STUCO: "We put the fun in functional"

Drama – film festival is April 1, at 730pm or later start time. Contact is Dwight. Deadline of March 28 for posters and films to Dwight.

Missions – square dance event is April 2, at 730pm, fundraising for Japan Tsunami Relief. Open to the community. $2/entrance. Fundraising will be done through a dessert fundraiser. Talk to Spencer.

Bylaws update – if you are STUCO committee supervisor, feel free to discuss committee bylaws with your STUCO chairperson, and give them support and assistance in this area. Talk to Nick P.

Music/Social Rec/Café – coffeehouse is March 27, at 900pm, in the mall. Open to Bethany team and family members. Open mike for instrumental or vocal. Set by Cambria Hiebert. Talk to Cam and Jay.

If you have questions about any of these events, please talk to the student leaders listed.
LB

Interning Thoughts...

The next few posts come to us courtesy of some of our interns who are out and about this year. Our first post is from Clark Holmes who is interning at Redberry Bible Camp. He is recently married to his lovely wife Kelsey (Regehr) and together they are learning the ins and outs of married camp life.

Enjoy!


I have been pondering what humility looks like in servant leadership. Humility, to me, is when someone remembers who they are in light of who God is and doesn’t desire to elevate themselves more than their fellow man. I find that humility is a biblical model for leading people but I am searching for the phrase, or even foundation, for being a servant leader. In my mind I pictured someone who is trying to please everyone and will do whatever it takes to see their followers still smiling. But that isn’t the picture I’ve been finding as I look through the pages of Scripture.

I think that lately some Christians have thought that putting two good words together will make the phrase even better than if there were only one. Moses led the people with the authority given him. Peter pronounced judgment on Annanias and Saphira without making sure they would be happy first. And even though Jesus was a servant to all he called the baby by its name when Peter wanted to make sure the Son of Man wouldn’t have to suffer and die. Humility appears to be something God-oriented and being a servant or leader sounds like an attribute judged by our human interactions. Therefore to “learn humility in servant leadership” seems paradoxical.

To call oneself humble in regards to people before we approach God’s throne on our faces is lying. The best case scenario would be us assuming a door-mat position with other people. This, in reality, is allowing other people to define where we should be going and who we should become. It leaves little room for God. We would profess to put others before ourselves but we are also putting others before God. When God comes in second or third all who compete lose because God doesn’t win.

My pondering boils down to this: What order does humility, servanthood, and leadership come in? To be a leader first - without humility and a servant-heart - is cold at best and tyrannical at the worst. And without first grasping the kingdom-reality of who we are we could become self-deprecating and diffident where we lack all self-confidence and the boldness we should have in our God-given gifts. In other words, for a servant to bloom into a leader they must first learn humility.

Humility is plainly remembering who we are in Christ; not more or less. Wretched yet saved; redeemed but not all there yet. I will cede that we can learn this in the throes of serving and leading but if we as yet don’t possess a humble attitude there will be an extreme level of patience necessitated from those whom we are serving or leading. The polite and loving boldness we can have in all areas of life, if we possess true humility, is worth opening ourselves to be taught such a foundational treasure.

Isaiah 2:11
The eyes of the arrogant will be humbled
and human pride brought low;
the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.

This week in STUCO World

- Student leader discernment in process. List of names for STUCO elections will be posted soon. See Hillary K or Nick P if you are a late inquiry for any position.

- Blood drive - see Spencer for details.

- Games night called “Shuffle your buns” – like musical chairs and other group games – Fri March 25, evening 7/8pm.- Coffeehouse - Sunday, March 27 in the mall, 9pm start – joint event with Social Rec, Music and Café Committees. Free regular coffee from Café, fancy drinks still for $$.

- Fan Van to Nipawin - on weekend of March 25 or 26, details to come.

- Film festival - Friday April 1, evening.

- Square dance event - Saturday, April 2 – open to the Hepburn community, student fundraising projects, dessert auction, more details to come.

- Twin day - Tuesday, April 5.

