College – Page 3 – Thoughts from Blue Eyes

Life as Collective

“Sometimes, when I get tired of campus, I go and sit with a homeless woman who lives down on State Street. I buy her coffee and keep her company until I’m ready to come back.”

Liz from Indiana looked earnestly at me as I blinked and smiled. She’s short, wears big glasses, and has fiery red hair with a cute scarf around her neck, but you would never guess that she grew up in rough inner-Indy, knows poverty well, and feels more at home on the South Side than on our chirpy, middle-class Bible school campus. For her, this is culture shock.

I find it fascinating.

Despite our backstories and contexts, Christ has brought us into the Kingdom of Light (Col. 1:13). Christ has redeemed us all. Christ lives in us.

I find it fascinating.

Despite our mixed bags of past and present, Jesus has strangely united us. This bizarre concoction that is the Body

Life as CollectiveKaitlyn2019-10-08T02:29:20+00:00

Life as Love

My heart is full. Three of my best friends and I adventured this afternoon to a busy coffee shop for espresso and chocolate hazelnut cookies in the bitter cold of Valentine’s Day. Chicago blustered with roses, Eskimos in sleeping bag coats, and Hallmark cards.

The talk was replenishing — oh, the chatter and encouragement of sweet friends who have not been together since September. True, even though we all live on the same dorm floor and spend time individually one-on-one, the last time we managed our schedules to overlap was for Hannah the Traveler’s birthday last fall.

We are so different, yet there are strands of similarities; the Spirit has bound us in our creativity, hearts for the Lord, and passion for people. The love that joins us is unearthly, because we are incapable of loving out of ourselves and loving those so unlike us. Moments like these underscore the depth of

Life as LoveKaitlyn2015-02-15T01:11:52+00:00

Life as Stage

I can’t believe this past week.

Working a major conference into crazy overtime has left me numb and full. It’s like I just ate a huge gourmet meal without having time to take a nap. Big-name speakers, Bible teaching, wearing dress clothes for 16 hours….and then I ran away to visit my mom in the suburbs, which was a nice relief. I loved spending sweet time with my coworkers and getting to know the rest of the event staff better.

Working as an assistant event coordinator has been an incredible blessing. Doing administrative tasks at my desk, emailing and printing little pieces of paper, and then showing up to rope off sections of the auditorium three hours before everyone gets there…..at times it’s difficult to see the point. Yet, when 3,000 people show up to hear Rend Collective lead worship music, a grateful and joyful smile overtakes my face when I realize that

Life as StageKaitlyn2015-02-09T05:14:11+00:00

Starting

Tomorrow begins another semester.

Strange to think that it’s already been a year and a half since beginning this adventure called Bible college. I’m eager to see what the Lord has in store, but I also have reservations, because hey, it’s always difficult to start fresh. Granted, the roommate, friends, floor, and environment are the same, but there are big changes in the air. New classes, new trials, new news, the world turns and the beat goes on.

Starting can be scary or good, depending on who you are and where you’re at: starting a new marriage, starting chemotherapy, starting to move in, starting to forgive, starting to put away the old boxes of photos and move on, starting to walk in Christ, starting to have a stroke. Starting.

Part of Hebrews (class I’m taking this semester, which I’m pumped about) 12:1 states this: “And let us run with perseverance the race marked

StartingKaitlyn2015-01-12T05:41:21+00:00