Letter from the Editor
Dear readers,
I’ve always had somewhat of a fascination with keys. For a long time, I would collect keys because I found them so intriguing. Along with this notion of keys, I suppose there is a fascination to be had with doors as well. Doors are symbolic in that they can lead to a new beginning. Anything and everything can be waiting just beyond the frame.
Still, when I think of doors, I think too of windows. For me, they also hold a more poetic meaning, yet they do so in a contrasting fashion. You see, windows allow us to view the outside world, to see the beauty and adventure that is waiting for us, yet windows are only meant for viewing. We are not meant to pass through them. They are able to grant us vision, a dream to be beyond the glass, yet they prevent us from physically grasping the world that lies on the other side.
Doors, however, grant us the ability to change our surroundings, be it for better or for worse. Often times, we are not able to see through a door, and we, therefore, must take a chance on whether what is on the other side of that wooden frame is something that we need to experience. As a result, we are then left with two options- either we remain in our current state, able to see the outside, to see a change, but unable to get to it, or we go through the door that is in front of us, risking all that is familiar but perhaps revealing new discoveries.
Because of this thinking, I’ve found that I hate the phrase, “When God closes a door, He opens a window.” Why would God allow us to see something better but never be able to fully grasp it? I much rather prefer my updated version: “When God closes a door, don’t be afraid to pray for some dynamite to create another.” I pray that I- as well as you- always find the courage to grab hold of the handle, turn the key and press through to the other side.
Editor-In-Chief
Assistant Editor Ashton Rector
Faculty Advisor Jeremiah Massengale
Yours,
Trenton Randall Canada
Editorial Review Board
The Patriot is the biweekly student publication of the University of the Cumberlands. Our goal is to provide timely and original content by highlighting campus news and views.
Award-winning member of the Associated Collegiate Press and the Kentucky Press Association.
Trenton Canada
Staff
Hope Austin
Eric Ford Edwards
Leanne Gregory
DJ Hite
Alyssa Parrott
Zane Ross
Lisa Bartram
Marianne Worthington
Holiday in the USA International students celebrating American holidays
By Alyss A PARROTT staff Writer
It’s that time of year again. Halloween has passed, Thanksgiving is coming soon and Christmas decorations are already in stores. This is the time of year many American families gather to celebrate. Many college students go home for the holidays, but what about international college students? A couple of international students at UC recently discussed their experiences celebrating American holidays in the United States.
Nicklas Nancke from Denmark is a sophomore at UC and he said, “American holidays like Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas are obviously a big deal over here and I think it is awesome how much Americans put into these holidays by dressing up, decorating, and making all the different kinds of foods.”
Nancke said he has celebrated Halloween and Thanksgiving but has yet to celebrate his first American Christmas. This year Nancke is celebrating Thanksgiving with his girlfriend and her family.
Nancke said, “We have Halloween but we don’t celebrate it because it’s more of a holiday for the children. Some people have parties but it’s not as widespread and normal to do as it is over here.”
He added, “What we do celebrate is Christmas, which is quite a big deal in Denmark too. One of the only differences is that Americans tend to decorate their homes way more than we do in Denmark.”
Nancke said, “What I typically enjoy about holidays is that they bring family and friends together. Thanksgiving dinner is something I enjoy very much. My favorite food would probably have to be the turkey.”
“The only downside about Thanksgiving is that it reminds us foreign
students about our own families back home,” he added. “It is hard being 4,000 miles from your family, so being reminded of that constantly around Thanksgiving can be very hard. I’m just happy I could spend Thanksgiving with a very close friend last year and that I get to spend this year’s Thanksgiving with my girlfriend and her family.”
Erin Bolas from Wales, United Kingdom, is a junior at UC and she said, “I love how much everyone loves to celebrate their holidays here like when I go into shops and into the towns and they’re all decorated up.”
