the day.  A couple of people were headed to Oxford.  Most were heading to London though.  Even the professor's kids were excited.
     "London"- a place known to her through some of her favorite books.  This is a place where Dickens, Austen, Shakespeare made themselves known.  it's where Lewis, Tolkien, and Chesterton sat in a pub.  They walked the streets, saw the Thames.  These people that she has spent so much time studying, actually lived there.  She has known their worlds through their words.  They loved London, and she was going to to see it.
     They made it to the train in Liss and waited on the platform for the train.  You don't quite realize how fast a train goes until it whizzes past you, swooshing and screaming - the wind nearly knocking you over.
     The pictures start.  She is determined to document every second of this day.  As she gets on their train, though, she starts to use that pen - writing on her way to London like so many of "the greats"... as if she was one of them.
     As she writes, more and more Brits get on the train.  A delightful melody of British accents and laughter fills the air - it's like magic.  As they pass homes, schools, and businesses in the countryside, she can see children dressed in school uniforms - drearily walking to school.  A few getting on the train cause her to think that they might be going to Narnia rather than London.  After all, it was children like these that inspired Peter, Susan, Edmond, and Lucy.
     The smell reminds her of the Amtrak train she rode when she was small.  It was like stale food and shoes or bologna, with a hint of disinfectant - yum. She thought of this and her grandfather, who worked on the Amtrak train and didn't even know she was in England.  The smell of her best friend beside her and the chap-stick she was putting on made for a much more pleasant memory.
     Excitement built up inside her over seeing the Abbey - Westminster Abbey that is. Two of her other best friends and one L'Abri sister was joining them on their trek across London.  There was so much to see and so little time to see it all.  Lia wants to go see a play; David wants to sit in a pub or coffee shop; Liv wants to see... well, everything; she just wants to see the Abbey, the palace, Covent Gardents, and half a dozen other things - no big deal.
     As she thinks about their "to-see" list, she notices that the trees are starting to disappear and the buildings are huge, railway tracks are everywhere, and there's a huge ferris wheel towers above a river.
     "Wait, is that... Yes, it is.  The London Eye," she thinks, as she bumps Liv's elbow and points.
     "Look, Liv! It's the Eye!"
     They pull into a warehouse looking structure; there are stopped trains all over the place, and a blue sign states that we have arrived at Waterloo.  They had officially arrived in London.

Moving on and Growing Up

  Growing-up is not necessarily a new concept to me at this point in my life.  In fact, it's been one of the major focuses of my life in the last four years: Senior in high school to Senior in College.  You'd think I'd get used to the idea.
  2014 is going to be a big year for me: I graduate from college; I'm going to live in Europe for 3 months; I'm moving out of my parents' home and creating one of my own.  All this means that this is the last holiday season that I'll be considered one of the children / semi-adults.  Next year, I'll pick from the gift bag of names to see who I'll be buying a gift for in my family.  Next year, I won't have to read a book for WWII on a holiday.  Next year, I won't wake up in my parents' house on Thanksgiving as someone who lives there, but as their guest.
  What makes this such a sobering thought?  Today - Black Friday - is my favorite day of the year.  My family doesn't go shopping; we aren't big fans of the murderous masses.  We have a tradition on Black Friday.  We wake-up and eat Thanksgiving leftovers for breakfast and lunch. Mom makes maceroni-and-cheese for dinner.  In the afternoon, though, our house transforms.  It turns into a Christmas village - no joke.  We pull out all of the Christmas decorations and decorate the house.  My job is putting the tree together.  We play Christmas music, sing-a-long, and light up the house.  It's magical.
  After we finish decorating, we watch Christmas movies and eat pie.  It really is my favorite day of the year.  This day is spent with my family.  We have fun together, always, on this day,
  Something has made me a little sad though.  My mom says to me this morning: "I guess, after this, you guys will still have to come over for this.  With your husbands/ wife (for Daniel) and kids, even if we have to do Thanksgiving on Friday because you're with the in-laws.  You'll have to come decorate with me, watch Christmas movies, and eat pie." That was when I really realized it.  We will be creating a new normal after this year.
  I'm entering this holiday season with a strong sense of gratitude, sadness, and anticipation.  Gratitude to my parents for creating an environment that makes me a little sad to leave.  Gratitude to my parents for instilling in me a sense of tradition - tradition that I hold on to and cherish.  And gratitude to God for teaching me and walking with me as I grow up.  Anticipation what the next year is going to hold: 3 months in Europe (!!!), a job (eh...), and my own apartment (!!!).  Oh, and that thing that happens in May.... something about a degree.
  So to all of you who bless me by reading my blog: Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas! I am blessed immeasurably; thanks to all of you for being part of my many blessings.

