at the ranch, in the woods

My years in University have been marked by learning the rhythms and graces of community. I first arrived at McGill thinking I would get through it as swiftly as possible, minding my courses and workload alone, losing myself in the masses of students in my large school. I quickly, however, became lonely and hungered for soul-deep community, friends to walk collegial life with. I had friends outside of school, of course, but yearned for familiar faces in my quotidian comings and goings.

I became involved in a campus ministry, meeting with a group of fellow Christian students weekly to commune and journey in faith together. We have dug into questions like, how are we to be bearers of hope and witnesses of good news in school? How do we enter into God’s rest as students? Or, what is my worth if not my performance? These meetings were home to deep conversations, much laughter and the life lessons tucked deep in the attic of my mind.

This past weekend, we all piled into a bus and drove deep into the woods. We made it to the ranch, where we spent two days setting the tone to our semester- in worship and intimacy. It was a weekend for late night board games, gathering together in song, lungfuls of cold and fresh air, tobogganing in an ocean of white and forest green, meaningful conversations with sister-friends as we swigged hot chocolate in five gulps, and writing and reading by crackling fireplaces.

Together we learned about how loud, how noisy, life is- and how gently God whispers. How, like a person speaking softly, He requires that we lean in a little closer to better discern His voice. I was left with the hope (craving?) to make space in my life to hear it, to quench the noise and hearken to the holy murmurs of God. 

We drove back into the city, and life within its skirts resumed its course. Yet, these mere two days set a tone of attentiveness for these coming months (for this coming life). Gratitude runs deep in my bones as I close my eyes and think of the truth spoken in community, the joy that is friendship and the peace found in God’s embrace.