Bolas said she has been able to celebrate Thanksgiving in the U.S. during her freshman and sophomore year at UC. “I went home with one of my teammates which was real fun experiencing a proper Thanksgiving dinner with all the family too,” said Bolas.
She added, “My sophomore year I went to New York with my brother; he came over for four days during Thanksgiving, and we went to the Macy’s Parade which was super fun. We were right at the front and we got to see a lot of great things along with some celebrities, too.”
Bolas said she is especially loves the Black Friday sales. This year for Thanksgiving, Bolas said she is very excited to be going home with one of her teammates again this year from Cincinnati.
Bolas said, “I haven’t been able to celebrate any holidays from home apart from Halloween, which I have to say, America does it a lot better. I’m looking for an internship in summer 2017 so hopefully I’ll be able to celebrate the Fourth of July as that looks like so much fun!”
Photo and illustration by Ashton Rector
Faith Titus (left) and Nicklas Nancke (right) split a wishbone as part of the Thanksgiving tradition.
By Am AN dA Kelly Guest Writer
Cumberland’s a place for me and you: Q&A with Cam Hyde & Spencer Hall
Time at University of the Cumberlands sometimes seems to sit still. Yet, alumni return in awe of the changes on campus compared to how it was during their time at UC. Perhaps the most unusual connection between alumni and current students is a YouTube video called “Cumberland Rap.”
Created in 2009 by now-alumni Cam Hyde and Spencer Hall, their sensational video has been spreading around campus like wildfire, getting thousands of new views. Their lyrics about life at UC, relevant to today’s students, seem to have transcended time, bringing together the old and the new. I talked with Hyde and Hall to find out more about the origins of this video and about life after college. And if there’s a remake, we could see their friendly faces make a cameo.
When did you two graduate and what have you been up to since graduating?
Cam Hyde: I graduated in 2009 and majored in communication with a minor in religion. I went on to live in New Orleans for two years to work on my Master of Divinity and I finished it at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville. I currently live in London, Kentucky and I work as a youth pastor in East Bernstadt, Kentucky at First Baptist East Bernstadt.
Spencer Hall: I graduated in 2009, too. I was an English and theatre double major. I currently live in Chicago. I grew up in Lexington, Kentucky and my family still lives there.
How did you come up with your “Cumberland Rap,” and what was your inspiration?
Hyde: You know, I’m not really sure the origin or inspiration. Spencer may have more insight on that one. We actually had a third writer named Shelby Crawford. She shot the video and did the production. I actually loved the concept because I used to want to be a famous rapper. I always liked rap. Writing and rhyme were always things I was interested in. As far as I know, the inspiration was just to write a rap about Cumberland to poke fun about some of the ironic things. We had a lot of lyrics that didn’t make the cut for some reason or another.
Hall: The inspiration for the “Cumberland Rap” came from a rap video Natalie Portman did on SNL back in 2006. The joke is that Natalie Portman is known as someone who is very intelligent and nice and sweet, but she’s rapping about doing a bunch of crude and vulgar stuff. I thought it would be funny to try to duplicate that idea and make a “hardcore” rap about a place/culture that is
so opposite of what’s normally presented in rap, Cumberland. One day I was walking across the viaduct with Shelby Crawford, trying to convince her it was a good idea. I was making up some lines (“Cumberland, a place where dreams come true...check out the beatitudes!”), and after some convincing, she decided she was in. Then we roped Cam in to rap, too.
Cam, who did you channel for the video? Which rapper inspired you?
Hyde: I don’t know that I had any rappers inspire me for the video. It seemed more of a parody type thing to me so maybe we could just say Weird Al [Yankovic].
Did you expect it to blow up and become a phenomenon with students while you were in school?
Hyde: I’m not sure I ever expected it to take on the life that it did. I would run into students who could quote parts and some even had it as their ringtone! That blew my mind. I think we thought it was funny, but I could have never predicted what happened after it was premiered.
