Thursday, March 1, 2007

Seattle Pacific University


Switching from living at home to a Seattle Pacific University was difficult for me. I loved my home above the ferry in Southworth and did not want to leave. I yearned to stay and live at home, but I felt God calling me, through my parents among other things, to live on campus. Trusting that God would allow me to be uncharacteristically bold and outgoing and that He would bless me with friends, I moved into Moyer Hall. At SPU, God endowed me with a warm environment that was completely different from my previous school experiences. Finally, it was acceptable and even encouraged to discuss and practice my faith. However, I sometimes feel like such a Christian environment can also cause me to get far to comfortable with my faith and could cause me to become stagnant. Fortunately, SPU has been a source of rapid growth in my spiritual life. Through classes and groups, I have been heartened to practice regular bible study and prayer.
It has been a long journey since birth until my new university life. My faith has been a continuous process of growth. SPU has been a great place to bring my ideas about faith and religion and discuss these ideas with others. To combat my reservations of being in a dominantly Christian community I have strove to take advantage of ministry opportunities. For instance, in February, my floor pooled money to buy socks. One Saturday we went downtown and met some awesome homeless people, talked with them, and tried to explain that we care for them and feel called to serve them. Then, we offered them the socks as a gift. This experience helped me witness the love of God and encouraged me to grow closer to him. I hope to continue to serve God by serving the people of Seattle.

2 comments:

Bo Lim said...

Interesting you constantly refer to being "postmodern" - I'd encourage you to study this more while you're here at SPU. Very important topic.

nwgardener said...

Hey Markus --
This comment is from your neighbor up the street in Southworth, Ann Strosnider. I just happened onto your family's awesome blog site while researching local 2006 valedictorians on the Internet. I am working on a story for the Kitsap Sun -- a kind of college survival guide for incoming freshmen. I have a questionnaire I would like to e-mail you if you would like to participate.
Could you send me your e-mail address? Mine is astrosnider@mac.com Thanks, Ann