Fratty Fall Retreat

     Sorry this post has been so late coming but life has been a little hectic lately...

     Halloween weekend a group of us with Greek Impact headed to Pigeon Forge, TN for Fall Retreat. The whole point of the weekend was to experience authentic community and just to have fun supporting our Gamecocks at the game on Saturday. I would say we accomplished all that we set out to. 
     This weekend allowed me to have a little mini vacation from school and escape all of the things that were stressing me out. School has officially taken over and I don't see it letting up any time soon with the end of the semester quickly approaching. An escape to the mountains allowed me to take in the beauty of God's creation and brought me back to Him when I truly need Him most.  
     Joel, one of our leaders for Greek Impact, spoke on Saturday morning on The Rich Ruler found in Luke 18:18. In the passage the man seems to have a distorted view of himself, of who Jesus is, of God's law, and of life. In verse 18 he asks Jesus, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" The man believes that good actions that out way the bad will cause us to have eternal life. The man also calls Jesus "good" and Jesus simply responds "No one is good--except God alone." Even knowing that only God alone is good we must still rightly seek God for who He is knowing that we will vastly fall short. We must also realize that we will never be able to achieve His list of the 10 commandments and He knows this, which is why God has provided us a way to live without achieving the list. 

     Eternal life starts when we enter into a relationship with Jesus Christ!

I encourage you to read the story about The Rich Ruler (Luke 18: 18-30) and afterwards ask yourself these questions:

1. How do you view yourself? How do you think God views you?

2. Who is Jesus to you?

3. What is it that is keeping you from having a real intimate relationship with your creator?

4. How do I view Christian life?

"Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God" Romans 5: 1-5

My week in pictures

This past week was packed full of fun activities. Wednesday I had my last exam until after Fall Break so starting Wednesday night it was time to partake in some fun activities since after Fall Break I have to go back to living at good ole T.Coop.

 Wednesday night was $1 admissions at the fair so my roommate and I went to ride a few rides and check out the fair food.

 If you know me you know I love funnel cakes! An elephant ear just doesn't compare.

This weekend we had initiation and a brunch following.

So happy the newest member of the fam, Hannah, is finally a sister!

Saturday night it was off to the Cheesecake Factory in Charlotte for dinner before Scarowinds.

 Pumpkin Cheesecake. So delicious!

 After dinner it was time to head to Scarowinds. I've been to Carowinds but not SCarowinds. I had so much fun with our huge group and I've never had my heart jump so many times. 

All the girls.

Had so much fun bonding with my little and glittle this weekend. 

Next on the agenda is Fall Break. I can't wait to go home and see my family. I haven't been home since August so this trip is long overdue and much needed. 

Greek Impact Tailgate

     This past Saturday my parents tailgate spot got put to some good use after the Kentucky game with a Greek Impact tailgate. I'm glad I was able to convince my parents to go to their game at UNC instead of coming down here to Cola cause it was so much fun getting together with all the leaders and hanging out outside of our Greek Impact meetings. 
     Its really hard finding community within the crazy domain of the Greek Village but it was great getting away from the usual tailgate spot of the frat lots and getting together with people I don't regularly see throughout the week. I'm so excited for Fall Retreat to the Tennessee game because I'm going to get to spend a whole weekend with all of my friends through Greek Impact along with a lot of other people who are new to the Greek Impact community. 

 Shelley who disciples me and always has the most encouraging words! 

 Our awesome set up. Thanks mom and dad for the spot!

 Kappas at tailgate

 Such a great group of girls

 We headed to the frat lots after the tailgate. So much fun hanging with a different group of girls I don't normally see at tailgate. 

Perfect ending to such a great day and a Carolina victory (54-3) over Kentucky.

Kappa hosts Greek Impact

This past Wednesday Greek Impact came to KKG!!

     No words can describe my excitement about this. Before we haven't had a big enough chapter room to be able to even hold chapter let alone an event for the entire Greek Village, but now its bigger than ever. Over the summer the Kappa house had a remodel and one of the most significant changes was a larger chapter room. Since Greek Summit in May my ultimate goal has been to be able to host Greek Impact at the Kappa house. I thought that this would be a great way to reach sisters who wouldn't normally come because they feel awkward going into another sorority's house. Ever since this summer I also felt that God had been calling me to give my testimony if Kappa was able to host that way the first it was at my house it would be a little more significant so more sisters would come.

     I just want everyone to be able to see the changes in my life and how openly walking in my faith has made me a happier person and I think I accomplished just that. As soon as a get enough time I'll write another post sharing the extended version of my testimony for anyone who wants to read it. 