The Adventure and Romance Agency

We should all indulge in our imaginations today and perhaps entertain an idea that Chesterton proposes:

"The adventure and Romance Agency has been started to meet a great modern desire.  On every side, in conversation and in literature, we hear of the desire for a larger theatre of events for something to waylay us and lead us splendidly astray.  Now the man who feels this desire for a varied life pays a yearly or quarterly sum to the Adventure and Romance Agency; in return, the Adventure and Romance Agency undertakes to surround him with startling and weird events.  As a man is leaving his front door, an excited sweet approaches him and assures him of a plot against his life; he gets into a cab, and is driven to an opium den; he receives a mysterious telegram or a dramatic visit, and is immediately in a vortex of incidents." 

From a short story called "The Tremendous Adventure of Major Brown" in a collection called "The Club of Queer Trades."

Stories and my Thesis

As some of you may have grasped by the title of my blog, stories are a pretty big part of my life.  I have a tendency to think of life in story form.  While this is helpful as an English major, I've come to discover that not everyone views life in this way.  However, the importance of stories in my life, and others, has influenced the way in which I read literature.  So I decided to write my thesis on the power of stories.
I decided that I'd let you guys read part of it.  Give me some feedback, if you want. Thanks for reading!

I have always loved to read. Ever since my mom taught me how, I have loved every second of it. I have loved the adventure, the new places, the magic, the romance, the excitement. I have loved what stories taught me about people, what they have taught me about life, love, and the pursuit of something so much bigger than myself. I have always loved to read.
     Something happened when I was in sixth grade that changed reading for me. I read The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale. This book changed my life. This story is about a princess who gets overtaken by her lady-in-waiting whilst they are on their way to meet her new groom. The princess then goes on a journey of self-discovery and falling in love with a man, who (spoiler alert) ends up being the prince anyway. In the end, everything is set right and the prince and princess (the real one) get married and live happily ever after. While this story sounds just like any other fairy tale, it did not teach me an ordinary fairy tale-type lesson. This princess believed very strongly in the power of language and stories. She believed that we, as people, can communicate so much better though stories. She believed that all of the elements, even the animals, all communicate through stories somehow. These stories were powerful for her. All of the sudden, I knew why I loved to read. It was not because fantastical stories whisked me away from my real life. It was not because I loved stories about true love and magic. I loved to read because there was power in the stories that I was reading. Suddenly, reading (and even writing) took on a whole new meaning. I began to read with the intention of learning something, rather than just reading for fun, and my eyes were opened to a whole new world of possibilities.
Not everybody agrees that stories influence readers in a positive way. Many people find reading stories extremely boring or inconsequential to their lives. Others, however, have seen stories shape every area of their lives.
     This eventually carried on into other aspects of my life, particularly my spiritual life. Lewis, Tolkien, and Chesterton believe so very strongly that Christian must open their eyes to the unimaginable. Christians need to be able to feel wonder and indulge in delight. The psalmist certainly indulged in his delight in the Lord. The poet of Song of Solomon certainly delighted in his wife. Delight is something that God encourages in us. Wonder and imagination and delight are an integral part of being a Christian. God is a mystery and therefore we must use our imaginations to wonder about what he must be like, delighting in the fact that we always have something new to learn and in the fact that he loves us getting to know him better. He chose to teach us about himself through a story, The Bible. As Christians, we cannot ignore this fact. Stories are meant to shape us. We talk about history being His-story, because all of history has his name written on it. Maybe we need to start looking at all stories that way. Maybe we need to start noticing how Christ has written himself over every part of Creation. 

      Why are stories important? Why do they matter? That's why. They matter because they're how Jehovah chose to communicate with us. They matter because they are how we communicate with each other. Fictional stories teach us about wonder and imagination. Fictional stories teach us about delight. A friend recently asked me why stories should matter to adults who have three children under the age of five and are working full time jobs. My answer? Because stories remind us that there is hope in this world. Stories remind us that there could always be something better. Stories take us away and help us to appreciate what we have in front of us. Stories are powerful.

Operation Ireland

Let me tell all of you wonderful readers about something really exciting- the Lord is actually giving me a little bit of insight into my future.  Now for some of you, this won't be a big deal- those of you who are older and wiser, and know that it all works out in the end.  For those of us who are College seniors- news of having plans is an exciting thing, and sometimes unheard of.

