Misc thoughts from inside...

Things have been a little crazy to say the least. We're in the midst of a new semester and tackling 1 Peter, I think a very appropriate letter to read for students at UT. I'm in and out of a funk over this Hurricane Ike thing. It's brought back a lot of memories from Katrina, and I've found that I'm struggling with a lot of emotions, and I wasn't even affected by it. I'm sad for all the people that have lost so much and now have nothing. I'm frustrated that so many people stayed behind and didn't get out when they had the chance. I'm sad and frustrated that so many had no friends or family to escape to, and I'm wondering why it seems like FEMA is not doing what it's supposed to do, why we can't get people food and water and tents. As you can tell, I'm all over the map with this stuff.

Anyway, one of the things that we're talking about from 1 Peter is about hope, and how we've been born again into a living hope. It's one thing to have hope when things are going well, when the stock market isn't plunging everyday, when there are no storms and no wars happening, when my little world is hitting on all cylinders. It's quite another to have hope when things are difficult, when times are hard, and nothing seems to be working.

I'm thankful for some conversations I've had lately with students about this very thing, about connecting with God and trusting that our faith in Him is real. I'm thankful for a God that's big enough to handle any question, and in the midst of hard times has promised to never leave us or forsake us. And I'm thankful for a community like LFC where we can be real with one another, we can have good and bad times, we can sing and eat and pray and watch football, where in the midst of life we can know that we're together.

And one last thing...I miss my friend Jason.