Where did they go?

Today my senior Bible study experience came to some form of full-circle--my senior in high school Bible study that is.

I was a part of my church's Senior bible study which is a special bible study the senior pastor holds in someone's home for about 20-50 seniors at a time. I went my senior year and felt like for the first time I was able to express some of my opinions about faith....and begin the process of "coming into my own" in terms of faith.

Also accompanying this bible study, I did a weekly group with about 5-6 other senior girls, today I saw one of them for the first time in about 4 years.

I'd contacted her because of facebook--found out she new people I'd studied in Durham this summer. The Lord had been working on her life, first bringing her to faith....and then beginning to give her a heart for urban ministry and caring for the inner-city. It was absolutely amazing to sit there and listen to God's faithfulness......and how it had worked out in her life. And of course, it was great to hear we had some similar passions, given our upbringing and home church.

This was also significant because I don't have many Christian friends at home with which to discuss issues of faith....I can talk issues of social justice to death....but to think of them in terms of God and the holy spirit working out fruits of change in our lives....well it hadn't been a part of my experience until college. It gave me so much hope to find someone here who spoke with that kind of conviction and obvious knowledge and personal experience with the Lord.

It often makes me feel so confident and inspired to see other Christians willing even to speak the name of Christ, or name the Lord....the LORD and to attribute action to him......because duh, he acts! But it takes a lot of courage to actually say that: "God is changing my life" "The Lord is doing a work inside my soul".......these can be very brave things to say.......often people think you're crazy........what kind of person talks about God that way........well someone who knows him and knows that he can do....that he can be the subject of a sentence and the do-er of a verb.


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Well then this evening I went with my senior in high school brother to our church's current senior bible study. It was so interesting to see these seniors living out so many of the similar experiences I had at that time......listening to the pastor give out his opinions......not too many people challenging what he says or asking too many questions......how different that seems from college to me sometimes.