Hall: It’s cool to see that the video still has some popularity. I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that UC hasn’t changed that much over the years. Watching the video now, I wish we had put more work into the production value. We wrote the lyrics in about an hour and a half and we shot the whole thing in an afternoon. I think it could use more polishing, but like I said, we were under the time constraints of trying to put together a whole comedy show.
Spencer, did you gain any fame from the “Cumberland Rap” video since it’s so popular?
Hall: Ha! Sadly, no. I don’t think I’ve gained any real fame from the video. Surprisingly, they’ve never ask Cam and I to perform at graduation or speak at convo. I think part of the fun of the video was being able incorporate those rap tropes, like hyping one’s own ego/success. That’s why we included lyrics like “Every day of the week, a different girl in the gazebo,” even though I don’t think anyone knew us outside of our various friend circles. Dr. Cockrum came up to me at the “Welcome Back to School” event the year after we made it and said something along the lines of, “So, I saw that video you were in...” I thought for sure he was going chastise me or something, but he said he thought it was pretty funny. I thought that was nice.
Did either of you want to go into video production, comedy, or communication when you made the video or was it just for fun?
Hyde: Spencer actually started a once-a-month sketch comedy show called Monday Night Live that we did in Gatliff. That is how this came about. It was obviously based on “Saturday Night Live” and we would do live sketches, improv, and play digital shorts we created. Spencer is really funny and he wrote a lot of the sketch material, but I always enjoyed acting/comedy and so when I heard about it, I wanted to be a part of it.
Hall: I’ve always wanted to work in comedy, and I’ve enjoyed video production (though I wasn’t really involved in that department during my time at UC). [For Monday Night Live], we were trying to crank out about three videos per show, as well as six or seven live sketches. I thought the video had the potential to be pretty funny and relatable, since it’s basically the same jokes everyone makes about Cumberland packaged as a rap, but I didn’t expect people to like it as much as they did. I certainly didn’t expect people to start sending the YouTube link around to old alumni or anything. People tell me new students talk about and I honestly have no idea how they even find it these days.
Whenever I watch the video with friends, we find it crazy how things haven’t really changed at Cumberlands. How’d you and Spencer choose what to feature in the music video so it could last through “generations” of Cumberlands students?
Hall: I’ve heard whisperings as well, and I would absolutely be willing to come back now and make a cameo if anyone ever decides to remake the Cumberland Rap. Though, since I’m one of the founding stars, I would of course demand to be put up in the Cumberland Inn and free and have unlimited access to pizza at the Grill.
Spencer, would you consider “Cumberland Rap” to be a favorite memory from your time as an undergraduate?
Hall: The “Cumberland Rap” definitely ranks high on the list of favorite memories. I loved putting together MNL every month even though it was stressful and hard to pull off sometimes. I also really enjoyed my first theatre production at UC, “The Odd Couple.” During my last semester there I was privileged enough to take a playwriting class with Dr. Kim Miller, and I got to write/cast/show my own one-act play, which was awesome. Anything that involved a group of us students working together to achieve something we all believed in always seemed magical to me.
Hyde: You know, I don’t think we ever expected it to last through “generations” or had any thought of the future with the video. Like I said earlier, it kind of cracks me up that current students still find it relevant because I think so much has changed. Just the fact you call it Cumberlands proves things have changed because we always called it Cumberland or UC.
I’ve heard some rumors about someone wanting to do a remake. Would either of you be willing to make a cameo if anyone ever did a remake of “Cumberland Rap?”
Hyde: A remake sounds very flattering. I don’t think we ever imagined anyone would keep watching it, much less do a remake. I’d definitely be open to a cameo if I could find the time.
How have both your lives changed since you graduated?
Hyde: I think I learned a lot about interaction with people, living on my own, taking care of myself, and I grew a lot in my faith as a Christian. It was a really stretching time for me. The thing I love most is that I made lifelong friends at Cumberland who I still love and keep in touch with to this day. Fatherhood is awesome and very hard at the same time. It has really shown me how selfish I am and how much I need God’s grace in my life.
