I don't know if you've ever had moments like this, but today was truly a back to the future moment. No, I saw no hovering vehicle, mechanically programed rainstorm, or even Michael J. Fox, but I did have a moment today where I looked back, while simultaneously looking to the future, all in the same thought. I looked back and somehow saw the future. Beyond sounding a little crazy or just "off" stick with me and let me explain.

So after a great phone conversation with a friend marveling at the cool things that God has done just recently in our lives, I got up from my sunny spot on the green grass in front of the prayer garden at Fuller and walked in front of the quirky McAlister Library, Fullers very unique gathering of Theological books. It was at this moment that I was struck with the uniqueness of my own situation. I looked up at the towering palm and eucalyptus trees framing the entrance into the Garth and Library and suddenly was reminded of my first week on Fuller's campus where the very same sights I am now accustomed to seemed so very strange. My situation is kind of different in that I researched no other seminaries and barely knew anything about Fuller before I came. Through a range of crazy God events, I just knew from the big guy that I was supposed to be at Fuller. So I packed up some stuff and traveled across the country with two guy friends who just happened to be coming out to study at Fuller that same fall as well. During the first week at Fuller, I just walked around the campus in awe of the fact that God had called me here. Not only is the campus beautifully green and scenic, but also the experiences I had during my first week of classes and interactions with students confirmed vividly that this is where I was meant to go. I was just blown away that God would called me to such a cool place that fit me perfectly. I am an outdoors girl with a love for heartfelt conversations and passionate prayers with fellow JC followers. Fuller was a perfect fit for me! Today I remembered those days of awe at God's goodness to call me to a place that was abundantly more than I could have asked for. (Now some of you might think I am over exaggerating... yeah I know Fuller isn't perfect, and this I accept. However, God knew that if he was going to send me to Seminary, this was one of the only ones where I would fit into. I'm sure glad he knew what he was doing.)

It was today that I remembered his faithfulness to lead and guide into abundance miraculously and mysteriously. It was in this same moment of remembrance that I was encouraged in my glances into the future. I graduate at the end of the summer and have covenanted to serve some place internationally for two years. Basically I can go anywhere in the world except the US of A. That gives me a lot of freedom! Great!! However, right now, I have almost NO direction. You'd think by this time I should have a little direction, a calling for a particular country or people group or even type of ministry to be involved in, but I have none of these things. This could actually be quite unnerving, and to be honest, if I really think about it, it kind of is quite frightening most of the time. However, in the back to the future moment today, I realized that from looking back I can breath much easier while looking to the future, knowing that God has been faithful and he will continue to be in the next couple months that very quickly approach! Though the large hovering question mark of the future seems to be looming closer and closer each day, I can rest easy knowing that the same God who caused me to remember today, will give me another reason in the future, to look back and Praise him for what he's done!!

Posted by Christy at 11:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Often times I find myself in very bizarre situations. The last three years of my life have been characterized by moments of realization, where I suddenly realize that I am in a very unique place. It is in these moments that I ask myself the question:

"How in the world did I get here?"

Today is one of those moments. I currently find myself sitting in a fairly comfortable booth in a coffee shop called Port City Java, located in the heart of Greenville, South Carolina drinking freshly squeezed orange juice while enjoying the free access to wireless internet. Now from a moments glance this doesn't seem like a bizarre situation but really it is. Let me explain.
I grew up in West Michigan in a fairly conservative community. My family and I would rarely venture out of Michigan for our vacations and if we did, it was only to visit family in Iowa. After graduating from high school, I enrolled in Hope College which is a fabulous liberal arts school located approximately five minutes from where I grew up. I know, I know, the very fact that I mention this speaks to my very sheltered up bringing. After spending about 9 months living in Venezuela upon completing my undergraduate education, I felt called to go to Fuller. It was here that a whole new world was opened up to me.

Fuller is such a unique place. It was here that my world was opened up! I met people who spoke with different accents than I. Even stranger still was that numerous people around me would ask me to talk so they could hear MY accent?!? Now, I know I don't have an accent but many apparently would beg to differ. It was this very thing that clued me into the diversity that Fuller has to offer its students. Recently there was an article published in our the Semi, the weekly newspaper that Fuller students put out, that discussed the differences in theology that students have depending upon the region of the world that they have grown up in. It was interesting to see that thought we are but one country, we are all so very different. Completely different cultures, ideologies and ways of life. Fuller is truly a unique place because people from all over the country come together to study, seek God and grow. This creates a variety of opinions and cultures all coming together, affecting and influencing one another. (This is not even taking into account the many people from different cultures from around the world that are found in Fuller.) The richness offered in this experience has truly been a blessing and one that I am truly grateful for as it has broadened my sheltered Midwestern perspectives.
Back to my question:

"How did I get here?"

Well, during the first week of orientation, when sharing with one another our short stories, I heard a sweet southern twang ring behind me. Finding out that she liked to run, I asked her if she would like to go for a run around the Rose Bowl with me. We started running together consistently, building our friendship, and serving at a local volunteer ministry together. However, at the end of last year, she and her husband had to move back to South Carolina due to a family need. They bought a house, are now expecting a child and are working fervently in a local church while continuing their education. I went through withdrawal and decided that I should come down and visit her to experience the South! I have many other Southern friends at school, and have become intrigued with this place. So here I am on my spring beak, sipping my OJ and rejoicing for all the places in which God has taken me. Diversity is what enriches our lives and I am so glad that Fuller has been a place where I can drink in the deep South.

Posted by Christy at 6:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Really what an interesting task. I signed up for this, one because I think blogging is fun, but also because I think people deserve to know what things are really like here. Though I obviously can't vouch for everyone's experience, I can say a little something about my own. However, this job is a little unique, because those who are reading it are more than likely people that I do not know and people that do not know me and so do not know my personality. In trying to put myself in that person's shoes and try to hear what I am trying to say through their ears, I have come to the conclusion that they will more than likely consider me to have a biased view of Fuller. Yet all that aside, I would like to inform the reader, that I write from what I truly see and experience. Sincerity and genuine honesty is my number one goal in what I write. So for that as a disclaimer/qualifier, I will proceed in my ramblings to give the reader the truest sense of my experience at Fuller with all of its four star attributes and all of its not so hot characteristics. However, in all honesty, I would have to say that the former has been much more prevalent than the latter.

Posted by Christy at 10:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)