Shawn: Thanksgiving

Wow, thanksgiving is an evolving word in my vocabulary. The basic definition is simple-giving thanks or praise. But how it is defined in terms of when where and how are taking on new life of their own. For example, can sleeping be thanksgiving, something created by God for us to do. And so is good sleep praise, but is not-so-good sleep not be praise? And if we do something that doesnt bring praise to God, isnt that a sin? So shouldnt we find something more beneficial with our time?

I am in awe of Judah and the late nights he puts into his studies, specifically his exegetical. I enjoy sleep too much to much to work late into the night (i'd love to put a time on this like 3 or 5 or an all nighter, but truth is i'm always asleep when he is working and it seems like he is already up when i get up). His work ethic is increadible and i know that he finds joy in what his is studying and disecting.

Brains, what an amazing tool. I think this is what i am most thankful for. For all the uses it has and for how complex it is. From controlling our thoughts and thought process, studying, analyzing, memorizing. It controls our emotions, our senses and even our body movements. Where would we be without it.

But while i am grateful and thankful for something that makes me who i am, should i not be more thankful to Him (apologies to the people who dont like to see God in masculine forms...i still havent found a way around that) who created that individual part of me? I still struggle to atribute the events and circumstances around me that i can physically see and know, to a God who controls them, a God i cannot see, know, and the hardest of all, understand.

But while i struggle to comprehend His (again...sry 'its' just doesnt cut it here) ways, i can be confident that if i follow His ways, i will not be forsaken, abandoned or forgotten. He never fails, never comes up short, and is never wrong in action or judgement. And in this i can most certainly give praise.

Now i dont believe that sleep is wrong, even if it isnt the most restful sleep, but sometimes there are other important things to do. While i have heard that many people have said it will be a relaxing break and they are looking forward to catching up on sleep, this is not where i stand. I am looking forward to catching up with friends and family, and this will most certainly mean late nights and stories and events that last way into the night.

I am also grateful for Riley Crt. You guys are like family to me and I couldnt see myself anywhere else this semester. You have made me think in ways i never expected i would have to, but it has grown my understanding and confidence of not only who I am, but also the world around me. Take care on break and may God bless the people and things you are thankful for.
SY

Jennifer: Questions

When I got "home" today I walked into the lobby to two of my housemates having a deep, honest discussion about what might be deemed "faith struggles". And while yeah, I had homework to do sometimes there is nothing better than just sitting down and listening to my housemate's conversations. That might sound a little wierd but it's true - I love listening! I have all these thoughts running through my head but I'm usually not very eloquent so I just sit and soak it all in.

Today the conversation focused on the church as it is in America today. We feel upset by what the church has become and by the faith that it teaches. We feel frustrated by the Bible and the way that texts are taken out of context. We are unsure about everything that our faith ever meant to us and struggle to find some wreckage of the past that we can hang on to but even then we aren't sure that that is what we want. We don't know if we can still call ourselves Christians. We are afraid of doing the exact same things we argue against. We have so many questions. Is that ok? Although we struggle, I feel encouraged because we struggle together. Even though we don't know what we believe I feel blessed because know we are struggling with something important. I know there has to be a place for this somewhere in the church.

In some ways I'm scared. I'm a sophomore and pretty much everyone else in the house is a senior. They say that when they were sophomores their faith was "so rock solid" but now it's tumbling down around them. I know I'm not at the same place as them, but if I'm close - who will I be when I leave Bluffton? I know I won't be the same person I was when I came. But, I think that's a good thing. And maybe, you have to completely demolish what was there before you can begin to build something new.

Ubuntu is in that process of trying to build something new. I wish everyone could have the experience of living in this community - I really feel like we are each others home :)

There is so much more to say as always but that shall suffice for tonight. I need my sleep - this weekend Jason, Kristen, and I are going to the SOA/WHINSEC protest at Fort Benning, GA. None of us have ever been before so keep us in your thoughts!

Andrea: Feels Like Home

Two weeks ago I was in New York City for the MCC-UN student seminar. I learned so much, but the whole time I was there I was feeling homesick for my Canton-family and also my Ubuntu-family. New York is such a cool place, but its easy to feel very small there- I started thinking about what an awkward transition time this phase of life is. It's getting harder and harder to clearly identify where "home" is.

After a very very long drive back to Bluffton I dragged my 1000 lbs suitcase up three flights of stairs and wrestled it into my room. I slept in the next morning so no one was here when I woke up. I made myself some breakfast and was amazed at how quite Riley Court is when its completely empty. After a half hour or so I heard some people coming in the door downstairs so I poked my head into the hallway from the kitchen and said "hey guys, I'm back." And my heart smiled as I listened to my Ubu-family run up the stairs yelling "Andie's home!!!!" Between giant bear hugs I realized that my friends were right- Even if this is only home for a little while, its still home. And it was good to be back.

Kristen: Water

So I've been thinking about water lately.

Bluffton water, even though we now import it from the nearby town of Ottawa, is still not the most mouth-watering. So once in awhile, Devon and another one or two people will go out to his house at the nature preserve where there is well water. We'll fill up a 5 gallon igloo container and whatever number of gallon jugs we have lying around (last time we went, I think it was around 11...). We put the jugs in the car to drive about 1.5 miles, fill up, and drive back. Then we get the fun job of carrying all that water upstairs to the third floor, where the kitchen is.

Sometimes, this doesn't seem like a very fun thing to do. Yeah, the water tastes better, but who really has time to spend 45 minutes carting water? Who wants to put forth the effort to carrying that all up the stairs.

I started to realize how fortunate I am/ we are. A few weeks ago, I had lunch with a man from Zimbabwe, who explained his work building wells for villages in Africa. He explained that more than half of the world has to walk a lot of miles (I can't remember the number, but it was a lot!) to get water every day! This has a big impact on gender roles and education, too, because it is young girls' job to get the water, meaning that they can't attend school. So, digging wells at more frequent intervals allows girls to have a chance to attend school. Cool.

It's so easy to fail to appreciate the abundance of running water we have. I don't think we need to shut off our water supply and start walking miles each day to get water, but I think it's good to remember that the water running through our pipes is a luxury that not everyone can afford.