A Message From Joel

Reflection. Take time to reflect on your experiences and analyze the changes that have occurred over the past couple of years. As graduation season has passed us, we asked Joel to reflect on his time at WVU and share with us one last thought, shout out, or inspiration. We wanted to share Joel’s response with all of you today. 

“ "It takes a long time to become young” - Picasso

• Know your story. Reflect on all the joys, pain, failures and successes, acts of kindness, words of love, tragedies, and questions that have made you who you are. There’s a story there.

• Pursue authenticity. Your own kind of beautiful is the best kind of beautiful.

• Start With Why. "He who has a why for living can bear almost any how."

• Call a friend at 12:00 pm on Friday afternoon and decide to drive 3.5 hours to a concert.

• Chase Lacey, Clayton, and Ginger around.

• Dream big dreams and move towards them. Sometimes scared, sometimes audacious. Always courageous.

• Always add ketchup. Everything tastes better with it. Watermelons, too? Stay tuned.

• Have some real conversations with friends. Shower them with love, chocolate, and honesty. In no particular order. We all need somebody to lean on.

• You’re on a journey so cut yourself some slack for not having it all figured out.

• Get lost in nature.

• God’s purpose will continue to reveal itself. His promise is planning to prosper you, not to harm you. Trust Him to grow you into recognizing His presence.

• Get some mentors and voices you can trust. Many have walked the same roads you travel. Grab the nuggets. Be a sponge. Express your frustrations. Figure out what rules to break.

• In case you’re stuck trying to figure out what faith looks like in college, read John 15:17 - This is my command: Love each other. Start with lots of that.

• Be Humble. You’ll figure out why later.

• You might be asked to nurture patience.

• You might be misunderstood. You might make uncommon decisions. Good. Keep Going.

• At the end of the day, sit around the fire with friends and get lost in the wonder.

Study hard too. Stand for something. Have strong values. Your life is your sermon so go ahead and preach it!

Thanks, CSF. It was a wild and wonderful ride. 

“The world is longing to see that Jesus works.” - excerpt from a message via tin cans and string “

 This year graduation has looked much different than in the past, but the jubilee and celebration of your accomplishments doesn’t need a stage to make an impact. We want to congratulate our CSF members who will be moving forward and expanding their stories past WVU. To Natalie Adams, graduating with a Doctorate in Physical Therapy, to Kaitlyn Gregg graduating with a BA in Civil Engineering, and Joel Opio, graduating with a BA in Chemical Engineering, Team CSF wishes you the best on your journey. Your stories are still being written, embrace them, reflect, and share them with the world. 

Your Story is Being Written!!

Sharpen that pencil!  Your story is being written @ WVU.

It has been a long time since many of us had a predictable week of life.

Each week can feel like we are picking from the Sorting Hat - our hopes and dreams are taken into account but ultimately we have no idea. Schedules, travel, engagements, work, time with friends, and shopping get tweaked and adjusted on the fly.  I go to Lowe’s and Pull a Part and they have reduced hours.  Our trips, travel plans, friends, and fun are fluid and uncertain, and seem to be the most likely to get dropped.

Your story is being written.

Most of you aren't at WVU, yet your story is still largely happening here. Joel doesn't get to celebrate his graduation in person, or with his family he hasn't seen in 4 years, WHAT!? I pause and reflect on the challenges this is posing for some of you. I’m sorry it’s hard and putting you through one awkward decision or circumstance after another.

Your story is being written. And it's being written at WVU.

Payton, Allie, Trinity….students stories are still being written in Morgantown and on the campus of WVU.  And we will celebrate those stories while we dream for Fall 2020 @ WVU.

Joel, Hannah and I hung out on campus. We talked about life, transitions, and laughed with quiet blue skies and puffy clouds floating above a very still Woodburn.

We were sharpening our pencils, sharing our stories.

For those of us that lean into Jesus and scripture, Jesus said in John 5:17 “My father is always at his work to this day, and I too am working.”  It is encouraging to know that God is always up to something - not in a game-of-Chess kind of way. But rather, continuing to hope, nudge, and breathe heat, warmth, light and hope into the world around us. The same thing Genesis describes Him doing during Creation. 

