It's already time to reflect on my YAV year?!

Today was YAV Sunday at 2PC, so in addition to putting together the liturgy and picking the music for the morning, Mary Kate and I shared some reflections during the sermon time. Below is what I said, more or less. Some of it's been written on this blog before, some of it's new. (If you've been reading this blog or talking to me with any regularity over the past year you can probably just skip the first paragraph.) All in all I think this morning went really well...and I really don't think I'm ready to leave in two weeks.

For those of you that like listening more than reading, you can hear our sermon here. To just read my half:

For those of you that are visiting, or who I may not have had the chance to meet, my name is Allison and I am one of the Young Adult Volunteers (or YAVs) that has spent the past 10.5 months living in what is lovingly known as “the Toolshed,” just on the other side of the playground. In addition to worshiping here at Second and getting to know the fantastic city that is Nashville, TN, I’ve spent my time this year working for the Presbyterian Student Fellowship at Vanderbilt and Belmont Universities. PSF, as it’s also known, strives to give students an opportunity to experience Christian community through weekly worship services, as well as through mission experiences and fellowship events. It’s been a whirlwind adventure of sorts, learning the in’s and out’s of campus ministry. Not having been involved in any religious groups during my time as a student at Furman University, I jumped rather blindly into a year of setting up projectors and tables of name tags, of going to movie nights, tie dying, hosting Room In the Inn, doing flood relief work here in Nashville and drinking countless cups of coffee. Throw into that mix a handful of other opportunities, like speaking at Presbytery, preaching at PSF, and attending a gathering of the synod’s campus ministers. All of those things and a host of others have been the puzzle pieces of my year as a YAV. 

One of those other pieces of the PSF puzzle was spending most Tuesdays serving lunch for Isaiah 58, which is a part of Belmont Church’s outreach to Nashville’s homeless population. I started going every week as a PSF missions event, in hopes that students would join me. Sometimes one or two actually would, other times it was just me, but either way it was always a great part of my day. One Tuesday back in the fall, I met a woman who was also volunteering. In the process of getting ready to serve the meal for the day, as we were pouring water and tea, she said: "You know, this is what we can do for others. We're pouring ourselves out, pouring God's love out." 

And there it was. All that meaning crammed into a few glasses of ice water and sweet tea. I couldn’t help but wonder, during the many times I’ve thought of that conversation since it happened, what it means exactly to pour oneself out. To pour God’s love out. 

I think it can often show up in subtle acts of kindness and caring, and in things that may not seem as blatantly faithful as Sunday school or a Bible study.

As part of our weekly worship at PSF this year, once each month we would replace the sermon with a different type of spiritual practice. One of the last spiritual practices of the year was Sabbath. On that particular Tuesday evening, we gave students the opportunity to do one of several activities, from walking in Centennial park to baking cookies, to watching an episode of Modern Family. After that week at PSF, several students expressed their thanks for the space and time in which to experience some Sabbath. Sabbath, is, I think, a spiritual practice that is often overlooked, especially in college as exam season looms just over the horizon. So perhaps things as simple as some chocolate chip cookie dough and a walk around the Parthenon can be an outpouring of God’s love.

The text from Romans for this morning talks about the members of creation in this period of anticipation. Waiting for freedom from bondage and waiting to be adopted into this family made up of the children of God. It says “and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, and the redemption of our bodies. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” 

“We, ourselves who have the first fruits of the Spirit.”

The fruits are already there, it’s just that, in the process of this adoption, we can figure out how to translate those inward fruits into our outward lives. I read in one interpretation of this scripture, that as we are adopted as children of God we gain an entirely new identity. And much like the peace of Christ that we shared earlier this morning, these new identities of ours are not easy, insignificant, or half-hearted. 

They also probably aren’t obvious. So patiently we wait, going about our lives trying to pour out examples of God’s love, in whatever form that happens to take. We can’t always see the results of our efforts, but we try anyway, we hope, and we wait. It’s not always easy but here we are, an assortment of the children of God, living in hopeful anticipation that this ever-changing new identity will form our lives and maybe the lives of others.