Lent is a time for listening

I am not by nature an early riser. It has been quite the joke in my family of origin because my middle name is "Dawn."

If given the choice and the space, I could still sleep in like the best of them, leisurely rising around mid-morning followed by brunch and several strong cups of coffee. These days, however, my morning starts between 7.00 and 8.00am and includes my own routine, Maddie's school checklist and sing-songs, the random ideas of Joshy-boy always at full-speed, Rob and his quiet patterns, and our bonus family member, Kaylee. Good times.

Back in my cow-milking days, I was up before 7.00 to go hand-milk 1-3 cows before breakfast. Yikes. My parents were convinced it was a plan to ensure I could be at least civil by the time the porridge hit the table. Not always successful.

Somewhere along the way, I took back the morning. (This is probably another whole post or reflection). So, I may not be an early riser on a consistent basis, but these days before my feet hit the floor, I grab gratitude, peace, and wisdom for the day from the One who generously provides. I pray breath prayers. I give up my day and myself to my Maker. And I start.

But back to today. Today I opened my eyes, awake, fully awake, and thinking clearly. I rolled over to see the clock, and it shocked me with a 5.30 reading. Seriously. Seriously?

First step, pray for my sister (because she lives in a different time zone).
Second, give up any concerns or stresses that might be rattling around in my head.
Third, snuggle back under the covers because my alarm is still set for just after 7.
Fourth......I am still awake.
Fifth, listen.

Then, an amazing and crazy idea popped into my head. And I bolted out of bed to write it down, to write an email. And now I am writing here.

And I was reminded.....Lent is a time for listening.

Listening to pray
Listening to surrender
Listening to rest
Listening to respond
Listening to create
Listening to act
Listening to encourage
Listening to challenge
Listening to share

Lent is a time for listening.

Maybe Lent is not so much about merely "subtraction",
about what we are in a rush to give up
candy, coffee, chocolate, unnecessary grumbling....
or even about "addition",
about what we take up because we ought
prayer, giving, service.....
but more about "multiplication"
through listening and obedience.

"O Lord in the morning will I direct my prayers
unto You I will look up" (Psalms 5).

Blessings,
LB

On writers and writing

By Lisa Braun

"In a mood of faith and hope my work goes on. A ream of fresh paper lies on my desk waiting for the next book. I am a writer and I take up my pen to write"
(Pearl S. Buck).

Writing. Since I was about 14 years old, maybe even earlier, I have been keeping journals. Sometimes on one-sided paper (thanks Dad) that was holepunched to fit in my red Herbert Laurels school binder, sometimes in hard-cover lined journals from Zellers, but I was writing. Perhaps it started around the time each of us Peters kids got into the Pioneer Girls/Brigade devotional magazines, but it hasn't stopped. There have been fits and starts at various points in my life with journalling, but I write on. My favorite forms today are the black hardcover journals from Shoppers, or the sometimes short, sometimes long facebook notes (the lazy girl's blog, I call it).

Writing. Two years ago for Lent, I gave myself over to writing. Not willingly, but with great will. Not necessarily filled with joy, but rather with choice. I called the 40 days (plus a good chunk more) my penance, petition, sacrifice, and offering. Not because I wanted to, or at least not completely. But because I had to. I was compelled. By something outside myself, but not particularly divine or holy, or at least it didn't seem so at the time. But rather, by the university. The deadline for my Masters Project was looming, and I couldn't see any other way to completion except to carve out daily time -- as much as I could grasp -- from every possible other option. Sometimes I managed 1 hour, some days I wrote for up to 8, but did I ever write. At the keyboard in my office, at the kitchen island, at the computer nook. I got up early, and I stayed up late. I was whole-hearted in my devotion. Somewhere early in the process, I decided that this offering would be my joy to give that Lenten season. Man, it was hard, but I experienced something incredible in those many hours alone with my work and my God. Something about being consecrated and set apart. There's a lot of stories in that season, just ask me sometime. I wrote every day. Every day. I feel overwhelmed just thinking about that time.

