A Look at Pride

Hello All!

This past weekend, I went on a ski trip with Campus Outreach to Asheville, North Carolina. It was fun for the most part, but I think I value the lessons I learned during the weekend a lot more than the fun. I must confess I started the trip with the wrong intentions. I was definitely more excited about skiing than anything else since it's been so long since I skied last. I started figuring this out when we arrived and I started listening to the message. Our speaker stayed mainly on the story of Jonah. When I heard this I was like, "Really? I've heard the story of Jonah like five billion times!" But God, being the amazing God He is, used this lesson to teach me things I've haven't thought about before and/or things I've forgotten. It never ceases to amaze me how God can use something we've heard countless times before, but let us see it in a whole new way.

Saturday was a day full of mini-lessons for me. The first true test came when I was waiting to get my boots and skis. It was taking FOREVER because it was so packed that day. It probably took me a full hour to get everything, and tempers were short and people just wanted to get outside and ski. It was so packed, that if Campus Outreach had not signed up ahead of time, we would have had to have gone somewhere completely different to get our equipment. And things just weren't working the way I wanted them to. I wanted to get there, ski for a hour or so, eat leisurely, ski some more and go have dinner out somewhere. That is NOT how it happened. After I got everything, I had to go have lunch, all the while worrying about the fact that I did not have a bib yet, and worrying they would be completely sold out by the time I got there. And I did end up having to get a 3X bib because all the other bibs were taken. When I finally hit the slopes, me and my friend Taylor had to wait in a really, really long line just to get on the ski lift. And as we were waiting to get off the ski lift at the middle stop, I did not judge my distance right and ended up jumping like a sky diver four feet to the ground while the ski lift continued to go up. It was rather funny, and it didn't really hurt my body, but it did hurt my pride a little. It also ended up the Taylor was a much better skier than me. There was this one hill I just couldn't get! It was a "blue" hill, which means it was an intermediate hill for those of you who haven't been skiing before, that was steep and hilly. I got the blue hill before that, but this one was just too fast and scary for me. I didn't want to die before I got married, haha, so I basically slid down on my bottom the entire way down. It was rather funny and embarrassing at the same time.

For some reason, I think it is to smooth out the hills and such, ski parks close down for an hour or so and reopen for night time. So, being the silly girl I am, I see my friends go into the ski lodge where all the skis and boots are returned, so I return my skis thinking we were done for the day. I am then told that it will reopen (I should have known this since I skied before, but I guess I wasn't thinking) at six. So I try to go get them back, but the guys say they can't help me. I feel like crying right now, and they finally agree to giving me my skis at 5:30. At this point, I'm trying to find Taylor, who has completely disappeared, and anyone else I know. I finally find her and our roommates at the hotel, and explain to them the situation, feeling totally stupid. So I sit down, take off my boots, and try not to think about the problem of my skis. While I was sitting there oh so forlorn, I guess someone saw my white boot and mistook it for their white boot, which was the wrong size, and ended up taking it with them. So not only am I ski less, I'm bootless as well. Now I'm thing, "They're never going to believe me now! I don't have my skis anymore nor my boots! This is absolutely terrible!" Eventually 5:30 rolls around and I resign myself to perhaps not getting my boots and skis back, but I want to try anyways. So I wait at the counter until another guy who hadn't helped me yet was done. When he finished with the people in front of me, I brought before him my dilemma. He just smiled and said, "Don't worry about it, we'll get you another pair." I was absolutely relieved and felt like hugging and kissing this guy I was so happy! He was so nice and he didn't even doubt my word.

So night skiing was a bit better, and I was enjoying myself a lot more now that I realized I had been stressing over nothing. I also realized God was teaching me a very hard lesson. "You're so worried about these pathetic little things, Keri Lynn, when you have so much to be thankful for! Food, shelter, family and friends who love you even though you're not the best skier. And you were worried about a little thing like ski boots? I love you, but sometimes you gotta learn things the hard way." He was right and I was humbled. So basically my day consisted of learning to be patient, peaceful, and humble. A hard lesson to learn for a girl as prideful as me. I also had to trust that God had me in His hands, even if I were to die in some freak accident on the slopes. It could happen, and I had to trust that I would be safe in His loving arms if that were ever to be the case. This has always been something I've struggled with, even as a little girl. Trusting that He has me in His hands and nothing will ever take me out of them.

On Sunday, our speaker spoke more about Jonah and trying to work off our debt. He mentioned something that caught my attention. "We are so prideful, we try to work off our debt, but in being prideful, we are sinning against God and therefore building up our debt. Which is kind of ironic since we were trying to get rid of it in the first place." Another thing that made a big impression on me was a clip he showed us. I don't know about any of you, but I LOVE LOTR. (Lord of the Rings) I've always enjoyed watching it and have even read the books. Well, he showed us the opening scene to the third movie where they show how Gollum became the creature he was. As I watched the clip, I was thrown for a loop as I saw how dirty, grimy, and disgusting Gollum was. He preferred uncooked fish and living in the dark compared to eating good, healthy food and living in the light. And he did all this for a ring that could do nothing for him. He even killed for the ring, and yet he received NOTHING. And then it struck me. I am Gollum! At least, that is what I am in the eyes of God. If it weren't for Jesus, that would be the way God would see me! It was very humbling and very eye opening. I knew I was a sinner and didn't deserve God's grace, but this time it was even clearer to me why. God is so so good!

Well, that's my weekend in a "nutshell." There's even more, but this will have to do for now. If you want to learn more after reading my insanely long blog post, that please just ask me! I'd be happy to share! :)

Peace to you all,

Keri Lynn