Oh how I miss these Wednesday emails...

It is with deepest joy,

and greatest fervor,

that we welcome you Friday.

 

That’s when we invite you to join us.

Let us write you a name tag

as the fellowship proudly presents --

our Large Group.

 

Be... Our... Guest!

(to) ACF!

 

Put our service to the test!

Bring your Bible and your pen, chérie

and we’ll provide the rest.

 

Voices raised,

upward gaze,

when we sing songs of praise.

 

Come to Large Group.

There’ll be learning.

Don’t believe me? Be discerning.

Ephesians, chapter six -

adding armor to the mix:

Be equipped to boldly stand up to the test.

 

Do come, we start at seven,

come along and then you’ll

 

Be our guest,

Oui, our guest

(to) ACF!

 

You’re on time,

prompt, I’m sure.

Just like last week, as we were.

Tow’r cathedral, room G8

Come to Large Group, don’t be late!

 

You’re alone

and you’re scared

but the welcome team’s prepared.

They will greet you with affection,

complement your good complexion.

 

Some tell jokes! Mostly puns...

They might say, “second to none.”

And it all will make you cringe,

that, you can bet.

 

We hope to see you there

To show you how we care

Please be our guest.

 

If you’re stressed,

it’s fine friendship we suggest.

 

Be our guest!

Be our guest!

(to) ACF!

 

 

Life is so depleting,

for a student who’s not sleeping.

They’re not well, and cannot tell, when they should eat.

Ah, those good old days when we were rested...

Suddenly, those good old days are beat.

 

Three months, we’ve been toiling

as our bodies now are spoiling,

needing exercise, and sunshine on our skin.

Most days, we just congregate at poolside.

 

Loopy, sad and lazy

but on Fridays, things get crazy!

 

It’s a guest! It’s a guest!

All in all, we hope you’re blessed!

Be restored, and thank the Lord,

we have great peace, despite unrest.

Through it all, He is there,

gentle shoulders help to bear,

lonely hearts and heavy burdens,

God is with us, I am certain.

 

Come along, this weekend

Be on time! We’ll start a trend.

Friday Night! It’s coming soon I do profess.

There’s little left to say,

But have a jolly day!

For you our guest!

 

ACF!

ACF!

Be our guest!

Be our guest!

ACF!

 

We’re excited, can’t you guess?

It’s been days since we have gone our separate ways

at life’s behest.

 

But we’re back, all as one.

Gladly worship, God’s one son.

 

While the semester’s still going,

Let us help, we’ll all keep growing!

 

Bit by bit,

day by day,

‘til we reach

the end of May!

Then we’ll pray for you until the next school year.

 

Well I shall see you very soon

Until then, good night moon.

 

Be our guest!

Be our guest!

Be our guest

to A C F !!

 

- R. K.

Now that the squad is finally back together, and hearing their stories, I am realizing that though I learned a lot the last 3-5 years, I have also forgotten a lot too. I need to stop invalidating what I did best from college in high school, which was to love on others wholeheartedly and bring people together. I need to remember what it is like to be vulnerable again, to share again, to laugh again. I need to remember to see people as people, with hearts and souls. I need to remember that people are fragile creatures just like myself, and the fastest way to another person's heart is to reveal the cracks in my own heart. I need to bring back the 3am conversations and be content in each other's company. I don't need everyone to be on the same page as me theologically or relationally. But I do need people to be real, and to do that I need to be real first. I need to be kind again. Something I had lost after I got the innocence and naivety beaten out of me through failure and betrayals. I feel like I've come full circle, but now that I am older and have seen just a little bit more of the world than my 18 or 21 year old self, I understand that I am to overflow into others both in love and in truth. I need to stop making the same mistakes and falling into the same mental and emotional traps. I guess...this can be my New Year Resolutions (or lifelong resolutions). God please let the squad learn to love one another and love on those we meet in the future. Thank you God for letting them remind me of what the Gospel is to me, how the Gospel has shaped my life for the past decade or so, and how through the Gospel I can be the light to my friends and to the world. Let these words be honest and ring home. Amen!


“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.” - C.S. Lewis

"Every woman in the Brown,” Verin said, “seeks to produce something lasting. Research or study that will be meaningful. Others often accuse us of ignoring the world around us. They think we only look backward. Well, that is inaccurate. If we are distracted, it is because we look forward, toward those who will come. And the information, the knowledge we gather . . . we leave it for them. The other Ajahs worry about making today better; we yearn to make tomorrow better.”

"This is worth one woman’s life. Few people have had a chance to create something as useful, and as wonderful, as that book you hold. We all seek to change the future, Egwene. I think I might just have a chance at doing so.”

"That, among all things, is the most sacred duty of the Brown—to arm the world with knowledge. I’m still one of them. Please see that they know, although the word Black may brand my name forever, my soul is Brown. Tell them. . . .”

“I will, Verin,” Egwene promised. “But your soul is not Brown. I can see it.”

Her eyes fluttered open, meeting Egwene’s, a frown creasing her forehead.

“Your soul is of a pure white, Verin,” Egwene said softly. “Like the Light itself.”

I feel you Verin. I also wish, deeply, to be able to contribute to the future.