I can't wait for Kappa to be able to host another Greek Impact!!

And I can't wait for Fratty Fall Retreat later this month!

 Never thought I would ever see this chalked on the sidewalk of the GV.

 It's a packed house.

Our speaker Jack Easterby.

Click here for Kitty's post on Greek Impact. 

Courageous.

     Tomorrow night Kappa is hosting Greek Impact for the first time ever! No words can describe how excited I am for this and the fact that I was able to have a helping hand in it makes it all that more special. Anyways since Greek Impact is this week we cancelled our house bible study and instead went to the movies! 
     One of our new members showed us the trailer to the movie Courageous so we thought it was a perfect alternative for this week. Can I just say the movie was AMAZING!! It went from sad to happy to sad back to happy. Lets just say it was a roller coaster of emotions but well worth it. I'll post the trailer so you can get a little preview but ALL of you should go watch it. 

"But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve...But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” Joshua 24:15

     On another note prayers are greatly appreciated for tomorrow night. Since Greek Impact is at the Kappa house I wanted to give my testimony. This has been something I have wanted to do since going to Greek Summit. I just ask you to please pray that God speak through me and I am able to show His grace through my story.

Roadtrip to Georgia

     This past weekend I along with probably half the student body here at USC headed a little further south to UGA to cheer on the Gamecocks at Sanford Stadium. I think its pretty safe to say that USC kinda took over Athens.
     It was pretty cool to see how another school does game day, and especially a school that I applied to and seriously considered going to. After this weekend I think its safe to say that I made the right choice in becoming a Gamecock. At Georgia the stadium is located on campus so tailgating occurs on the quads and on other parts of campus. This is something I'm used to after spending my weekends as a kid going to UNC-CH football games, but its definitely a different experience after tailgating off campus these past couple of years.
     I have to say I really love Athens's downtown area. There are so many cute shops and its just a whole different world from Five Points. One thing Athens is lacking though is numerous brunch spots. The girls and I were determined to find a place for pancakes and french toast Sunday morning and it made us miss Cafe Strudel and Gourmet Shop after the first few places we went to were a bust but we did find pancakes finally!
     All in all it was the perfect road trip weekend and I got to spend lots of quality time with my big which I missed this summer, plus we had perfect seats for watching the game!

 Big and Little

 Tailgating on North Campus

 The walk to Sanford Stadium

 Amazing view from our seats. Well worth the money.

 Final Score

 The Roadtrip gang after the game

 The beautiful Kappa House at UGA

We finally got our pancakes at Mayflower Restaurant and I didn't let any go to waste.

This past Sunday was also 9/11.

10 years ago on this day I was sitting in my history class when the news was broken to us about what was happening. I will never forget the moment I heard our country was under attack. Living in a military town I am constantly surrounded by men and women fighting for our freedom and I would just like to say thank you to everyone who has made the ultimate sacrifice so that we may all life free.

We will never forget...

Sunday was also my aunt's birthday so Happy Birthday Aunt Kay!

The big 4-1

Gotta Get Down on FRAT-Day

     This past Wednesday we had our first Greek Impact of the semester and let me tell you we were blown away by the amount of people who showed up. Never in my mind did I believe we would run out of seats to the point where every available spot on the floor was taken and we had people pouring into the hallway and even onto the side patio. God is doing amazing work in the Greek Village this year and I'm excited to see what more he has in store for us. 

     Something just feels different about this year and Wednesday night definitely helped to prove it. I know for me personally I am more open about my faith. I'm not as shy anymore about being a follower of Christ and telling people about it. I'm happy with myself and all of the exciting things God has been doing in my life and I just want to shout it out to everyone. No longer do I feel pressured to do the social norms suspected of a college student. Instead I feel confident in my beliefs and I want to stand up for them and set myself apart in the crowd. 

     I know that a lot of the people that came to Greek Impact may have been forced to be there because they are pledges but I hope and I pray that for everyone that came they truly listened to the message given by Joel. I pray that something stuck with them and they realize that whoever forced invited them to come truly wants for them to become a brother and sister in Christ. All of us leaders want all 500+ students who were packed into the DZ house to be with us in Heaven. We want everyone to live for Christ and know that his plan, though we may not think it, is better. God is always with us and though we are sinful people he still loves us and wants us to live for him!