Writing. A few days ago, I spent some time brainstorming and scribbling with two scraps of paper and a good black pen on the ride home to Hepburn from Regina. Comfortably settled in the co-pilot's chair. Trying to capture my vision for why I write, and why I want to share what I write, and why I want to create space for others to write. And I came up with some ideas for the blog. I hope to reveal a bit here and there, especially as I learn more about designing pages, making links, and other great blogging basics. If you are good at this stuff, stop by and teach me something new sometime. But I will write. And if you don't see something for awhile, ask me.

I've been thinking about
Feature ideas and topics like
Church
Sabbath
Collaboration
Trust
Love
Finding other writers
Staff, faculty, students, alumni, and friends
Special review columns (on music, coffee places, etc)
Stories about people
Links to cool things
Starting to add blogs to follow
and more.

If you want to write, join me, be brave, and step up to the blog.

PS I think I recruited my first official writer, Sara Jantzen. First post on music you gotta give a listen to, coming soon! Sara, what's going to be your first deadline?

STUCO Updates

1. Missions – Spencer Nikkel

- Blood drive – coming next week (March 14th week).

- Square dance event - Saturday, April 2 – open to the Hepburn community, student fundraising projects, dessert auction, more details to come.

2. Social Rec – Cam Kerney

- Coffeehouse - Sunday, March 27 in the mall, 9pm start – joint event with Social Rec, Music and Café Committees. Free regular coffee from Café, fancy drinks still for $$.

- Twin day - Tuesday, April 5.

- Games night called “Shuffle your buns” – like musical chairs and other group games – Fri March 25, evening 7/8pm.

3. Sports Rec – Steve Johnson

- Blades games - Wednesday, March 16, evening.

- Fan Van to Nipawin - on weekend of March 25 or 26, details to come.

- Handball - Thursday, March 10, 9pm.

- Life sized fooseball - Friday, March 11 aft.

4. Drama – Dwight Bennett

- Improv night - Sunday, March 13, 9pm

- Film festival - Friday April 1, evening

5. Spiritual Life – Rebecca Davies

- Day of Prayer - Wednesday, March 9, starts with brunch at 10am

- Day of Prayer Worship Night - Wednesday, March 9, starts at 7pm, community welcome

It's Tuesday

It's Tuesday, Shrove Tuesday, also called Pancake Day, and I found a poem to honor today. Salute to Allison Preston from the lunch table earlier.

Royalty

He was a plain man

and learned no latin

Having left all gold behind

he dealt out peace

to all us wild men

and the weather

He ate fish, bread,

country wine and God’s will

Dust sandalled his feet

He wore purple only once

and that was an irony.

(Luci Shaw, Polishing the Petoskey Stone, p.58)

Note below is an excerpt directly from wikipedia: See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrove_Tuesday for more.

Shrove Tuesday is a term used in English-speaking countries, especially the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia,[1] New Zealand, Philippines, and parts of the United States[2] for the day preceding Ash Wednesday, the first day of the season of fasting and prayer called Lent.

The word shrove is the past participle of the English verb to shrive, which means to obtain absolution for one's sins by way of confession and doing penance. During the week before Lent, sometimes called Shrovetide in English, Christians were expected to go to confession in preparation for the penitential season of turning to God. Shrove Tuesday was the last day before the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday, and noted in histories dating back to 1000 AD. The popular celebratory aspect of the day had developed long before the Protestant Reformation, and was associated with releasing high spirits before the somber season of Lent. It is analogous to the continuing Carnival tradition associated with Mardi Gras (and its various names in different countries) that continued separately in European Catholic countries.

In the United States, the term Shrove Tuesday is less widely known outside of people who observe the liturgical traditions of the Episcopal, Lutheran, Methodist, and Catholic churches.[3][4] Because of the increase in many immigrant populations and traditions since the 19th century, and the rise of highly publicized festivals, Mardi Gras has become more familiar as the designation for that day.

