Do you ever get the feeling, with the coming of spring each year, that the world is waking up from sleep? It often seems to me, for whatever reason, that I’m waking and thawing with the spring too. Perhaps it’s the shot of vitamin D to the system that creates this sensation of waking, but whatever it is, my students experience it too. All winter, they’ve been working hard in their schooling and areas of focus, they’ve been leaning into relationships in the dorm, and doing the hard wrestling with the claims of the gospel necessary to change and grow. Now, we’re seeing the fruit of so much of that winter struggle. Things are beginning to click for them, their relationships are deepening, and they’re seeing the payoff in their own lives of the work they’ve put in.
It seems to me that this is simply the pattern of Christian life. Life, death, and new life is not just the course of the seasons, but reflects the turning of the heart of the man or woman in Christ as well. How not to be haughty when we feel spiritual vigor, and how not to fall into sin or despair when we are spiritually dry—these are lessons every Christian must learn. It’s good for our students to learn these lessons now, and to be served by them for the remainder of their lives and ministry. It’s good for some of us who are older, as well, to see as we walk with our students; they often impress upon us again the importance of lessons learned and forgotten.
There are only a few months left in the academic year, followed by the summer season where our students will take positions of leadership on our summer team. Please pray for our students as they complete their studies, that they will persevere. Pray also for us as we look ahead to the 2025-2026 year, and ask that the Lord will send us a full class!
