Navigators

Last week was spring break at Rice, and oh, what a wonderful break it was! I had the chance to travel to the beautiful city of Boston with two lovely lady friends, and we quite thoroughly explored the city of Boston and the Cambridge area. =) It was good getting to know these two friends better, and having the time to relax and talk and eat -- and eat a lot we certainly did, in between trekking from place to place and getting somewhat lost on the way.

We had the chance to go to Park Street Church with Andrew, and I certainly learned a lot that Sunday, both through the sermon and in our fellowship over lunch with Adrian, Rebecca, and John. Things like reaching out to the homeless... At Rice, it is too easy to stay in this lovely campus bubble separated from the reality of how much desperate need there is. Need for a listening ear, need for a look of compassion (not pity), need for feeling intrinsic worth as a person, need for understanding (not judgement). And all these things, I feel, stem from one greater need -- a need for the one true God of all. He's the one sustainer, redeemer, savior, friend who will never ever fail.

One thing that I noticed... too often I forget the person of God, being busy pursuing all the things I think that I should do. But where is God in all these things after which I seek? Why don't I put Him first, why don't I see His presence in everything? I guess part of my issue is being happy with being busy and forgetting to actively look for the ways God is working all around (and in) me and neglecting to continue seeking to know God.

The pastor at Park Street talked briefly of the "hand" mnemonic that the Navigators use in their ministry. To know God, time must be spent with His word... And here's the supercool "hand"y tool they recommend to learn from the Bible, starting from the pinky and going to the thumb:

"HEARING 

READING 

STUDYING 

MEMORIZING 

MEDITATING "

And I've resolved to pull myself out of my several-year-long memorization-hole and start (re)memorizing verses again. =) I pray that God speaks to me through his Word, and that the verses being written in my mind and heart really truly navigate me through the crazy waters of college life and beyond.