The Storm of Stress and the Peace of Rest

It’s been awhile since I typed up a blog. It isn’t because I haven’t had anything to say, but on the contrary I have been far too busy to write anything. But now the storm of stress has settled down enough for me to talk about what’s been happening.

The week before Missions Conference was pretty busy. I had alot of reading, an exam in Accounting, and a paper due the Monday of MC. After a long week I was looking forward to the weekend. NOPE! Torrey had us go the 9th Annual G. Campbell Morgan Theology Conference. It went from 1:30-10:00 on Friday and 8:30-12:00 on Saturday. So goodbye weekend. I got some work done, but rest was little and stress was building up.

That Sunday I woke up late and headed over to EVFree instead of WACC because of how late I woke up. I heard Mr. Dr. Thoennes again (he spoke in the seminar) and he was really good, but I was still worn out from the conference. I left early because I didn’t want to have to tell Mrs. Dr. Thoennes that I hadn’t started my paper proposal. Right before I got to my car, she got out of the car only three spots away. God’s timing is funny.

Missions Conference this year was themed "Let there be Light"

The next week was Missions Conference. The theme this year was “Let there be Light” and people have said that it was one of the best in years. We talked alot about being a light in the darkness, in other countries and where we are today. We learned that we are a community of light and we are confronting a community of darkness. That when we pull people in we have to help them be in a new community, not just pull them in and leave them. Human trafficking had a spotlight in the talks, especially since Anaheim is the number one port for human trafficking in America. That was highlighted in the Global awareness rooms. There were about five rooms that were transformed into different countries including Romania, India, the Congo, China, and America’s on Orange County. Congo dealt with child soldiers, Romania with poverty, China with the underground church, India with a brothel transformed into a school, and America with a brothel. All the rooms were powerful and really well done. Other things at MC include the market place where missions teams raised money for their trips, the missions organization tent where MO’s showed what they do, prayer rooms, and base camp where missionaries tell stories around a campfire with a pregnant sheep and goat and sleep overnight.

My job was to assist one of the directors of MC and to manage overflow sights. I was pretty busy, but I liked it.

My SOS crew group, named the Ashleys after the Ashleys in Recess, before we played a game

As soon as MC was over I headed out on my SOS retreat. It was a time of fun and laughter, team games, and a time of revealing ourselves to one another. The SOS family grew alot closer, though I can’t say what we did because “SOS is clouded in secrecy”.  What I can say is that I’m in an amazing group of people and have an amazing crew group called the Ashelys!

This past week has been super stressful. I had my midrags on Tuesday, which went really well, but I hadn’t started my paper which was due on Friday! And I still had work in other classes and Torrey! AHHH! I managed to crank out 1200 words on Tuesday and another 1600 on Thursday night. I decided that Torrey is humanly impossible. there is no way that papers can be written under that much stress, in that little time, and with other homework. The only way any of us did it was by God’s power. I could feel times when I would hit a wall in working, but then I would pray and crank out another 500 words! This time of stress is where we had to lean on God the most and He showed Himself to us in the most evident way.

On Friday I got to spend Grandparent’s day with my grandma and her friend. It started pretty early, but I was adjusted to lack of sleep. I got my paper edited and turned it in after she left. I turned it in around 4 and then took a nap. As tradition dictates, I went to Disneyland afterwards. I went with a bunch of guys on GUS, some girls, and my roommate. It was alot of fun and a good way to begin the process of relaxing. We went around 7 and left around 12 so we had a good amount of time there.

In our last Torrey session we talked about rest with God. Our tutor said that Torrey students are really bad at this because they train their mind to always be thinking. This is good for prayer, but we lose the ability to be still and know that He is God. It isn’t an easy thing to practice. This morning I went on a “Sabbathing retreat” which is worth 3 chapel credits. They give you some instructions and then let you go out for an hour or two to rest with God. It was a struggle since I hadn’t practiced resting with God. The sheet said that it takes practice and we need to be in a rhythm of rest, but I haven’t had that. Eventually I just told God everything that was on my mind and then I began to get into a state of rest, but the rest was a combination of with God and with my eyes fast asleep. It was a good exercise and I need to practice it.

These are some of the things that have been stressing me out, along with alot of other things. The stress in my life is beginning to go down (I still have another week till break) and God is showing me how to do that.