Month: November 2012

Puzzle Pieces– thoughts from the Campus Connector

On November 7^th (the day after the election), I was riding the campus connector to St. Paul, still half asleep, checking Facebook on my phone. As I was glancing at random photos and reading my friends’ opinions on the results of the election, I came across a fellow LCM leader, Bryna’s, Facebook status. It read, “Finishing work in a deserted conference center at 2 a.m. man do I love reporting. :)” My first subconscious thought: oh my gosh that sounds absolutely awful.  I kept scrolling through, but found myself scrolling back up to Bryna’s status, re-reading it, noticing the smiley face, and thinking, “That’s actually really awesome that she’s so passionate about what she does. It’s a good thing she loves reporting, otherwise I wouldn’t know what the heck was going on.”

This is going to sound really really cheesy, but that’s okay with me. After re-reading Bryna’s status, I woke up immediately and got really excited about life, realizing that everyone that I would interact with that day has a passion and purpose—discovered or not, it’s there. Then, and here’s where it gets cheesy/BEAUTIFUL, I began to visualize the world as a giant puzzle, and God playing the role of the puzzle-maker. God’s just hanging out at his puzzle table, maybe listening to some Christmas music and eating some Oreos, putting together this puzzle of the world.  We, as humans, are the pieces of the puzzle. So now I’m visualizing myself and everyone around me as puzzle pieces… just running around searching for the place to ‘fit in’ perfectly. I really don’t like the idea of the phrase ‘fitting in’ because, for me, it comes with connotations of conforming to society. Fitting in, in this situation, is more along the lines of discovering your passion and feeling confident and motivated with where you’re at in life at a particular moment.

So, amidst all of this discerning, searching, and discovering our passions, there is often a feeling of loss and helplessness. “Everyone around me seems to have their futures all figured out, and I still have no idea what I’m supposed to be doing with my life.” While I can pretty much guarantee that no one feels 100% confident in what the future holds for them, in this situation, I’m picturing God getting distracted with all of the fun he’s having doing this huge puzzle, that he doesn’t notice the lost pieces that he dropped on the floor. Or maybe he’s an outside-of-the-puzzle-first kind of guy and your place is in the middle of the puzzle… your feeling of being lost and unsure is completely intentional on God’s part here.

In any case, after thinking about and building this idea for a few weeks, I’m comforted over and over again by the idea that God has a plan and a purpose for everyone. Everyone has a place in the great puzzle of the world. And even when we think we’ve found our place in the puzzle–or our passion in life, there’s always the possibility of God starting a new puzzle… rotating, changing, and moving the pieces around to challenge us and show us new possibilities.

So, may this blogpost provide some sort of comfort and relief for you as we continue our journey into not only finals week, but also the season of Advent—a season of waiting and preparation for big things to come 🙂

God’s Peace,

Kalysta Schlitter

Everything that has been done in the world has been done by hope.

I saw this quote, attributed to Martin Luther, on a bookmark when I was in graduate school.  Whether or not Martin Luther said it, I think it’s true.  Advent is approaching, and last night we talked about dreaming and hoping and holding your head up to keep watch for God’s New Day even, or especially, amidst the suffering that so many of us witness or experience.

I asked the students to write down their wildest and craziest hopes for themselves and/or for the world – forgetting any kind of practicalities, or any kind of responsibility they might feel towards actualizing this hope.  Advent, after all, is a time when we wait actively, dreaming, and trusting that God just might be up to something that is beyond our capacity to make happen.

These were some of their hopes, for themselves, their families and the world they will inherit (there were also a number of drawings that I won’t try to explain):