One interesting part about being a YAV in campus ministry, is that come mid-May,  a good 2.5 months before the end of our YAV year, the school year ends and the vast majority of our students leave for summer break. While I’ve managed to have several coffee and frozen yogurt appointments since the end of the school year, this summer I was given two weeks to do greater service the the church, one of which I spent as a small group leader at Montreat Conference Center’s high school youth conference. During youth conference high schoolers from all of the country converge at Montreat for a week of energizers, keynotes, worship, and small group discussions. For a total of three hours each day conferees meet in small groups to process the morning’s keynote, play some games, and further explore the day’s scriptures. Having never been to a youth conference before, I’d be lying if I said I was totally confident going into my first couple small group sessions. And for most of the week, the feedback I’d received about how our small group was going was pretty much limited to things like “that activity was pretty fun” or “really? another name game?” It seemed like things were going well though, and the conversations had been great. Each time we gathered--25 high schoolers, one adult chaperone and me--the conversations grew more meaningful, and I was amazed by the willingness of most of my group to share their personal thoughts and experiences. From youth who go to church every week by themselves because their families just aren’t into it, to children of church leaders who aren’t sure they even like going to church in the first place, there were all sorts of faith journeys represented. During our last meeting together, we ended our week by writing affirmations on a piece of paper for each member of our small group. After a group picture and some frisbee throwing, small group number 53 disbanded and went our separate ways, and it wasn’t until later that I got around to reading my piece of paper. But when I did, four simple words stopped me in my tracks. 

There I stood on the last day of week 2 of the Montreat Youth Conference, and in teal Crayola marker staring up at me from the page was the assurance that I had been looking for. Just four words.

“God pours through you.” 

To read that these youth--or at least one of them--had experienced God in our time together was truly a blessing. 

My brother asked me on the phone the other day to sum up my year in six words. I quickly told him that was impossible. Maybe with a substantial amount of thought I could do it, but I haven’t attempted to tackle that yet. I remember being at YAV orientation at the beginning of this year, reading the YAV slogan--A year of service for a lifetime of change. I didn’t really doubt the truth of that phrase, but I was eager to see the ways in which I would be changed this year. 

Here I faced the challenge of being farther away from my friends and family than ever before, but I gained self-assuredness and a handful of friendships that will, I hope, be life-long. I faced the challenge of a job that I was entirely unfamiliar with, but gained a year’s worth of priceless experience and relationships. I faced the challenge of brown recluse spiders, and gained the ability to be fine with all of those non-poisonous bugs that bothered me before. The list goes on, but in all seriousness I think it’s safe to say that those YAV tshirts and water bottles are right on--this one year of service has certainly changed my life.

Next year I will continue my journey as a YAV, this time working in a hospital chaplains department in New Orleans. Some challenges will stay the same, some will be added--being even further away from those friends and family, fundraising all over again, having a completely different job...in their differences though, I can only hope that these challenges will be equally rewarding. 

And I want you all to know, in case you haven’t been told or even if you have, that God pours through you. Through this congregation, through your welcoming Mary Kate and I into your community, and through all of the things that each of you does every day.  God pours through you.

The response and support we got after the service was really heartwarming, and made me even more thankful to have been a part of 2PC this year. It seems a little bit crazy that it's the end of the year already, and that two weeks from now I won't be a Nashville YAV anymore. Granted, I'm super excited about getting a totally new YAV experience in New Orleans, but I don't feel like I'm quite ready to give up Nashville yet. But here I go, jumping off the Nashville cliff into another unknown...we'll just see what happens! 


I read a Bible verse on camp's Facebook page (don't judge) yesterday that I feel like speaks to the YAV experience quite well. I'll leave you with that...

