It’s possible that I haven’t paid attention in school, not connected with my teachers, and it’s even possible that with my Christian Mennonite education I’ve been apathetic to what is being taught! (Gasp) However, I would like to think that 10 years ago when I began high school, I began truly contemplating this talk of faith, beliefs and God. Naturally faith develops and matures over a life time, and I’m starting to see the tip of the iceberg, as they say, with this development.
I was in the third grade, and my Dad was driving into the garage in our great 5-speed brown Mazda 323, and he said, “So Krista, what do you want to do?” Now we have pictures of me as a two year old, dressed up as a doctor/nurse, so my response was not a surprise. “I want to be a nurse,” I naturally responded. “Well, Hesston College has a 2-year nursing program that would be great for you” he said. Done, finished, seal the envelope, I had made my decision. I would go to Hesston College and major in nursing. Ever since that day, I honestly can say I’ve never doubted that, and have put everything into working towards that dream, and calling to be a nurse. However, since finishing my classes, obtaining my BSN, and passing my boards, I’m realizing how much I’ve missed out on some key “intellectual”, if you will, faith development.
Having conquered public transportation during our first week of orientation, we moved on to the next mission: Spiritual Development and Discipleship. This one may take 2 weeks to accomplish a full understanding of all the bus, subway and detour routes in God’s secret roadmap. J Monday, Darrell (Director of Radical Journey) joined us again at our house, for an open discussion with Krista Dutt (also known as K.D., our leader in Chicago) with common spiritual questions on faith. A number of factors played into this being a very moving and insightful time for me. Number one, K.D. and Darrell had differing opinions which helped others, including myself, not feel ostracized for having differing opinions. Number two, having lived with the group in a very close setting for a week, trust was beginning to form. And number three, being the oldest in the group, I didn’t feel pressured into conforming to the rest of the group‘s opinions, or being “looked down upon” for not having opinions formed by years of theological study. I was accepting myself during this time as myself, with the mind that I had, and experiences that have shaped my beliefs.
The discussion between Krista and Darrell was open for us to chime in, and was focused on “simple” (HA) questions such as: who is God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit; Is there a plan for my life, and is there a heaven or a hell? It was a wonderful time to listen, and a chance for me to begin to finally verbalize and dig deeper into my faith, in a very non-judgmental setting. This is not to say that all of the other faith focused settings that I have been apart of have not challenged me, but more to speak to the fact that I was not ready to let my focus stray from nursing. I was overly focused on the task at hand.
Since our Monday discussion, we have then been taking Myer-Briggs personality tests, test determining Spirituality Types, and finally Craig had to take, as well as everyone else, a test on LOVE LANGUAGES!!
Reiterating what I’ve said, this week has been a blessing to talk about things I’ve discussed before, and taking tests again but doing all of these things with nothing else looming over our heads. I’m not having to worry about my job (or lack there of), bills, classes or up coming plans. I’m excited and relieved to see this time during orientation as a time for me to relax, listen and learn.
1 comment:
Glad our conversation was helpful!
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