This weekend has been very relaxing. Yesterday I went bike riding in the mountains, we watched The Blind Side before Abby left to go home, and it was a nice chance to just enjoy the weather and relax for a bit. Today we went to the Community Bible Church to hear Don Landis speak again. He had a great message as usual. I love the feel of this church. Everyone knows everyone, first of all. There's hymns, worship music with a band (but not too loud for the older generation either), and Don really focuses on preaching Biblical truth. When he first joined the church, I think there were even some people who left because they thought he was being too strict, but the truth of the matter was that he was preaching straight from the Bible. And the fact that it's in the middle of this beautiful valley in the mountains makes it fun too. He spoke about understanding why there is suffering in the world and how if we misunderstand the cause it can create problems. For instance, suffering is caused because God laid a curse on the earth after Adam and Eve sinned, there's sin because of our innate nature, and there's sin because God allows Satan to still do evil. If we only focus on the fact that God allows evil, we may think that we don't have enough faith if something bad does happen to us. It's very possible that something that is painful (like a spanking when we're little kids) was done out of love and not because we lack faith or whatnot. It's necessary to remember all of those causes to make sure we understand the entire theology established in Genesis and don't live in fear unnecessarily.

Additionally, today I shared my story with the group at dinner. I prayed beforehand and I think that really helped because it went very smoothly. I had good eye contact, spoke up, spoke clearly, had good hand gestures, and actually said what I wanted to say, so it was a good feeling :) We were told to keep it under 3 minutes discussing the before, during, and after of our walk with Christ. I basically said that at first I went to church b/c that's what our family did. I intellectually understood that Christ died for our sins, and I thought I was a relatively good person and that was good enough for me. It was never an issue that I wholeheartedly pursued. In 6th grade, I went to a retreat to Panama city to meet some new friends and it was fun. Once I got there, I was inspired by all of these teenagers who not only acknowledged their Savior, but they actually actively pursued Him. I realized that this "Jesus Stuff" was pretty important. So by my 7th grade I really sensed that God was calling me to a life of adventure in Him. I told my dad about it and I prayed to receive Christ's gift of salvation and shortly thereafter I was baptized. Some people may think that my life was all sunshine and roses afterward. In fact, it was just the opposite. I, by my nature, am extremely competitive. If I attempt anything (school, athletics, etc) I want to excel at it. Now I was adding to this list the pursuit to becoming a more Christlike person. It got to the point where I thought I was this "perfect" Christian who had everything together. I discovered in college that I am just as susceptible to sin now as I was before I accepted Christ. I still need to walk with the Lord daily because I can't do it by myself. So I still have pride issues for sure, but I'm praying that God will continue to show me areas that I need to let Him control and I look forward to the adventures that He has for me in the future.

That's what I said in a nutshell at dinner. The evening finished with a two hour session playing the game "signs." That was such an intense game and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Tomorrow we've got a morning session (I forget the topic...) and we'll go on a hike too!

Until next time!

-Erica