‎You are a letter from Christ written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

2 Cor. 3:3

Love, 

Allison

Living In Hope

This past Sunday was a big day for the PC(USA), friends. On Sunday Amendment 10-A officially went into effect (along with another amendment changing denomination's Form of Government). I've written about 10-A before, but in case you missed it, check out this post for some links to basic info and other people's thoughts. Also as I've mentioned before, 2PC is a More Light congregation so naturally folks were pretty excited on Sunday. The sermon, given by two people with strong ties to 2PC and 10-A, was absolutely wonderful, and full of emotion and courage. You can listen to it here if you're interested.

There was a lot of talk about how we need to get rid of the barriers we humans have built up--that those barriers were destroyed when a certain friend of ours came along (you may have heard of him...went by the name of Jesus?). And I couldn't agree more. I mean, whatever higher power you believe in (or don't believe in), I just don't think we're all meant to be separated and hating on each other. I was struck by the beauty of communion on this particular Sunday morning, and yet again by how beautiful a thing a community like Second can be.

Maybe everybody in the room isn't sure how they feel about 10-A, or how they feel about whatever other issue is at the forefront of discussion. Maybe everybody in the room is struggling with different things--money, family, what the heck they'll be doing a year from now...

Maybe everybody in the room has a chance every Sunday morning for all of those things to not matter.

You might as well just take the maybe out of that last sentence. Here we are this collection of people, young and old, employed and jobless, strong in our faith or questioning. But it doesn't matter. Come communion time, just forget those divisions and go on up there and get yourself some bread of life!

At some point during the service we heard the phrase "live in hope." I'd be lying if I said I could remember where (sermon, a prayer...who knows. Sorry!). But those words stuck with me. Sitting there in the pew I thought about the difference between what it might mean to be hopeful, and what it might mean to live in hope. I s'pose we can be hopeful without really making that much of a commitment. I'm hopeful that test turns out well, I'm hopeful that boy likes me...whatever it is. You hope it works out, but maybe it's not the end of the world if it doesn't.

But to live in hope! To give your whole life to being hopeful. That is something different. To constantly be hoping for a more loving world, to be hoping that things will get better, to be hoping that every single person can find a place where they are loved and accepted for being just who they are, whether that's in a church community or elsewhere.

So, I think I'll try and live in hope, friends. I'm living in hope that God will continue to move through the YAV program, through 2PC, through the greater church and through the world. Not sayin' I'll be perfect at it. But if anything's worth a little effort I figure this is.

Love,
Allison

PS- Apparently, as I've been informed, "Live In Hope" was the last hymn of the morning.

Being Together

This morning was Confirmation Sunday at 2PC. Depsite the fact that don't actually know any of the confirmands personally, it got me thinking. Thinking about how lovely church communities are, how important they are, and how powerful they are. 


I feel like I should say first, though, that I am aware of how truly lucky I am to have been a part of congregations that I am comfortable in and that love and accept me. I know that's not always the case, and that different people have different experiences and views on going to church. But here are my thoughts...


This morning there was a part of the confirmation part of the service during which the confirmands spread out down the aisles, and the congregation laid hands on them to pray for them and welcome them into the church as members. Now...laying on of hands can be awkward. At least I think so. But that could be because I rarely like being the center of attention. I can also say, though, that I think to be prayed for is an incredibly meaningful thing, and the added aspect of physical contact can make it even more special. There we were, a whole congregation connecting literally and figuratively to 2PC's newest members.

At one of the last PSF worship services of the year, there was a commissioning service for a student who will be a YAV in Guatemala next year (her blog is here...check it out come fall!), and for me (as I'm heading to New Orleans in August). As we knelt facing the front of the chapel, the other students that were there walked up and put their hands on us (or on someone whose hands were on us), and Jennifer said a prayer for our upcoming journeys.

Now, I met these people in early September. That's not all that long to have known them, but if we're going to be honest here I almost cried during that prayer. (Almost.) It was so wonderful and a little overwhelming the amount of support I felt just from our modest little Tuesday night church of college students.

Who knows if this morning's confirmands had the same powerful experience, but I sure hope they did.