I would say there was standing room only...but there wasn't even anywhere to stand

Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." Mark 2:17

"Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." Matthew 10:39

Midtown: Bible Stories Week 1

     An important question that you need to ask yourself is "Who is the Bible really about?" Many people may see the Bible, especially the Old Testament, as a book of helpful stories that give good life advice or perhaps they see it as a list of rules meant to make God happy in order to get His blessing. An important point to make sure we all understand is that the Bible is NOT about moralism! A group of people who live their life perfectly according to God's word are no better than those who don't. No one is perfect so it is impossible to do exactly everything that God wants. We are sinful by nature that is why God sent his son Jesus to die for us. No amount of human effort can fix the problems of man. 

     We are not meant to fear God because he is trying to fix our brokenness and keep us from sinning. In Exodus 20: 20 Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you and keep you from sinning." 

     The stories of the Bible are not meant to be a set of rules we need to follow in order to get into heaven. It does not mean that you must obey God or fear being swallowed by a whale like Jonah. Instead the Bible is about Jesus! Jesus is the one true prophet who can speak life into the soul. He is the one who can mediate between man and God. 

     The Old Testament is testifying to Jesus, it is not a moralistic rule book by which we are meant to follow. In John 5: 39-40 Jesus says "You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These  are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life." We must turn to Jesus to have life!

When reading the Old Testament ask yourself these three questions:

1. In what way does this text reveal the character of God?

2. What insight does this text give into the nature of humanity and sin?

3. How does this text foreshadow or point to Jesus?

"Blessed are all who fear the Lord, 

who walk in his ways. 

You will eat the fruit of your labor; 

blessings and prosperity will be yours."

Psalm 128: 1-2

Midtown

     In John 3:3 Jesus declares "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." 

     At birth we are physically alive but in reality we are spiritually dead. All of us need someone else to give us this spiritual birth and that someone is God. We all share in common that we need God to open our eyes and hearts to his word. God's grace and love cannot be earned by good behaviors. Just because we do everything we think is morally right does not mean we will be blessed with the right to enter the kingdom of heaven. Instead we need a Savior! We need to be rescued from religion by Jesus who was sent down from heaven by God for us. 

     Luke 19: 1-10 is the story of Zacchaeus the tax collector. After spending one afternoon with Jesus he received a new spiritual life. Jesus rescued him from rebellion. We are all children of God and we deserve to be rescued from our sins and be born with a new spiritual life. Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."

     God offers us warmth and grace and friendship even when we are rebellious. All of creation was created with the purpose of glorifying God. Tim Keller says, "The trinity is forever, eternally existing as a dance, mutually respecting and trying to show each other off, forever glorifying each other."

     In John 3 Nicodemus would come only before Jesus at night. In John 19 we see that as he becomes a follower of Christ he is no longer afraid to be seen talking to Jesus in the daylight. We are all lights for God and as followers of Christ we must help rescue people from centering their life around anything other than Jesus. Jesus sacrificed his own life so that we may not suffer for our sins so how can our life be centered around anything but him?

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" John 3:16

What is your life centered on?

Kappa Bible Study

     Tonight was the first Kappa bible study of the year, something Makena and I have anxiously been awaiting since getting back from Greek Summit. In all honesty we expected maybe 10 girls max to show up tonight and to our answered prayers we had 19! What's even more amazing is that 7 of these girls were new members who just joined Kappa only 3 days ago and we had so many girls wanting to come but couldn't because of class conflicts. My mind is completely blown away by the grace of God's love and how he answers our prayers when we least expect it.
     This year we are going to be studying Marian Jordan's Sex and the City Uncovered. This is the same book that we studied my freshman year which happened to be the first year for Kappa bible study to even exist. It's crazy to think that in just 3 years there has already been a huge change in our house and there are so many girls openly seeking the Lord. 

     Here's a little excerpt from the book if anyone is interested in reading it on their own...

     "This is my story. I went looking for love in all kinds of places, only to find myself more empty and confused as a result. From parties to people, from shopping to men, job promotions and even more parties...hoping something would bring me a sense of security or love. Happy hour eventually is over, the guy inevitably fails to be perfect, and food may fill a stomach but not a soul. My disillusionment eventually led to despair. Life seemed without hope and joy seemed elusive. I was captive to the emptiness."
     "...what caused the emptiness in the first place?"
     "The answer is found in the Bible...In Scripture we are told the story of God and how our problem of "looking for love" first began. The Bible tells us that humanity is created by God and for God. Translation: He is the Designer and Creator of Life, so in order to find out how things got all jacked up in our world, we must go back to the "Designer's manual."

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

 2 Corinthians 5:17

"May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word"

2 Thessalonians 2:16-17