Fresh learning for this freshman

Alyssa is reminded that there is always more to learn and college can hold surprises even for a second semester freshman.

Alyssa Alvarez, Writer

Amid being uninspired lately to write about being a freshman, dwelling in a very “I’ve seen it all” mood, and waiting for something new and hilarious to strike so I can delve into a witty and charming explanation on the very blog you are reading now, I found to my surprise that Biola is still surprising this freshman.

In recent days I have been overwhelmed. Homework, stories, articles, blogs, papers, reading, reading, READING, meetings, and staying involved in my relationships with the girls on my floor have each taken a toll on me in a different way. However mentally drained I become, I am reminded nevertheless that my God is good. My spirit is still kicking and I am learning more than ever.

Experiencing God’s greatness in the little things

Mostly, God has been using the littlest things in my life to show me His greatness. He has been after my heart more than ever, and in response I cannot help but be after His own heart. A meeting I went to for the Chimes staff was inspirational beyond just encouragement for my writing. I am finding new things to write about and share. Friends I see are speaking truth into my life like never before. God is even using the music I listen to to speak to me in ways it never has before. Moreover, the scriptures I have been reading lately have affected me anew.

In particular God has shown me lately how radically wretched I am. I am prideful with a heart bent toward evil. It took writing what I thought my teacher wanted to hear about my spiritual formation for my words to become God’s words, and for Him to actually speak to me through my own words as I wrote. He told me that I need to stop holding myself above others and serve them, delighting in giving and grace, and by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, He has been molding me.

Switching gears with Switchfoot

Saturday night I drove two hours with some friends to Indio for a Switchfoot concert! The greatest part about all of it—besides the (literally) freezing rain, cramming in the back of a car to eat In N Out, and of course the pure joy of listening to your favorite songs so loud that you can’t even hear yourself singing—was the ability to worship God through the experience.

The songs which I feel are so blatantly about God and His love came on, loud as ever, and, knowing who I am singing to, who the song was written for, and allowing the Spirit to put my heart in the right place, I worshipped God during the concert in Singspo-style abandon (for any readers unfamiliar with Biola chapels, Singspo stand for Singpiration, our Sunday night worship session in the gym).

A fresh perspective

As a freshman student here at Biola University, I am being molded and changed for the Kingdom. God hasn’t told me how or why He is working in me, and right now I am okay with not knowing because He is sovereign. I am very far from having seen and experienced it all, as I may have been tempted to suppose.

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