I just think it has given me so much joy to be part of these loving communities, that I hope everybody else out there can find one (or a couple) too. And I mean maybe that doesn't even mean church church. Sure PSF and camp don't have their own church buildings but they sure as heck are just as meaningful to me. And I'm not saying it doesn't count unless a whole congregation lays their hands on you. I just think Jesus was serious when he talked about being together.

 For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.

(Matthew 18:20)

Love,

Allison

Jesus was a cool dude...

Well, I feel rather hypocritical that I blogged about not forgetting the hard stuff that happens during Holy Week and only said a few things about Good Friday. But, I'd feel weird writing about Good Friday now, since it's already Easter. I'll just have to promise a Good Friday blog next year.

This Easter has been interesting. Good, but strange because for the first time in my life, I am not with my family today. I mean, I am, in a way, since I think at this point I consider some people here a family of sorts. But you know what I mean. But like I said, it has indeed been good. Today started with a "sunrise" service down at Room In the Inn's Campus for Human Development. (I use the quotation marks only because by the time the service started at 7am the sun was already up.) 2PC co-sponsored it, so there were a lot of familiar faces. The wonderful thing though is that there were unfamiliar ones too. A good number of Room In the Inn participants were there along with folks from 2PC and other Nashville churches. It was such a wonderful mix of people, dressed in everything from dresses and ties to whatever clothes a person had happened to find at a donation center. I noticed the communion table too, which as it seemed sort paralleled the crowd that was there. The pretty standard ceramic chalice and table cloth, next to the plastic pitcher of grape juice from the kitchen, and the bread still in the foil plate it came on. It all went together quite beautifully if you ask me.

After helping serve breakfast to some participants after the service, Mary Kate and I headed back to 2PC for breakfast! Though we didn't actually contribute anything ourselves, it was technically a potluck so there was quite the array of delicious things. Drank some coffee, filled our bellies and after a quick trip to Vandy to pick up a student I was back for the 11am service. I forgot how crazy church is on Easter. New vocab word I learned today: Chreasters. Pronounced like...kreester. C&E's. Christmas/Easter people. It's kind of wonderful. Regular Sundays are lovely enough, but to have people spilling out of the sanctuary? Kiiiind of exciting. And everybody's all happy and excited and the choir busts out the happiest parts of their repertoires. I'm not one to talk outwardly about Jesus all the time, mainly because I don't want it to seem like I'm trying to shove Christianity down anybody's throat. But friends, at least for me, this is what it's all about. Like...no wonder everybody's so happy on Easter. No wonder I couldn't help but smile during most of the service(s) this morning. To know that no matter how much we mess up, how much we struggle, things will be ok and we will be loved? That is awesome. And I don't mean awesome like "oh dude that tie dye is awesome." (Though that statement is totally legit.) I mean that I am in awe of how wonderful that that is.

We spent dinner at Mary Kate's 2PC adoptive family's house, and it was just really lovely to get some home cooked food and hang out in a real living room with a family. Granted it obviously wasn't my house, but it was nice, to say the least, to be in some sort of pleasant homey setting on Easter. All in all a joyful day indeed.

All sortsa Easter Love,
Allison

My adoptive 2PC mom kindly dedicated a lily in the sanctuary to me.
Now the Toolshed has a real live plant for decoration!

P.S. - The title of this post is inspired by a camp song called "Jesus Was a Cool Dude." Sing it to the tune of "We Will Rock You." And ideally stomp and clap just like the real song...

Jesus was a cool dude

Forty days with no food

He wrote the golden rule

And that's okay

He's got blood on His face

Thanks for the grace 

Spreadin' His love all over the place 

Singin' we will, we will praise Him (whoop!) [the whoops are important!]

Praise Him (whoop!)  

We will, we will praise Him (whoop!)

Praise Him (whoop!) 

...yeah. You're welcome for that. Happy Easter, friends.

