Where’s the Starting Line?

“Oh, no! It’s already 7:45! My alarm didn’t wake me! I’m going to be late for class! AHHH!”

Does this sound like a typical way to start your day? It was for me last semester. Whether it works for you to start your day in a whirlwind of commotion and hyperventilation is for you to decide, but it killed me–both physically, mentally, and spiritually. Without beginning my day with devotions, I was doomed for a day of chaos, confusion, and disappointment of not accomplishing all the goals I set out to do.

This semester, I started by doing devotions at breakfast. For some people this works, but it didn’t work for me as yummy yogurt, cereal, and hot tea distracted me from really coming into the presence of the Almighty. I then switched to nighttime devotions, but by morning, everything was forgotten or not as amazing as it was at night.

Needless to say, I finally grabbed the time I knew made sense, though it would cost me a great deal of sleep. Morning at 7:00. If I accidently sleep in, I have a policy now, saying, “No homework gets done until devotion and praise is sung.” It started out being pretty harsh, but unless I made this decision, I would get distracted and think that a certain little job “had to” get done really quick first. By then, I was gone. No devotion time.

It has been such a tremendous blessing to be able to meet with God first thing every day. Coming before Him, praying, learning, and praising all help me think about my goals for the day. Also, I feel more happy and content, without nearly as much stress and worries about tests and theory homework. We as Christians really do live, move, and breathe in Him. Without that connection, smash! A potentially wonderful day is ruined by our absense of getting our minds focused on Him who is more important than getting an A in a class or getting together with friends.

“All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.” (1 Peter 1:24)

How wonderful that God’s word remains forever, while all the things we worry about will not matter, and be gone! Also, this verse has given me great hope lately:

Romans 8:28-29 “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Not even a huge load of homework can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.  I hope that you all have a wonderful Lord’s day tomorrow, and I’m praying for you my readers! Thanks for reading.

~April

 

Freedom Writers

Have any of you heard of the movie, “Freedom Writers”? I hadn’t, but tonight Moody had a free showing of  it in Joe’s, our coffee house. It was eye-opening for me, especially since the movie is all about inner city kids. I work with inner city kids every week, and walk by hundreds of people from the inner city every day. I thought by the end of last semester that I somewhat understood about “inner city” culture. Wow. I knew nothing. Absolutely nothing.

I knew there were gangs. I knew it was dangerous. I knew Chicago was divided up into ethnic groups. However, coming to grips finally with how brutal and real this is for everyone in the inner city was intense. After it was over, we had a discussion about how it all applies to us in the mission field. The story was about a white school teacher who had never taught in the inner city, let alone understood the culture. She reminded me of myself, going to my “PCM” (Practical Christian Ministry), working with 5th and 6th grade kids–most of whom were black and had a whole different culture that I knew little about. This teacher poured her heart into those kids. She learned each and every one of their stories, all of whom involved witnessing a friend getting shot, or parents abandoning them for silly reasons, many things that the average American has no comprehension of. These kids endured so much; they lived in fear for their lives. They hoped to make it to age 18 alive, not to learn how to read. Through this new wonderful teacher, they grew to love each other as a class, and the different hostile groups in the class after one year became a family. For some this Freshman English class was the only family they knew; their safe zone, where they could be themselves and not worry about color or gang, or verbal abuse or even death.

This teacher not only had a passion for these kids, she also had a husband. After she got involved in the lives of these inner city kids, her husband realized they had different dreams and divorced her. Through it all, however, she loved these kids so much, they came to respect her even as a white person, and many became the first in their whole family to go to college and get a degree.

This great story should put many of us Christians to shame. This lady teacher was not a Christian, yet she was far more selfless than many people who claim to be followers of Christ. “

Mattew 16:24

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”

 

 

 

 

This is the life of the inner city. And yet, for many of us, it remains silent. It’s considered somewhat innapropriate to really study their culture because it involves the consequences of sin: drugs, sex, crime, death.  Those of us who don’t know the inner city culture are intimidated by it because it’s different. However, it’s all the people know. They have no hope.

It is wonderful to be involved in the inner city tutoring these kids, for they teach me just as much as I try to teach them. So many truths from the Bible that I take for granted sometimes come up, and as I tell them as simplistically as I can, they listen curiously because it’s way different than what their peers seem to be teaching them. “Pray for them when they mock you for how you look,” I tell them when they complain to me about their horrible day at school. “Love them because Jesus loves you,” when I help a little girl overcome her tears as a baby Christian when everyone else is being mean to her.

The first thing that popped into my mind coming to my PCM was, “the kids are so mean to each other!” After about an hour, I realized that much of it is merely joking, for even girls who were best friends would sassily say to the other, “Why should I sit by you? I don’t even like you!”

Many Moody students like me are going through this strange new world of inner city culture.  Please pray for us that we will be a bright light for Christ in this dark culture with no hope—except the best hope of all–Jesus Christ. Thank you for reading this, and please let me know if I need to reword anything. I know it can be a touchy subject, and so tried to be careful, but I’m sure there’s always something I missed.