Celebrating Bethany Traditions

Tradition. Tradition. (Hey Randy, a little salute to last April's concert choir event).

Do you know where certain Bethany traditions come from? Sometimes there are different even conflicting stories surrounding the origins. Like the Bushburger.....but I'll tell that story another day. Or why we sit at round tables in the cafeteria? Why did "Chapel" change to "Selah"? By the way, if you have questions, ask and I'll hunt down the history.

Gather round the armchair friends....Today, the story is about "Jean Friday."

In 1999-2000, my second year at Bethany, the third year class was looking for interesting ways to fundraise for their trip to South America (Peru I believe it was). And the ever-motivated, ever-change-things-for-the-better, and sometime outspoken Naomi Esau (now Petkau) approached the college about creating "Jean/Casual Friday" and people could donate $$$ to a jar for trip fundraising.

Now you might be thinking, what's the big deal? Doesn't everyone do Casual Friday? Doesn't every business have a jar for a charitable fundraiser? Yes, possibly now that is the case. But it was not that way at that time at Bethany. In fact, the general style of dress for faculty and staff was pretty formal in comparison to how it looks today. Many male faculty and administrative staff wore ties frequently, sports jackets, dress pants, sometimes even suits. The female faculty and staff were definitely to the formal side of "business attire" - dress pants, skirts, and clothes that generally required ironing. But definitely not jeans, except maybe on Youth Advance Work Bee. I don't sound bitter, do I? Did I mention I hate ironing?

I don't remember the whole process of how the change was implemented, but I do remember happily encouraging Naomi about her great idea. I do remember a jar of sorts in the reception office. I do remember wearing jeans EVERY FRIDAY with great delight. I do remember that students loved seeing the faculty and staff in their casual attire.

And by the next year, Jean Friday was a tradition. Now business office attire around Bethany looks a bit different these days. Khakis, sweaters, cords, and nary a tie, but I still love Jean Fridays. I don't know if every third year class took the chance to put out a jar, or when they turned to other fundraisers, but let me say "hear hear" to Nomi. I still think of you every now and again on a tired sort of Friday morning when I pull out my favorite jeans.

I expect Naomi is still a change agent. I hear she's into building and carpentry, projects, and investing in the future (there are some fine young Petkaus running around out in BC, I understand). Here's some words from Naomi herself from back in the day, straight from the Bethany Ray, Disciples edition 1999-2000, page 20 (credit the source!):

"As I look back on our years spent at Bethany, I am reminded of the many ways Bethany has influenced us and the many ways we have influenced Bethany.

I know God has used Bethany to change us and strengthen our relationships with him. Bethany has also given us a new desire to serve within our families, churches, communities, and world. It has expanded our skills in drama, music, sports, and leadership in order to serve better. I am confident that God will use each one of us to further his kingdom. I am grateful for how Bethany has influenced us and for things we can take with us.

We've also influenced Bethany in many ways. Bethany saw the biggest faculty and staff turnover during our years!? I can't explain this but it could be because during our freshmen year we almost abolished the term "freshmen rush" by our mediocre interest in relationships. Or it could have been because during junior year we ruled the school by getting highly involved in sports, drama, music, and leadership and then couldn't understand the concept that Genesis is not merely about creation. Maybe it was because in senior year we bet money on who could drink a jar of syrup (Toews!), or it could have been that we kidnapped the president on a sub run! Who knows?

What will matter when we leave Bethany is how God has drastically changed us into young men and women of God, what we will do what we have learned, and how we will influence the world like we've influenced Bethany.

I know our memories of each other will fade with age, but may our knowledge of God grow clearer and stronger for eternity. Thanks for all the "good times."

Adios, Naomi."

Well said my friend.

Till another story finds me,

LB
lbraun@bethany.sk.ca

PS Naomi, if you have a current family photo to share, I'll post it!

PS again for all current students - if you find any typos in my posts, I'll buy you a Pepsi. Grammar errors are exempt - I am blogging after all, not writing a paper.