The Meaning of Maundy

Maybe you all know the definition of the word maundy already. But since for some reason I feel totally comfortable sharing things here on the internet, I'm telling you that I sat at 2PC tonight halfway through the Maundy Thursday service realizing that I had no idea what the word actually means. I mean I know that Maundy Thursday commemorates the Last Supper (which led to the communion we celebrate today, every first Sunday, and the occasional other church holiday), and is also the origin of foot washing. Well, speaking of foot washing...

maund·y

[mawn-dee] 

–noun

1.

the ceremony of washing the feet of the poor, especiallycommemorating Jesus' washing of His disciples' feet onMaundy Thursday.

I've heard of foot washing before, and foot washing was part of the last staff devo of the summer at camp both years I worked there. But I don't know that I actually realized the real connection between foot washing and Maundy Thursday. I mean for goodness' sake, it's the definition! If you're unfamiliar with foot washing, there's a handy dandy link to the Wikipedia article on it in my last post. I think I never really made the connection because, at least as far as I can recall, I don't think I've ever been to a Maundy Thursday service that involved foot washing, until this year. The idea though is that Jesus ends up turning the tables on his friends, his disciples, and he washes their feet. Usually a job for servants, this caused quite the stir (which it turns out was not an unusual reaction to Jesus' actions). The point though, is that we are all called to be humble servants. I think the number of ways humble servanthood can manifest itself are infinite,  and I think it applies to even the most important and influential of us. And that's a indispensable idea, within the Christian context or not. 


Another thing I noticed tonight at the service is that the term "night of love" kept coming up. It surprised me at first, because I think I associate Maundy Thursday and Good Friday with each other. I mean obviously they're related, but the truth is that, at least until Jesus gets to Gethsemane, Maundy Thursday was a good time. Serious. But good. Full of Jesus' love for his disciples (which I suppose in turn means all of us). After Jesus washes the disciples' feet, he says: "I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:34-35) Now, I'm not trying to undermine the seriousness of Maundy Thursday and the betrayal, trial, and crucifixion that happen after the Last Supper. (Scroll down a couple posts for thoughts on why the sad stuff is important.) But I think I've also realized that our knowledge of what is coming in the next few days can sometimes overshadow the wonderful spirit of community and love that was present at the Last Supper. I mean, Jesus knew what was up. He knew what was coming. But if he wash feet and say all this of love, surely we can too. 


Love,
Allison

Holy Week, here we come.

So today was Palm Sunday. The day we celebrate Jesus ridin' on in to Jerusalem on a donkey. We Presbyterians miiiight even move around enough to wave a palm branch or two. I mean, at 2PC the whole congregation even starts outside and processes in together waving palms amidst the occasional declaration of "Hosanna!" Woah now.

It's a generally happy morning, and marks the beginning of Holy Week, which ultimately culminates in Easter. But what about the stuff in the middle? During his sermon this morning, Blake (2PC's interim pastor) pointed out that Palm Sunday and Easter traditionally have lots of people in attendance, but Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services are usually quite small. We tend to look over the "bad" stuff. The depressing, challenging, heartbreaking stuff. Easter is so full of joy and hope and forgiveness...but Jesus has to die first. He has to be betrayed and arrested, he has to suffer, and he has to die. That's pretty significant. Why aren't we as eager to remember that as we are to go to church on Easter?  Why does the hard stuff have to happen in the first place?

Besides the obvious answer that Jesus couldn't have risen from the dead if he hadn't died, another thing from this morning's sermon still has me thinking. The idea that these events had to happen to God's son, so that God can relate to us. Obviously I can't speak from a parent's perspective, but I'd imagine there wouldn't be a whole lot harder than watching your child go through what Jesus went through. It makes sense then that when we are suffering or going through unthinkable things, God is that much closer to us. It seems that it's the least we can do, then, to take some time this week and remember the trials and tribulations that challenged God and God's son. At the very least it will make the joy of Easter that much more magnificent.