I get to go to Ireland.  Not only do I get to go to Ireland, but I get to serve with a fantastic team that partners with Operation Mobilization.  This opportunity is so cool.  I was a little nervous about where I was going to get placed, but the Lord has shown himself sovereign in my life (as usual).  One of these days I'll remember that he knows me, my desires, and what I need so much better than I ever will.

Why is it so cool? Well, you see, my friends, I get to write in Ireland.  Yep, I'm going to write about one chapter of the Church there.  I get to tell stories about the people that I meet and the ministries that OM: Ireland is involved in.

Just a couple of weeks ago, I was talking to a good friend of mine about how if I could do anything in the entire world, I would love to write for the church.  I'd love to represent part of the Church through my writing - preferable in an international setting (or not in America).  Because of this opportunity, I get to do that for 2 1/2 months.  The Lord has surely blessed me immeasurably.

I have to raise money for this opportunity, which is extremely nerve racking.  The Lord and I like to argue about my dependence on him for anything financial.  We struggle every semester when it's time to pay my school bill.  I freak out, and he always provides. Raising $4000 for this intimidates me a lot, but I know that if he really wants me to do this, it'll happen.

Anyways, if any of you want to get involved, please let me know.  Every little bit helps.  If you want to e-mail me your address so I can send you a letter, e-mail me here: kelsten7837@bryan.edu.  Or you can like my Facebook page "Help Krista Go to Ireland."

I'll be keeping you all updated on everything that is going on with this. I get to take a class where we study missions and evangelism - so excited.  I'll probably write about my experiences in the class pretty regularly.

You guys have a lovely day!

How do we enter battle?

I was introduced to Ann Voskamp earlier this semester due to the Catalyst Conference and a very wise women in the Bryan library who told me to make sure I went to her session.  It's been a long time since I have been able to say that a session changed the way in which I looked at life.  Granted, it wasn't the session or even Ann Voskamp that changed my perspective; it was definitely God. However, sitting in that session was something I'll never forget.  And now I remember to always enter into thanksgiving before I enter the battle.

