PTS(b)D: Post Traumatic Spring Break Disorder by Lexie Dache

It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.

It was time to rejoin the ranks of Liberty University post spring break.

For some students, returning to school is a relief, an upgrade from spring break’s required 6 am wake-up calls for education practicums, or others who couldn’t escape the cheek pinching from extended relatives and nosy…. I mean sweet, elderly church women.

For other students, unpacking their freshly laundered clothes and climbing into their extra long twin dorm bed is accompanied with an unsettled heart.

Greeting the return of girls on my dorm is one of my absolute favorite things. I don’t need to keep my door open, because the shrieks of girls reuniting can be heard from across campus. But this past week, I noticed the large number of students who met my excited squeal with a faint smile.

It would be silly to expect everyone to be excited on their return to school, because honestly, who really gets excited about returning to papers, lectures, and labs? But as I caught up with different girls, I was reminded just how diverse Liberty really is, and how deep the struggles of my peers run.

I saw firsthand the look of grief on a girl’s face, after she got to spend the week with her boyfriend. Their time together was followed by a face-to-face goodbye which will endure for a very long 7 to 8 months. Another friend shared of family struggles, frustrated about arguments that never seem to die over time, each visit home only seems to rip the band-aid off now-ancient wounds. Other stories included funerals, hospital visits, bad news about old friends, or another week of unfruitful job applications.

We come back from spring break, expecting to be revived and refreshed, our strength restored, ready to take on the 2^nd half of the 2^nd semester. It’s the home stretch, after all, and a strong sprint should be enough to finish us out. However, for some, it takes all the strength just to show up. While that might be the most exhausting thing, it can also be the most refreshing—if one is willing to be honest about their condition.

I’ve found that at Liberty, brokenness is not considered a dysfunction or disease.

But that doesn’t make opening up about pain easy.

Luckily, at Liberty I’ve also found that empathy is contagious…. but it has to start somewhere.

If you’re reading this, I want to encourage you to look around, search for those who returned from spring break without the same glow that existed before. If you see a friend struggling in this final lap of the academic year, reach out. Remind them of the Biblical truths that we can stand on, secure in all power, while simultaneously falling down and acknowledging our desperate and utter weakness.

For those who are weary, I would encourage you to reach out as well. It’s okay to be honest, and to answer your roommate’s “How was your spring break?” with more openness. Although we spent spring break separately, we still have these 8 weeks together. Don’t miss out on an opportunity to either stretch your spiritual muscles by supporting a friend, but also don’t fool yourself into thinking you were meant to carry this weight alone.

“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ… Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”

Galatians 6:2,10

Spring Break by Mike Wynn

It feels oh so good to be back on the Liberty University Office of Student Leadership blog. It is also exciting to know that this is going to be posted on the Friday before Spring Break. Because where does every college student want to go before leaving for Spring Break? THIS BLOG!!!

Ahhhh . . . Spring Break. It just sounds refreshing. It's kind of like the appetizer to Summer. But I think I like Spring Break most because it is the break during which our nation celebrates the beloved poetic tradition of the limerick. I grew up in a home that cherished our family limericks. With that familiar AABBA pattern, so versatile and rich, if you weren't raised to love limericks, you probably had bad parents. 

About seven years ago, when I was a Resident Assistant, RA for short, at Liberty, I wrote a special Spring Break limerick for my students. I would like to share that with you now.

There once was a kid on Spring Break

Who took a nice trip to the lake

He said, "The RA's not here,

So throw me a beer."

AND HE DIED!

I hope you enjoyed it. Have a safe and wonderful Spring Break.

By Mike Wynn

Mike Wynn is a Resident Director for the Office of Student Leadership. He is also the star of The Mr Wynn Show. If you would like to contact Mike about this post, you can do so through his blog: http://themrwynnshow.blogspot.com.

The Pursuit-Part VI by Andrew Butler

“I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed---and gazed---but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.”

-- William Wordsworth

In his famous poem I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud, Wordsworth exemplifies the romantic ideal by idolizing his imagination. The flashes that illuminate his inward eye brighten the drab and mediocre nature of reality. Vacant and pensive moods are familiar territory for me, are they for you? In 2 Corinthians 3 Paul speaks violence against the vacuous life.

“…our sufficiency is from God, who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory. Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains un-lifted, because only through Christ it is taken away. Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”

When one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed! In the book of Exodus Moses’ face shone with the glory of God – the shining was so great that the people of Israel couldn’t stand it. This same glory that apprehended Moses is ours. Only through Christ it is taken away. When one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. We – those who are bold, the beneficiaries of the scandal of the cross – we behold the glory of the Lord. And then our transformation continues. The Jesus that we see high and lifted up transforms us into himself, by himself, for himself, from one degree of glory to another. When one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed!

Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord, who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant – a covenant of righteousness, purpose, identity, sacrifice, and glory. Thanks be to God, for the beautiful things are not in our imagination. Thanks be to God, for the Beauty has ravished our hearts, and his call beckons with more power than daffodils.