Love,
Allison

Youth Sunday at 2PC

I'm not sure how much I've talked about my Nashville church home so far, so I'll start this particular post with a few words about Second Presbyterian Church (also known as 2PC). All of the YAVs in Nashville are funneled through 2PC's Nashville Epiphany Project (links to the right, if you're interested). So the basic, concrete facts are that the church provides my housing and writes the checks for my stipend every month, in addition to employing our lovely site coordinator Susan. (Technically, home sweet Toolshed resides on their property and I must say, the Peaceable Playground makes for a pretty sweet backyard.) On the intangible side of things, Second Pres is a welcoming and inclusive congregation full of incredibly talented and friendly people.


Anyway. Speaking of talent, and the reason I started this whole post... this morning was Youth Sunday at church. I feel like I should preface this with the fact that I'm fairly certain most of the high schoolers in Nashville are way cooler and talented than I will ever be. I say that with no great lack of confidence in myself or anything, but seriously! A whole handful of musical youth shared their talents with the congregation this morning...one of my favorites was a song called "All Who Are Thirsty." We've sung it at PSF once or twice and it's really just beautiful. In case you've never heard it, here are the words at least:

All who are thirsty

All who are weak

Come to the fountain

Dip your heart in the stream of life

Let the pain and the sorrow

Be washed away

In the waves of His mercy

As deep cries out to deep

Come Lord Jesus come

Holy Spirit come

As deep cries out to deep

Here I am again, finding God in music. But seriously folks. He was there and really speaking through the youth leading worship this morning. He was in the joy you could see on the faces of those sharing their music, and in the hearts of those of us listening and singing along. I mean all I'm saying is it takes a lot to get Presbyterians to clap. And we clapped more than once. 

The Old Testament reading for the day was Deuteronomy 15:7-11, the last verse of which reads: "There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land." One student that gave part of the sermon commented that this verse has hardly (if ever) been debated; it's pretty black and white. "God doesn't ask us to be openhanded. He commands us," he said (or something like it). 

I think the thing that hit me the most about this morning was that there are all of these young people in our denomination committed to loving others and being open in general. And by "young people" I mean youth in churches of course, but also other young adults...the 60-or-so YAVs currently spread across the globe, a whole bunch of YAV alums, and plenty of other young adults not officially associated with any certain program. Eventually people my age will be the leaders of churches and denominations. If only we can spread that love and openness, some wonderful things could happen.

Love,

Allison.

12 Days of YAVness, and other thoughts.

Last night 2PC's youth had a talent show fundraiser and Sally, Mary Kate, Beth and I contributed our rendition of the 12 Days of Christmas. Complete with sparkly Santa hats and tinsel scarves, we sang our lil hearts out. Unfortunately (or...fortunately?) there is no photographic/video evidence of this performance, but for your reading pleasure:

On the twelfth day of YAVness, Susan gave to us:

12 country songs

11 community nights

10 days discerning

9 honkey tonks

8 pounds of coffee

7 nonprofits

6 free dinners

5 (pretty/smart/beautiful/compassionate/brilliant/perfect/kind/modest) girls

4 Presby churches

3 brown recluses

2 smelly boys

A Cabana and a Toolshed

And yes, I did just sing that in my head as I typed it. I hope you sang as you read, as well. And just fyi, the adjective before "girls" changed each time five came along. Luckily the audience seemed to think our lyrics were as funny as we did. :)

Today, Westminster Presbyterian Church had an Alternative Christmas Market that was basically their version of AGF, except all of the nonprofits there were organizations that are supported by Westminster's outreach. So, PSF was one of them. Looking around the room, I realized that most of the groups there had been represented at AGF, and all but two organizations that have YAVs this year were there. As I talked to a couple different people, I realized that there's this little nonprofit world where people know each other (even if it just means saying hello at various alternative gift giving events). Kinda cool if you ask me.

