The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep.

One of the first things that crossed my mind as I watched the "easy wind and downy flake" fall on Sunday evening was how glad I was that I did not have "miles to go before I sleep." I have slept a lot actually, more than I probably should over these past three days during which I enjoyed all the benefits of playing hooky from work without the consequences. As we gear up for another semester, Wesley is setting aside a 21-day period for fasting and consecration, two concepts that would normally make me fantasize about February with an unnatural fervor. However, as the snow and the beginning of this fast coincided, the time off enabled me to really examine the ways in which I approach discipline when it comes to the Lord.

I have heard many divergent views on the subject of self-control, spanning from a deep-founded belief that as believers are children of God, their natures will consequently become God-like, to the idea that "self is the opaque veil that hides the face of God from us" (Tozer). Self, and the things of the flesh in Tozer's view, keep us from experiencing God in the manner in which we were made. I find myself naturally gravitating towards Tozer, who reinforces Paul's message in his letter to Corinth: "But I discipline my body and keep it under control , lest after preaching to others I should find myself disqualified" (1 Corin 9:27).

Self-control and moving beyond self is essentially what this corporate staff prayer time is for - to acknowledge the "opaque veil" that stands before ourselves and God and to discover that the obstruction is not all His glory and Holiness, though we can never fully know His depth. Instead, it is mostly comprised of our fears and of our distracted minds. I acknowledge how distracted I become throughout a semester, and I am glad for an opportunity to set apart a more regimented time for the Lord, for myself, the girls I disciple, and the students I work with through ISM.

This is a song that I have been listening to quite a lot recently. It is not "officially" a Christian song, but it does the trick.

Roll Away Your Stone (Mumford and Sons)

Roll away your stone, I’ll roll away mine

Together we can see what we can find

Don’t leave me alone at this time,
For I am afraid of what I will discover inside

You told me that I would find a home,
Within the fragile substance of my soul

And I have filled this void with things unreal,
And all the while my character it steals

The darkness is a harsh term don’t you think?
And yet it dominates the things I seek

It seems as if all my bridges have been burned,
You say that’s exactly how this grace thing works

It’s not the long walk home that will change this heart,
But the welcome I receive at the restart

The darkness is a harsh term don’t you think?
And yet it dominates the things I seek
The darkness is a harsh term don’t you think?
And yet it dominates the things I seek
The darkness is a harsh term don’t you think?
And yet it dominates the things I seek

Stars hide your fires,
And these here are my desires

And I will give them up to you this time around
And so, I’ll be found with my stake stuck in this ground

Marking its territory of this newly impassioned soul
But you, you’ve come too far this time

You have neither reason nor rhyme
With which to take this soul that is so rightfully mine

...and that's all I have. Sorry for the absence of pictures this time around!