Today I mourned the loss of a good friend....

Not a human friend, but a friend that has stuck close by my side and is a very important part of my life. This friend is the undergrad InterVarsity chapter at Central Michigan University, my alma mater. For reasons too many to explain on a simple blog the chapter was shut down today.

Don't give up hope dear ones, we serve a God who is the Resurrection and the Life. A God who gives and takes a way. A God who brings new life.

And for that reason I will hope.

And remember all of my memories of my old friend.

I remember hiking out to Narnia for the first time as a student with my friends. Cedar Campus IS...a beautiful place, though it is still nature-ific.

I remember the times at Chapter FOCUS week, spending time in prayer and scripture and being trained to do ministry on campus!

Thank you old friend, for introducing me to one of my closest friends

My old friend taught me how to do inductive Bible Study and how to train others in it....and make them addicted! My old friend taught me never to leave home without a pack of colored pencils, because you never know when it is time to manuscript a passage.

My old friend gave me a love of going to a dorm room and asking them if I could take out their trash, do their dishes, even...yes clean their bathrooms, even a boys bathroom. A boys dorm bathroom. Yes, it is because of this old friend that I ever would be willing to serve this way, to be bold in this way, to invite others to do it with me and to ENJOY it.

This old friend showed me how to spend HOURS of my time meeting new students, following up with contacts, baking cookies for new students, delivering said cookies for new students, spending time in prayer for new students and completely overextending on my introverted tendencies. Why? Because New Student Outreach is just that important.

I learned to be bold through this new friend. I learned that people will not study scripture with you or have spiritual conversations with you if they are not invited.

I learned to pray for my campus. I learned to pray for my professors. I learned to pray for my friends. I learned to pray for my classmates. I learned to pray...and pray often. And to expect God to answer.

Because of my old friend, I am now serving on staff with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

Some of the most memorable times with my old friend was spending days together in prayer. We would have prayer rooms and have people praying around the clock for days. God met us in intimate ways. God broke us and made us more like Him. Oh, how I loved those prayer gatherings.

My old friend taught me about justice and how a Christian should be involved in pursuing justice.

If it wasn't for my old friend, I would have never learned to worship in other languages. I learned about ethnic reconciliation and ethnic identity. I began to care about God's purposes in the world.

My old friend taught me how to deal with conflict well.

There is so much that I could say about my time as a student at CMU while involved with InterVarsity. And it will be said....just in my journal. And to the Lord. But not on here, it is too close to home.

Today I mourned the loss of a good friend.

But man am I glad that there is hope for resurrection.

Praying for the resurrection of the chapter.