• that my parents will find peace between each other, and my brother realize how great he will be when he succeeds and that the fighting in darfur ends.
• environmental problems solved! eco tech everywhere! responsible people, open minded people, understanding people. global action to help those in need around the world.  willingness, patience to pursue peace – no exceptions. no war. for myself: happiness.
• that each and every individual may know love and peace and that they are loved just as they are.  may each of us know joy and be able to express their inner passions fully and deeply.  may the weary and lost and lonely find rest.  may the still small voice of the Lord resonate in each and every heart as a blessing unto others – friend and stranger.
• that all children of god will know only love – instead of hunger, hopelessness or pain; and that i may be able to use the gifts that God gave me to help meet the world’s need.
• peace. no more wars. people will solve problems by talking and listening.  terrorism will be no more.  the money going to modern warfare will go to the poor, the sick, and the needy.
• to tread lightly on this earth, to not leave a scar on the world, but to better our home through kindness to one another and the planet.  to find a moment of happiness within each day, a simple joy, a reason to smile.  to be less concerned with the idea of self and more concerned with the ideas of another.  for us to all find inner peace. to share our triumphs, hopes and joys.
• my dream for this world is for every single child to have a positive role model in their life…and for every child to have equal access to education.
• that everyone feels love.
• peace, cooperation and understanding between people of different creeds, religions and nationalities
• be content.  live in Jesus’ image.
• when all who hunger are fed
• respect for everyone and everything and through respect, we will have peace.
• to feel adequate.  to feel like i can let down my barriers and be loved.  to know that i won’t always succeed but to be okay with mediocre.
• a world of love and compassion; where life is respected, adored, and cared for; where no one struggles alone.  a live of purpose and above all love.  love of the people and by the people in my life, and love for what i am doing.
• inner peace for everyone.
• i dream that one day everyone in the world will see others, appreciate others, and learn from others.  i dream that one day people will open their eyes to the world around them and will learn that God’s love is constantly spreading.

Being Thankful

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, God has given me a lot to be thankful for.

This past week my mom spent two nights in the hospital.  She had a blood clot causing a lot of pain in her leg.  After going to the emergency room she had it confirmed that it was a clot in her leg.  The doctor also questioned her on her shortness of breath, which she attributed to being nervous about being the hospital.  However, they did an MRI on her chest to find a few smaller blood clots in her lungs. After, she was given blood thinners and was able to be home in two days.  Honestly, I am still overwhelmed, but incredibly thankful that they found the clots in her lungs.

She is a lot better now, I am keep thanking God that they found the clots in her lungs, things could have been much worse.

I am incredibly blessed to be able to be close enough to home that I had the opportunity to spend the day with her in the hospital with my family.

The response of my friends and family to what happen also reminded me of how blessed I am for the people God placed in my life. The concern from close friends meant the world to me.  I really believe that God puts bad or scary things in our life so we will realize how much else we have been given.

These situations also put into perspective what is most important in live and what can be left as it is.  Last week was incredible stressful but also reminded me of what I value and where I need to be grounded.   I have been caught up in so many other things that I feel like I just got distracted, and God can use anything to bring us back to where we belong.  Sadly, it took a visit to a hospital for me to finally feel like I needed to be re-grounded.

But I am thankful that God takes the time to let us back.

-Allison

Do Not Worry

I am a planner.  I love having a schedule planned out in advance, and knowing exactly what is going on.  Last year I had an internship lined up by mid November for the summer, and loved knowing that I had a plan for the summer.  Now here I am, a year later, ready to be done with classes and frequently thinking ahead to next summer and the excitement and uncertainty it is bringing.  If only I knew where I would be working, I could start figuring out where I’ll be living once my lease is up, and I could begin planning my life, right?  It’s so much easier to think about being done with classes and starting “real life” when there’s a stressful week with many tests and homeworks.  There’s just plenty to worry about, and I really start to get stressed out.  It’s times like this that I think about this passage:

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? … Therefore do not worry, saying, “What will we eat?” or “What will we drink?” or “What will we wear?” For … indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

 “So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”

It’s hard to know exactly how to apply it to my life, but I tried to teach it to my 6^th and 7^th grade pre-confirmation class this weekend.  I don’t know if they got as much out of it as I did, but I was reminded to stay focused on today.  If I’m constantly planning my next step, I’m never going to take the time to enjoy the fantastic opportunities and experiences I have right in front of me now.  I like to think that once I’m done with college, I will spend more time to enjoy the little things in life, but I’m realizing more and more (especially after a busy summer internship) that it’s something that I have to work harder to achieve, and it’s definitely a goal for the rest of the year: to enjoy the random conversations I have with my roommates, to go out to coffee with an old friend, and to not be constantly thinking about what there is to get done next.

-Sara Sneed