Too good not to share!

Today's GirlTalk blog packs a great deal of encouragement into a brief reminder. It definitely touched an area of my heart that's grown weary recently.

Part of Something Bigger

2010 at 11:46 am | by Nicole Whitacre
Filed under Biblical Womanhood

On Saturday I attended the out-of-town wedding of my sister-in-law. We drove home on Sunday, and I arrived just in time to witness the birth of a dear friend’s baby girl on Monday. It has been an exhausting and exhilarating week.

But now I have suitcases to unpack (still!), laundry to do, and week-old emails to answer. The adrenalin has drained away, and the days ahead seem downright dull.

These words from John Piper on the book of Ruth place my recent past and immediate future in proper perspective:

“God’s purposes for his people is to connect us to something far greater than ourselves. God wants us to know that when we follow him, our lives always mean more than we think they do. Naomi had no idea in the land of Moab that God was making her the ancestor of the Messiah. For the Christian there is always a connection between ordinary events of life and the stupendous work of God in history.

Everything we do in obedience to God, no matter how small, is significant. It is part of a cosmic mosaic that God is painting to display the greatness of his powers and kingdom to the world and to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places (Ephesians 3:10). A deep satisfaction of the Christian life is that we are not given over to trifles. Serving a widowed mother in law, gleaning in a field, falling in love, having a baby—for the Christian these things are connected to eternity. They are part of something so much bigger than they seem" (p. 121).

Thank God—as Christians, “We are not given over to trifles!” The ordinary events of life and the extraordinary ones are all “part of something so much bigger than they seem." And everything we do in obedience to God is significant.

Kind of changes how I think about unpacking my suitcases.

Reunion

Two friends from college, Izzy and Katie and I recently reunited for a few days of vacation together! Of course, we returned to Clemson but we also visited Greenville and even spent a day in Columbia! We have not seen each other since we graduated two years ago so this was a long overdue trip! What made it even more special was that Izzy and I surprised Katie with the entire trip for her birthday! We worked together with her parents to make sure she had no idea we were coming! Here are some pictures of our time together!


For our first full day, we spent some time on campus and enjoyed Pendleton Cafe for lunch before driving up to Caesar's Head State Park for some hiking. We stopped at Bald Rock on the way to take in the beautiful views of the Blue Ridge.


Our second day was a day trip to Columbia. We went to the state house, a park on Lake Murray and of course, shopping! (and our other favorite activity, great food!--this was a continuing activity!)

Our third day together was Katie's birthday so we took a slightly slower pace and enjoyed some time in Greenville and Clemson. We walked Falls Park, shopped and ate in Downtown Greenville then went to Clemson for pedicures and a bit more campus time. (Izzy and Katie had two years of campus time to make up!) We were so blessed with great weather throughout our trip! We only changed plans once as we thought the baseball game would be rained out. It ended up played as planned but we preferred our pampering time! It was my first pedicure experience so I especially had fun!

Our last half day was taken by church, lunch at Pot Belly Deli and painting pottery at Glazed in Clemson. We definitely enjoyed this fun, creative experience together.


Though our trip ended all too quickly, we certainly packed our time full of lots of great activities.
It was a very sweet time to catch up on each others lives and share some of our favorite things from college (and a few new things as well!)

Homecoming

The weekend of April 25, I had the privilege to join Crosspoint Church in Clemson for their Student Appreciation Service and Lake Fellowship baptism service. Student Appreciation commissions the graduating seniors as well as those participating in summer missions all over the world. It was a blessing to see so many friends sent out by the church body. Commissioning services are always needed reminders of the Great Commission not just for those being sent for a specific purpose but for the entire body to live every day on mission. Crosspoint's College Pastor, Jeremy Chasteen, gave a great message on discipleship referencing Matthew 28:16-17. The message focused on the need and command to make disciples as part of the Great Commission. Among other convicting reminders, he spoke of the call to make disciples as a call to do so intentionally. Making disciples involves going- actively determining and serving your Jerusalem (local), Judea and Samaria (state, country), and ultimately, the ends of the earth. The Great Commission is given to every believer. The only real question is: am I faithfully carrying out my Commission?
I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the Crosspoint family. The main reason for my visit, however, was to see a good friend of mine, Becky, baptized at the Lake Fellowship. Held at Y-Beach on Lake Hartwell, this is the same service in which I was baptized almost three years ago! It was wonderful to be there for such a big occasion in her life. I spoke with a friend, Ashley, one of Crosspoint's staff, during the fellowship. She said one of her favorite parts of Lake Fellowships is that it feels like homecoming for church members who have graduated or otherwise moved away. It definitely was so for me! One of Becky's friends since childhood Madison, whom I became friends with as we all attended Crosspoint in college, was able to make the trip and we surprised Becky with Emma and her husband, Stephen. It was a sweet reunion with college friends.

My baptism in August of 2007 (it was raining so I got "sprinkled and dunked" haha)



Becky's Baptism April 2010


Madison, Becky, Tracey, Emma, Emma's niece, Reese and our cameraman accidentally lost half of Susan!