Hall: Since Cumberland, a lot of things in my life have changed. The major ones being that I got married and left Kentucky. I think I’m still mainly the guy from that video in that I love to make people laugh, and I think it’s important to be able to laugh at yourself. I really enjoyed my time at UC, but I think it’s important to be able to look in the mirror and be honest about how silly/ ridiculous parts of life in Williamsburg are. I still try to do that with my life today. Since leaving Cumberland, I think I’ve become more self-disciplined and more self-assured. I try to take my work seriously, even the work of being funny. To be honest, I don’t get to see Cam as much as I would like to since we live so far apart now. He will always be a part of what made Cumberland great to me. If you can find people who are caring and passionate about the same things you are, hold on to those people.
Cam Hyde and spencer Hall perform in the music video for Cumberland Rap.
A pitch perfect performance
The Filharmonic stops at UC as part of national
tour
By T R eNTON CANA dA e ditor-in-Chief
The University of the Cumberlands recently hosted The Filharmonic, a Filipino-American acapella group most known for their appearance in “Pitch Perfect 2” and on “The Late Late Show with James Corden.” The group, composed of six members, performed at UC as part of their nationwide “Get Up and Go” college tour.
The concert, which was sponsored by UC’s Campus Activities Board was held on November 8, and is listed on the official UC Engage schedule.
According to Dr. Emily Coleman, vice president of student services, the concert, held in Gatliff Chapel, exceeded 400 students in attendance.
“I think the concert was easy to enjoy,” stated Yazmin Hernandez, a UC student among those who attended the concert. “The group did a very good job at engaging the audience with their charisma.”
The Filharmonic performed ten songs as part of their set, which
included “Chains” by Nick Jonas and “Sugar” by Maroon 5, as well as an original song titled “Get Up and Go.” Members of the group also interacted with the audience, taking time to chat with students in attendance and calling for audience participation in a beatboxing segment of the performance. In addition to the ten songs performed in their set, the group performed an encore performance of a mashup between “Stay the Night” by Hayley Williams and Zedd and “Stay with Me” by Sam Smith. The encore was prompted by a demand from the student audience.
Chris Mount, another UC student who attended the concert, offered, “They were more interactive with us than any other group or person has been…I thought their set list was good, and I wish they would have actually had a longer set list. I believe they were good in selecting what songs they performed.”
Photo by eric Ford e dwards
A lot of colleges show us love, but Cumberlands was special in that we got mad love...It made us feel great! “ ”
-Jules Cruz, vocal bass for The Filharmonic
Vocal bass for The Filharmonic, Jules Cruz, said of the performance, “Student response was awesome. Everyone seemed really excited about it. A lot of colleges show us love, but Cumberlands was special in that we got mad love. It seemed like you all loved our song choices and our show as a whole. It made us feel great!”
In addition to UC, the group has traveled to college campuses in Las Vegas, California and Louisiana. They also performed at Berea College in Berea, Kentucky on October 18.
According to The Filharmonic’s official webpage, the group is influenced by music from the 1990s, a sentiment that relates to the current generation of college students.
“Most of our college audience are ‘90s babies, as are we,” offered Cruz. “We grew up when they did, so it’s easy to relate. We love that time, and Filipino-Americans are heavily influenced by ‘90s R&B, so it came to us naturally.”
That influence also appears to have encouraged The Filharmonic’s
decision to offer a college tour.
“College kids love acapella,” stated Trace Gaynor, one of the vocalists for the group. “It just makes sense for us. A lot of our fans are college students, so we’ve spent all of 2016 going around to colleges, and it’s been so much fun.”
Acapella has also gotten much attention from the media due to films like “Pitch Perfect,” and Hernandez seems to add to this sentiment by saying, “I had previous knowledge of what acapella is. I learned the meaning from the first ‘Pitch Perfect’ movie, so it was great seeing some of the performers from the second film.”
