Awesome Story
Sep 13, 2010 Sacrificial Followers
A few weeks ago, our weekly handout dealy at Riv featured a story from Brittany Jozwiak about what God has done in her life. For those of you who didn’t get a chance to read it, I wanted to post it here. It’s so cool to read stuff like this!
I first got involved at Riverview when I was a freshman at Michigan State three years ago. After committing my life to Christ in high school, I was worried about what that would look like while I was away at college. I had been praying for months before coming to State that I would find a way to serve and a solid place to help me grow in Him. Through a few people who were willing to invest in me, I got involved with the Young Life ministry and was invited by some juniors who were active leaders to come to church with them.
Riverview was unlike any other church I had been to — and was what I had been looking for. The sermons challenged me to answer hard questions about my life and the worship music helped me praise God when I didn’t have my own words to express. God had really heard my prayers and laid out His plans for me.
My life before knowing God was normal. I had two great parents, a brother, and was for the most part a “good person.” I went to church regularly with my family, but I had no idea that God loved me. My aunt, when I was fourteen, asked me to come with her to a Bible study and drove a half an hour out of her way to and from the church where it was held just to take me. There wasn’t really a single moment when everything changed, but I started to realize that God was filling the void in me I didn’t know could be full. Since then, God has challenged me daily to test His faithfulness and love so that I could know that He is real and personal. I wrestled with depression and anxiety for two years, and when I finally decided to give up control to Jesus, the worry and pain slowly disappeared. I’ve been free of that for three years now.
When I first came to Michigan State, I was studying to prepare for medical school. It took two years for me to figure out that although I wanted to help people, this wasn’t the way I was supposed to do it. When I was honest with myself, all I really wanted was to be around people and love them through service. I switched my major to Community Relations, and my friends now affectionately call me the “volunteer major.” I became involved with the agency LAAN (the Lansing Area AIDS Network) through Riverview. I spend about twelve hours each week helping at the reception desk and in the food pantry, and learning about the needs of people who live with HIV and AIDS. Riv’s Compassion Ministry gave me the opening to volunteer there and I have grown so much because of it.
I’ve had the opportunity to have some amazing conversations with clients (all of whom are HIV positive or living with AIDS) and get to know their stories. The best part is seeing them come to the office for their next appointment and having them remember my name or recall my voice on the phone, with a friendly hello and update about their lives. Some will come and volunteer their time as well, and to work alongside them and be considered trustworthy to know their deepest regrets and struggles is a humbling feeling. It’s made me realize that you don’t have to know what to say or be anything extraordinary. Just being there and listening is more than someone could ask for.
If you are searching to know God deeper, go out and meet broken people where they are. It’s helped me see the way God looks at me, and how, despite where I’ve been, I am still lovely in His eyes. Riv’s Compassion Ministry is a great place to look for opportunities. They work with a number of different populations in need that you may feel a pull toward serving. If you are interested in helping LAAN, just go to their website, LAANOnline.org. They are always looking for people to volunteer to drive clients who cannot use or afford transportation or who are willing to help out at the front desk or in the food pantry.
Tags: compassion, social justice, suffering
Job
Aug 11, 2010 Old Testament Book Summaries
Over a year ago, I was blogging my way through the Old Testament and I stopped. I figure I will periodically pick it up again as we encounter various books in the Text Project. Since we are reading through Job right now, I figured I’d start here.
Job
Author
Nobody, this side of heaven, can identify the author of this book.
Date
Experts are all over on this one, just like with the Authorship. Some place Job way back to 2000BC, some in the 6th century BC, and some in the 3rd century BC. The only thing for certain is that you can’t be dogmatic on your view.
Theme
You think you know suffering? You know nothing of suffering. Job was just about as close to perfect as a man can get. He was a moral, upstanding, godly individual and his life fell apart. In the matter of minutes, he loses a huge fortune and a large loving family.
His response is to ask God “why?” This is a good thing. Then he eventually turns to demanding an answer from God. This is not a good thing. God sets him straight.
There’s also a great set of dialogue between Job and his wife, as well as Job and his friends. Pretty much everyone blames Job or God, but he won’t go there.
What this book teaches me about Jesus
Like Jesus himself said, “God sends rain on the righteous and unrighteous alike.” Suffering happens to all of us, no matter of “good” we think we are. But Jesus came and suffered the most, even though he deserved it the least.
Random Thoughts
Job is a masterpiece of literature. The author is a literary genius, he is well versed in science and human nature as well. If you can pull it off, sit down and read it straight through in one sitting.
Tags: bible, job, old testament, suffering
Don’t Waste Your Cancer
May 3, 2010 Uncategorized Hodge Podge
It seems like I’ve been hearing about more and more people with cancer lately. Maybe that’s why this video struck me so much.
The Story of Zac Smith from NewSpring Media on Vimeo.
If you can’t see the video, click here to watch it on the original page.
