Thoughts from Glorieta

This past week I have been overwhelmed with change. I remember when I was younger I thought that once I graduated from college/got a real job/got married, then things would settle down and I’d never have to face change again.
Ha.
I’ve already told you about my friend who is preparing to meet the Lord face to face.

We had a friend visit us from the Northwest last month. We did collegiate ministry together for 12 years. After we left, there were major changes in that region, making collegiate ministry more difficult/challenging than ever. When I think of all the lives and resources invested in a ministry that thrived and is now struggling to survive, it breaks my heart.

I’m writing this sitting on the deck of the house we are renting at Glorieta Conference Center in New Mexico, surrounded by mountains and trees and blue sky. Just down the road are 2,200 college students who are passionately devoted to Jesus Christ, here to learn more about Him and how to follow Him, worship Him, and make Him known. I love this place! So many lives changed and memories made. And it’s for sale. I believe there is a contingency that will be written in stating that Collegiate Week must be allowed to meet here for the next 5 years…but what about after that? Will Collegiate Week just…end? If I could only give you a picture of those students meeting for worship--it is an awesome thing. I can’t imagine letting it slip away.

Jessica starts high school this year. Or she would if we lived somewhere where high school started in 9^th grade; in Magnolia 9^th graders go to the junior high but credits start for graduation. Of course I’m home schooling right now, but our plan is to send her to the public high school next year--BIG change! And she really wants us to let her skip a grade so she will be in school with her friends and start college with her friends, and she could probably pull it off. Which would mean I’d only have 3 years left with her! Gulp.
So because I haven’t slept well the last few days and I drove our van for 15+ hours to get here, my eyes kept filling with tears every time I thought about any of these changes. (Sleep deprivation makes me cry. You should have seen me when Jessica was a newborn!)

Then I went to our first worship service here at Glorieta, and the first song we sang was “One Thing Remains.” Click here for the lyrics video. Things change, people die, marriages you thought would last forever end, you face mountains and challenges, BUT HIS LOVE REMAINS! I opened my hands and gave it all to Him, then stood crying and singing “Forever Reign (Running to Your Arms)” Oh, He’s so good--and He will never change.