Lisa Bartram, director of student activities explained about booking the group for UC, “We saw [The Filharmonic] perform at our annual Student Activities Conference, and we loved them. Usually bands don’t go over well with the student body, but we hoped that since they were in ‘Pitch Perfect 2’ and acapella groups are popular now, we could capitalize on that aspect with advertising to the students.”
Photo by eric Ford e dwards
Photo by eric Ford e dwards
By AsHTON Re CTOR
Assistant e ditor
The one where you throw a themed party
Friends: they’ll be there for you especially when you throw a party with one of their most favored TV shows as its central perk. You may or may not be twenty somethings living in New York City, but with a few simple steps you can recreate Monica and Rachel’s or their top hangout, Central Perk, for a night with some “Friends” themed fun. Better yet, in a room full of “Friends” fans that are your friends, you are guaranteed to make some memories and have sitcom worthy laughs.
Plan and prepare
Charity Honeycutt, owner of Honeybee events based in Knoxville, Tennessee, explains the best way to begin planning any theme party is to first have a plan.
“You don’t have to have 2,985 details, but focus on doing a few things and doing them really well,” says Honeycutt. While some “Friends” fanatics, maybe including you, will imagine this party to be a dream come true, don’t forget those party-planning basics. What are the date, time, and location? How many guests are you expecting? Is there a dress code? What do you want to focus on the most? Don’t forget these aspects while coming up with the creative details. So, grab an old-fashioned pencil and paper and be imaginative but keep your original plan of action in mind.
Invite those friends, because they’ll be there for you
“Take time to send out hand written invites instead of a last second text,” Honeycutt advises the party host. This element adds a personable touch with your very own handwriting, but also provides the chance for a little more creativity that’s true to your theme.
Jenny Hall, high school teacher and planner of school homecoming events, suggests the party host send out invites with the notable purple background and yellow frame from Monica’s apartment. She suggests giving the party a name by referring to episode names, and including this on the invitation. Hall says, “Call it ‘The One Where (host name) Threw a Party.’” This is another personable touch that will interest your guests more. Also, don’t forget to include information from your plan on the invite such as dress, time, and location.
Eat and drink, but don’t try to share with Joey
There are plenty of ways to bring “Friends” into the party food; I mean Monica is a chef after all! Hall suggests drawing inspiration for the menu from specific episodes of the show such as serving lasagna, five steaks and an eggplant, flan, or Rachel’s cringe-worthy trifle- just for laughs. Hall recommends several ice variations, such as shaved or cubed, that Phoebe
would appreciate. If a full dinner isn’t you style, then create your own finger food version of these recipes.
Game it up, but not so much that your hand forms into a claw like Chandler’s
Now that all plans are set, lets move on to the entertainment portion of your party. Again, inspiration from episodes is key. Hall recalls Bamboozle, Joey’s appearance on “Pyramid,” and your own version of who knows whom best game like the one created by Ross. “The winner should get the Gellar Cup,” Hall proposes.
Get the cameras ready or Ross and Monica will begin performing “the routine” or Phoebe will begin singing
Honeycutt and Hall both recommend creating your own photo booth to set up at the party. “I would recreate the coffee shop and have a photo booth with the famous couch and large coffee mugs,” recommends Honeycutt. Hall says you can recreate some of the characters with items such as, “Sweater vests, a Rachel wig, guitar, fossils, a moustache and cigar like Richard, pregnancy belly like Phoebe and Rachel, or Pat the Dog.” Be sure your guests post their photos from the night on their social media too!