Also, it snowed for the better part of the morning. None of it stuck at all, but I don't think I've ever lived in a place where it snowed in early December! I'm fairly certain that this is just a few days of legit cold, and then it'll warm up a little bit. But it's still next to be cozied up with a fleece blanket. Leeeet it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

Love,
Allison

Fun Fact

Hey friends! 
So, as I learned at church on Sunday, 2PC is a More Light congregation, which means they officially support More Light Presbyterians (which in turn supports "the full participation of LGBT Christians in the life and ministry of the Presbyterian Church"). Now, personally I think this is pretty awesome, and the fact that a group like MLP exists makes me like the good ol' PC(USA) even more than I already did. I'm fully aware of the fact that not everybody agrees with that, and that maybe some people will be pretty uncomfortable when they read this. But it's just something that I think is cool and wanted to share.


Off to Furman for homecoming this weekend, and I'm quite excited to see everyone! :)


Until next time...
Love,
Allison.

Chicken Tetrazzini and a Night in the Woods

Hey friends!

Well, two weeks of work down, and things in Nashville are still going swimmingly. I'm slowly but surely getting to know people at work and at church, and I think it's starting to sink in that I actually live in Nashville (and that I'm not just hanging out here for a couple weeks). This week a couple new things happened at work. I figured out how to set up the projector on Tuesday night almost all by myself (so many cords...), not to mention the delectable leftovers I got to take home after dinner at PSF. Chicken tetrazzini two days in a row? Yes please. Anyway I also started working on taking a group of students to Luke 14:12 for lunch once a week. It's a place that serves lunch to the homeless every Tuesday and Friday out of a church fellowship hall, and we're going to hopefully go volunteer there on a regular basis. Still a bit of organizing/advertising to do before that one can actually happen though. Other thrilling parts of my week included entering donation checks into our database, and updated email addresses in said database. Whooo non-profits! Good stuff.

Favorite part of the week, though, was going camping at Fall Creek Falls State Park with PSF on Friday night. I got to build a fire and eat a delicious TFD (Tin Foil Dinner). Seriously though, no lie, forget the frozen burger patties and consistent potatoes/carrots/onions of camp and add some red and green bell peppers and shredded cheddar cheese...mmmm. Can't go wrong with that. As it turns out it gets pretty cold in the middle of the night in Tennessee in September, but spending the night in my hammock was still quite enjoyable. :) Also we went on a hike Saturday before we left the park, and ate lunch here...

The camping adventure was followed by girls night at the Toolshed, given the fact that Vic and Michael abandoned us for the weekend. Girls night consisted watching a girly movie, but also keeping track of our dear old alma maters...four football games at a time!

Ok ok, so Mary Kate's school is the only one that won, but hey, Furman could've done a lot worse!

This morning was church as usual, which has been quite a lovely experience so far. Turns out there are a lot of Furman/Davidson connections here, too. The plus side of only going as far as Tennessee is that people have actually heard of Furman before. Hooray! Anyway tonight I decided to check out 2PC's  handbell choir (2PC = 2nd Pres). I was one of four people there ringing, plus the director, but apparently there are more people that couldn't make it tonight. At any rate, it's lovely to be making music again.

In all seriousness though, it kind of blows my mind how many different pieces of my life so far have gotten me ready for this year. Everything from playing bells to being a religion major to building a fire for TFDs. God is good, that's for sure.

And that's all for now, folks.

Love,

Allison.

Throwback to Good Old Junior Choir

So today in church we sang a song I've known ever since I can remember, largely thanks to junior choir at DCPC. "Spirit of the Living God." A lot of you probably know it, but it goes...

Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.
Melt me, mold me, fill me, use me.
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.

It's not that complicated of a song, and it's one of those that's so familiar that nine times out of ten you probably don't really think about what you're singing. But this morning it hit me that I really meant those words. I want God and the Holy Spirit to fall on me in a new way this year. I may not know how that'll happen yet, but I want Him to melt me, mold me, fill me, and use me in whatever I'm supposed to be doing this year. Maybe in an expected, outwardly visible way, or maybe He'll mold me into something new and use me for something I never saw coming. Either way, those words are legit.

Love,
Allison.

P.S. - Yeah I just said legit...I'd like to think the Holy Spirit doesn't mind a little abbreviation every now and then.