Be Thou My Vision

I just spent the last few days up in Speculator NY for the Northeast CCC staff. Let me tell you, it was phenomenal! Aside from it being an introvert's nightmare, it was a great time. There were 165 staff and interns assembled, plus 99 staff kids, which is crazy. One of the big things we talked about was grace... grace and truth (John 1:14), grace and peace (Romans 1:7), and grace and knowledge (2 Peter 3:8). I can go into detail later about them all, and I will, but right now I'm waiting for someone in a coffee shop, and don't think I'll have time. So I'm going to just put this here to remind me to post later, and leave you with my overwhelming for the weekend...

God is good, so good, and wants the best for us, wants intimacy with us. How can we keep that to ourselves? I just have a renewed desire to share the Gospel, and introduce others to the Savior of the world. 

We sang this song a few times during worship, and it really has become my prayer this week. That Jesus would be my vision, that my eyes would be set on Him at all times. 

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tower:
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

High King of Heaven, my victory won,
May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

October Summary

Sorry for the lack of posts. Here's a brief update. I'll try to be better about it in the future...

This has been a month of changes and growth, no doubt about that. The last few days of September we took our students on the Upstate NY Fall Retreat along with students from Buffalo, Syracuse, Cornell, and Albany. In total there were around 250 people there, including almost 90 from Rochester! We had 8 students come from MCC, which is 6 more than ever before, and 10 deaf students from RIT. It was a great weekend as we learned and talked about trusting God with our pasts, presents, and futures. During worship Sunday morning one of the deaf students, Philip, fainted, falling on his face on the concrete floor and was quickly surrounded by blood. Instead of panicking, students all over the room broke into prayer until the students moved to the dining hall to allow the paramedics more room and privacy. Once relocated, the students continued to pray and began to worship God through song in some of the most honest worship I have seen. 

The concept of trusting that God is in control at all times was put to the test that day; it challenged all of us as we understood from experience rather than from hearing someone speak about it. Philip ended up being fine, with only a couple chipped teeth, and when he learned about how the students had prayed for him, he began to cry, astounded at the idea that hearing people could care for him, a deaf person, so much. 

Ministry on campus since the retreat has been challenging, but rewarding. MCC’s small groups continue to grow and the students are really grasping the importance of the Gospel and sharing it with their friends and families. St John Fisher has been more of a challenge; while many students signed up to be involved, only about 10 have stuck with it. I am working individually with one of the girls, however, and we are going to be beginning an outreach in her dorm this year and starting to share the Gospel with them. We are still in the startup phase at Fisher and are hoping to see some real growth as the year progresses.