Get dressed, but don’t be like Rachel and ask if your outfit makes your calves look big
This is another chance to show your creativity and “Friends” knowledge. Hall says if she were dressing up for a “Friends” party she would incorporate from the episode where Monica gets stung by a jellyfish. “I’d have to do something with a jellyfish, a T-shirt, a stuffed animal or something, because ‘I’d pee on anyone of you!’ That’s true friendship among ‘Friends’ fans.” Hall also adds, “Or I would give guests gaudy bracelets so we could be ‘bracelet buddies.’” Honeycutt says, “Grab some extra costumes and props for guests that come that might not have dressed up!” This will help all guests feel included, even if they have not watched the show very much or if they were unsure of what to wear.
Party like it’s Ross Gellar’s Bachelor Bash 1998
Be the host/ hostess, like Monica always is, but be sure to have fun too! Depending on the size of the guest list, extra assistance may be required. “If possible, hire people to help [you] actually socialize with your guests instead of trying to be cook, bartender, and greeter,” Honeycutt says. Once the logistics and parts of your plan are in motion, become the life of the party with friends and “Friends.”
Photo courtesy of Flickr’s William Warby.
Ferris Bueller: A Look into the Future
By eR iC F OR d edWAR ds staff Writer
The critically acclaimed 1986 film “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” which resides with classics like “The Breakfast Club,” “Sixteen Candles,” and “Pretty in Pink,” is now back on Netflix. I’ve asked myself since I first saw the movie, what happened to Ferris afterward? Did he go to college; did he meet the attendance policy? Did he ever get a car? What did Ferris Bueller do after graduation? There’s no sequel to answer those questions, but I can’t help but wonder.
If you haven’t seen the film, it’s of my humble, yet accurate, opinion that you should watch it while still pursuing your education. “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” follows a high school senior who would rather experience life than go to school as much as the attendance policies dictate. To sum up the film in a short number; Ferris fakes being sick and his concerned parents leave him to sleep off his vague symptoms. Ferris gloats that was the “worse performance of his career… but they bought it.” He brings along his best friend Cameron, and his girlfriend Sloan, they “borrow” a priceless Ferrari, and explore Chicago. They do all of this, while trying not to get caught, and make it home just before the parents.
Ferris is a keen, fast-talking, fourth wall-breaking friend, and he cares for the people in his life. During a scene in the movie Ferris talks about his future and what will become of this motley crew. Ferris laments that after graduation, he and Cameron will part ways saying, “He’ll go to one school and I’ll go to another, and that will be it.” He goes on to say that his Sloan is a bigger problem, and he reminds the audience he “would marry her.” Though as
a whole, throughout this movie Ferris doesn’t have a care in the world. He goes to high dollar restaurants without paying, he dances in a parade, and he always gets his way.
If there were a “Ferris Bueller 2,” here’s what I think might happen. It would begin with a Ferris in his junior year of college recovering from his breakup with Sloan. The breakup might happen because of the distance and indiscretion. Broken and depressed, Ferris would stop attending classes and would start to fail all together. Just before finals his concerned roommate would mention he knows a great tutor, mentioning that she just recently graduated and is “extremely unavailable.” Ferris would meet her by “accident” and she would agree to tutor him. She would be a cold, beautiful, individual, but as time went on she’d fall for Ferris. This would further drive him to make the grades. In strange turn of events Ferris would end up on the dean’s list, teach the tutor to have fun, and the entire school would rally around him. There’d also be a car scene where he needs to be at a final and has to steal his roommate’s car, and he would swerve across campus making it just in time. The film would then flash forward to Ferris getting married, receiving a law degree, and having a son, and later becoming the dean of the college.
In a final conclusion to the film, Ferris would be waking up his young teenage son; the son would roll over on the bed and explain he that he is too sick to go to school. Ferris, very “concerned,” would leave the room, and the son would look at the camera and say, “Works every time.”
Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures.