"We forget to pause before we enter into our Lord of the Rings epic battle." Ann Voskamp's discussion on fighting these battles spoke straight to my tired and weary battling heart.  She tells the story of this woman whose child has just 'come out;' she has two children who are handicapped, and one child doing drugs.  Oh, and her husband left her.  Ann is sitting next to this woman as she knit's Ann rainbow socks.  This woman tells Ann that she must wear the socks so that she (Ann) remembers to stand on God's promises every single day.  This woman fights a battle for her children's souls and for their lives.  she fights a battle for her own life.  She fights a battle not to be discouraged.  She says that when all else fails, she remembers to be thankful for every day God gives her.  She pauses to thank God before she enters the battle.
"Nothing overwhelms us like God's love overtakes us." The audience's response to this is silence.  Nothing overwhelms us like God's love overtakes us. The profundity of this statement is incredible.  Really let it sink in.  I confess that I have allowed this world to overwhelm me, rather than allowing God's love to overtake me.  How many battles do we lose just because of this.  she says that the reason why so many leaders get burned out is not because of all they have to do.  Leaders get burned out because they allow themselves to become overwhelmed rather than overtaken.  Nothing overwhelms us like God's love overtakes us.  I am always overwhelmed.  Her solution: to pause, to be grateful, to send out the choir before the infantry.
2 Chronicles 20 is the story of Jehosophat going into battle.  In the face of an overwhelming battle, he paused.  He sends out the choir, and he, as the leader, gives thanks to the LORD.  When we give thanks, we tap into our reservoir of joy.  Joy is the victory.  Stopping to give thanks inserts joy into the battle.  Joy is our game changer.
Our identity with Christ is directly related to our intimacy with Christ.  Why do believers seem to search and search for "calling" to give them identity?  Because they have no identity, no intimacy with Christ.  They have to get that next John Piper or free Francis Chan book.  Reading it and/ or carrying it around makes them look extremely spiritual.  No matter how many books you read or Bible verses you memorize, your identity will be non-existent until you have intimacy with Christ.  Intimacy with Christ will give us a desire to pause before the battle.  Intimacy reminds us of our need to be with Him.  Intimacy reminds us that we cannot breathe without Him.  Intimacy begs us to pause- it is the natural response to being so close and so connected with the God of the universe.  If we continue to push, we will continue to forget.  We will forget to pause.  We will forget to give thanks.  We will forget our identity, our intimacy, God's love.  We must stop pushing.  It is so much more important to remember than it is to accomplish.
We must be present in his presence.  We can either give God thanks or we can give him a good impression.  A good impression is simply religion.  Religion is what starts wars.  Religion gives us a sense of entitlement.  Religion doesn't have anything to do with God.  When we enter into the LORD's presence before the battle, we let God know who he is and then we know who we are. <<Go back and read that sentence again<< God is good and we are loved.  This is relational.  When we really understand this, God becomes a relational being rather than a religion being.  We were created to give God glory.  We give him glory by giving him thanks.  Giving thanks wins battles.  If Satan continues to steal our joy, if our flesh continues to overwhelm us, of course we lose the battle.  If the enemy can steal our joy then he can steal our strength.  Our joy and our intimacy with Christ is directly related to our strength, which we cannot win the battle without.  Why?  Why would we rather strive so hard for Christ rather than be satisfied with him?  The Christ-life is not about getting God to love me, it's about thanking Him and letting Him love us. So we strive and work and sweat and cry over, well, everything because we think that we have to earn his love.  But he already loves us.  He already desires to be in relationship with us.  How much do we really let Jesus love us every day?
If we have not received God's love today, we cannot pour out God's love to others.  My job is to pour out God's love to other people.  It is literally what I get paid to do.  I pour and I pour and keep pouring until there is nothing left in me.  I have been exhausted in my attempt to do God's will by pouring out his love onto others.  I forget to pause though.  I forget to truly let him fill me back up.  I say that I am working on building intimacy with Christ- and maybe I am.  But how often do i forget to let him fill me all the way up.  Do I even give him the time to do that?
"Stop counting on your future and start counting on your Christ." I wonder how much smoother our lives would be if  this is what we did.  We need to stop planning our own futures.  God already has it planned, so coming up with our own plans is going to do anything super helpful for us.  When we are intimate with him, when we are pausing, he gives us the desires of our hearts- not in that he gives us what he wants but that he changes our desires to his desires and then those desires are fulfilled.  "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not onto your own understanding, but in all your ways submit to him, and he will direct your paths." We need to start depending on our Lord instead of on ourselves.  Our futures are his battles after all.

What is Beauty?

I wrote this for Bryan College's Chapel Blog earlier this semester. Andy Norquist, a Christian artist, spoke to us on beauty and its significance.

Friday was a beautiful day. The weather was perfect.  Everyone that I talked to had a smile on their face.  It might have had something to do with the weekend, but even a professor commented that the campus seemed… happy.

Beauty is often what brings us happiness.   We see a FABULOUS movie, go on a great date, drink a delicious cup of coffee, read something that is inspiring, see an outstanding piece of artwork, notice someone's smile, watch the sunset. These things make us happy.  But what makes them beautiful to us?

Andy Norquist brought our attention to the fact that our God is terrifyingly beautiful- as in awe-inspiring, drop-down-on-my-knees and worship kind of beautiful.  It's in the moments when I realize that God is with me that I actually recognize why it is that He is beautiful. Why is He beautiful?

He gave us the Gospel- himself.  The fact that God, this all-powerful, all-knowing, all-present being, gave his son, the literal, physical, very real person of Jesus Christ to die for all of my filth, brokenness and shame.  And it doesn't stop there.  This Jesus, God in human flesh, came back to life.  Because of this, I, an imperfect person, get to be in relationship with a perfect God.  In fact, he lives inside of me.  WOAH. That story, that reality is beautiful. I know that because of this reality when God looks at me, he sees beauty; he does not see my brokenness, shame, or loss.

I have been wondering since that chapel what our lives would look like if we lived in the reality that because God is beautiful, we, then, are beautiful- because we are in him.  I wonder how many lives would be changed just with the realization that people are worth something so much more, simply because our Creator finds us beautiful.  How would we treat people?  How would we go about our day?  How would we approach His Word?  How would we approach those who don't recognize their beauty in Christ or even more devastating, those who don't know that there is beauty in this life with Christ?

My challenge would be that we take on this task: that we allow God to empower us to empower other people; that we would encourage others to seek Christ with everything within them so that they might recognize the beauty and magnificence that comes with his presence in our lives.

If you would like to read more about Bryan College's chapel services, go here: http://bcchapel.squarespace.com/blog/