Zoom might be required. An outdoor meeting may suffice. You may need some envelopes and stamps. Serving others might feel closer to home in your immediate circles of life, or it might feel more distant through mailing things.

Sharpen your pencil, remember that God is still up to something, and so are you. Commit to knowing that God has a plan. Commit to continuing your story even when everything looks different.  You are not on pause. You're not biding your time. You are not just waiting. Everything is not stalled. Your story is being written. WVU is still the chapter you're on.

Sharpen that pencil and do whatever it takes to live that out!  Join us as we pull off our own version of Lewis and Clark through uncharted waters!

Its time to share those stories, together! Let’s GO!!!

Audacious Prayers - What would God say "Yes" to every time?

What needs to happen for Thrisha to visit Brian's house? She needs to call, text, ask, get directions, find transportation, and then let him know she arrived by honking, knocking, or pushing a door bell. Asking is the same as texting and calling. Seeking is akin to directions and transportation. Knocking is equivalent to honking and door bells.

That same process happens in Matthew 7:7 when Jesus says ask, seek, and knock. 

Asking sometimes is a journey with many twists and turns. Seeking requires additional help, support, and guidance. Arriving grants the welcome opportunity to knock.  Asking, seeking, and knocking sometimes feels more akin to being lonely, lost, and knocking on air.

What prayers can we consider that God would say "Yes!" to?  Every time?
In all honesty my first thought is "Is that possible?" 
My second thought is "Am I ready?"

In the Lord's prayer in Matthew 6:10 Jesus says "your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." 

Imagine a church community that makes that their quest. That they would be employees, servants, husbands, and wives that are committed to making that happen. Robust marriages that make a difference in the lives of hurting people.  Healthy servants that encourage others to serve.  Vibrant leaders that do everything they can to leverage the church for good in their community in order to Glorify God. Caring eyes that meet needs in the community. That's kind of where I want to be - in the middle of people doing crazy good, audaicious things, bold helping, risky serving, audacious generosity for the good of the church and community that glorifies God.  It starts with audacious prayers. 

Where would God lead you if you prayed crazy prayer's that you know He would answer with a Yes? 

It won't be comfortable, easy, and familiar. 
It'll simply be worth it if we do.

Eyes

Today a freshmen provided an unending trail of chatter as they walked with an RA (Resident Assistant).  I never noticed the RA speak though I can imagine there was a faint social cue or "hmm, hmmm" that I didn't catch. Maybe it was the RA's freshmen year.  Maybe it was the solar eclipse (which a few of us CSFer's are going too!). Something was causing their eyes to glaze over.  And we've all been there, our eyes can be telling. What they stare at, when they do double takes, expressions, concentration, crying.

Psalm 25:15 "My eyes are ever on the Lord, for only he will release my feet from the snare." 

Eyes always on the Lord - come on?  Really? For me sometimes my eyes are on church, the bible, and prayer.  But if it's for a lesson, a meeting, a wedding, a funeral, or just content, then my eyes are on the look out for content, not Jesus.  And that's not a good feeling nor what we want.  Imagine if I just looked to my wife strictly for content, information, practical advice and never actually had my eyes on her.  She might suggest she's seen that before, but don't you believe it!  But I don't want that for her or my faith, that's just lame and watered down.  I want to remember there's something powerful, beautiful, and purposeful about having our eyes set on Jesus.

We are just a glance away from melting away struggles and opening up massive possibilities this very moment.  If every Christian had eyes on Jesus every day, even just for a moment, hearts, communities, marriages, foster children, churches, work places, and possibilities would explode around churches all over the world. We are new creations, we just need eyes for it. It starts with you. 

Read through a gospel. But first set aside all the nursery rhymes, chalk boards, crafts, and stuff of the past. Let your imagination picture the scenes like you do when you read a novel.  Set your eyes on *that* Jesus.  Because it's a wild ride, he is crazy, the good kind of crazy.  In deeds, actions, words, and character.

Set your eyes on something powerful from the author and creator of life every day - Put a slick app on your favorite device.  These guys thought it so important they hired top notch engineers and visionaries and created this FREE app which makes it super easy to just sign up for a reading plan or see a verse every day.  There are other apps as well that just send a verse every day.  Do it!
https://www.youversion.com/