The times they are a-changin’ UC reacts to Bob Dylan’s Nobel Prize win
By Z AN e RO ss staff Writer
Since 1901 the Nobel Prize for Literature has been awarded to wellknown public figures, such as Winston Churchill and Ernest Hemingway, and joining the ranks of those literary icons is the American musician Bob Dylan. Dylan has spent over 50 years challenging the conventions of society, music and even literature. To some it is almost no surprise that he would receive such a prestigious honor, but to others it turns heads and baffles minds. Dylan is the first musician to win the award and the major question being raised is of whether or not Dylan deserves to have his name placed among other Nobel Prize laureates. What has Bob Dylan contributed to the world in the form of his lyrics?
Dr. Keith Semmel, chair of department of communication, journalism, and theatre arts at the University of the Cumberlands, said, “When you consider the kind of influence that Dylan’s use of words have had, the way he has changed the popular vocabulary, I would be surprised if there were many literary folk out there, poets especially, who don’t point to Dylan as an influence. Even if it didn’t come from a ‘book of poetry’ that he wrote, that it comes from the larger body of his work. Especially those game-changing lyrics from the ‘60s and ‘70s.”
Dylan’s music has been inspiring for many, becoming the soundtrack of the anti-war movement in the late ‘60s, and is still an inspiration for generations to pass. When asked about Dylan’s influence and what exactly
it was that inspired him, UC senior and musician Tristan New said, “It’s the strong lyrical quality. His repertoire is so diverse; he has written songs about so many different topics. His work covers every aspect of human life. A lot of it is almost mythical.”
As mentioned, Dylan was one to challenge the way things were normally done and he paved the way for musicians and writers over the years, birthing new ideas of what could be done with lyrics and overall what could be done with words.
Dr. Tom Fish, Dean of Retention and an English professor at UC, gave his analysis of Dylan’s work and effect on our culture, saying, “Since 1962 Dylan has done over 37 albums, a lot of singles and he has had an impact on a lot of other musicians and writers. From a literary point of view, one of the major qualities of his work is how he can take the clichés of our culture and the clichés of our language and somehow make them new and insightful. I think there is a prophetic power in his lyrics that certainly have spoken to culture, as well as for culture over many decades.”
Dylan’s receiving of the Nobel Prize is very different from any laureate that has come before him, it is in and of itself challenging the normal conventions of the award. After all of these years, Dylan’s lyrics are still making a difference and as he once said in a song, “The time’s they are a’changin.”
Photo courtesy of Flickr’s Xavier Badosa.Used with permission.
A devotional Let Jesus be your peace
By HOPe AUs T i N staff Writer
It is that time in the semester. It is in the home stretch. Some refer to this time as the “make it or break it” time in the semester. It is the time that everyone becomes flustered with all the papers, labs, tests and homework due. This can cause students and faculty to become stressed. During the clutter of classwork, practices, games, work and many other things, people begin to forget where they can find comfort and peace. When things begin to become too much, just remember Colossians 3:2 (NKJV), “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the Earth.” It is easy to forget this at times. While tests are important for your grade, they are not everything. Place everything in God’s hands and He will guide you where He needs you to be.
While you may get frustrated with the tests and other things going on, just remember to trust in Him in the midst of everything going on in your life. When you become angry with the grade you have, your workload, or just not getting the right answer on a question, remember to be thankful for all the little things that are going right in your life. A small positive thought can change your entire outlook on the day or your situation.
God will not let you fail if you stand with Him. He will use one bad grade, a failed test, or a missed question to better you and Help you learn. Jeremiah 29:11 (NKJV) says, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” All the obstacles that arise God is using to bring you to your future. Every step you are taking is bringing you closer to God’s plan for your life. Sometimes you may stray a little from the path, but the path will always be there to find again and keep walking.
Proverbs 3:5-6 (NKJV) says, “Trust in the Lord with all your Heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”
Similarly, 1 Peter 5:7 (NIV) says, “Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.” Verse after verse in the Bible tells us to trust in Him and to follow Him. It’s when you turn from Him that things get messy. In all you do, thank Him, follow Him, and trust in Him and His word. Always remember, this too shall pass.
Photo