God bless!

~April

 

Take My Life and Let It Be

Life is complicated. We always try so hard to get everything done, yet there are always those days when we just don’t feel up to getting everything done, and instead try to procrastinate as many items as possible. Laundry, papers, working out, doing devotions, trying to find time to get together with other people, finding time to not get together with people…my goodness. Being an extrovert sadly doesn’t help get all the jobs done.

Examining my personal life pattern, I’ve had to constantly be reminded not to lose sight of the finish line. Each day seems like a week in our special Moody bubble, and there is so much to do every day that to waste even a single day would be horridly out of the question.  During chapel this past week, one of our professors spoke on 1 Peter, and it was deeply convicting. He is an outstanding speaker, and hopefully I will be able to take classes with him someday. He particularly addresssed Chapter 1, and called us to “be holy, as God is holy.” Sure, we read that and have sweet, wistful thoughts about being good and shunning evil. However, we don’t take it seriously; God can’t mean it, because only He is holy! We are so wrong. He does mean we should be holy like Him. Merely thinking about His holiness causes butterflies to flutter furiously within us, particularly with comparison to our sin and “fake holiness” so to speak. How then, can we take 1 Peter 1:15 seriously? Verse 13 and following gives some good context:

“Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct.”

Through God’s bountiful, loving, and merciful grace, we are being trained to become more and more like Him. It’s a great idea to smile and ponder about, but convicting, for it means we have to “do something!” We have to work hard towards it, and since eternity is utterly more important than this life, this should be our priority. Homework, daily duties, fellowship with friends and family is wonderful blessings from our Lord, but it is so easy to get so caught up in the present day that we forget about what’s important. Eternity.

My friend recently e-mailed this wonderful hymn to me, and as I have sung it since early childhood, I never closely studied the words till now. It is thoroughly one of the best hymns to describe how living the Christian life should look like. The words are rich and satisfying, full of blessing and are quite  convicting. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do now. 

“Take my life, and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee.
Take my moments and my days; let them flow in ceaseless praise.
Take my hands, and let them move at the impulse of Thy love.
Take my feet, and let them be swift and beautiful for Thee.
 
Take my voice, and let me sing always, only, for my King.
Take my lips, and let them be filled with messages from Thee.
Take my silver and my gold; not a mite would I withhold.
Take my intellect, and use every power as Thou shalt choose.
 
Take my will, and make it Thine; it shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart, it is Thine own; it shall be Thy royal throne.
Take my love, my Lord, I pour at Thy feet its treasure store.
Take myself, and I will be ever, only, all for Thee.”

Have a blessed week, and I’d love to hear from you all!

~April

 

Ethnomusicology

You are probably wondering about the title. I myself pondered what it could mean as I filled out my application for Moody. My parents thought it meant you studied ethnic music and cultures. At a quick glance, that could be a very general way of putting it. It wasn’t until a month ago when I started realizing how much more there was to this incredible major!

First off, I found out that you get to study linguistics (which is the basics of language so you can learn any language from it.) Also, you are able to study culture. Throughout the years, I have found myself more and more fascinated by different cultures and languages. Without realizing it, I automatically thought about culture everywhere I went.

I was so caught up in studying culture without realizing it, that when I went home for Thanksgiving, I found myself studying the culture of cows in a pasture while taking a three-hour-trip to my grandparents’ house. What was I doing! Jolting myself away from the concept, I blushed and tried to forget the thought. It was an interesting concept, however, and I’m pretty sure it’s true! You see, when cows graze together in a group, they all face the same direction. That way, no one feels threatened that another cow will come and eat his patch of grass. Hill after hill went by, and still, all the cows on the hill faced the same direction as the cows around them. I know you must think this silly, but it really is true!

So, what can you do with such a splendid major? Well, there are actually many things you can do with it. The most common application is to join Wycliffe and go overseas to tribal countries. You would then learn their language, study their culture, study their style of music/dancing/choreography, and then write hymns for them to praise God! When tribes hear the Gospel for the first time, they should also as Christians be able to worship God in their own style, not some other culture’s style.

The best part about this major is that it is quite similar to my present major. All my classes this year are exactly what I should take for “ethno.”  Also, I will be required (yay!) to go overseas for my internship during the summer before my senior year. Please pray for me as I seriously consider making this transition from “Bachelor of Arts with Violin emphasis” to “ethnomusicology with violin emphasis” major.

Soli Deo Gloria,

~April

 

Moody Students

Hi! I am totally convinced that Sarah Grandinetti and I (and all the rest of the music majors on our floor) have the most fun at Moody. We’re always busy doing something fun in the afternoons and evenings. It’s usually never planned. Today, we joined some of our band family for a ping pong ”around the world” game, which ended up so intense and fast that we kept trying to get out the person who won the last game. It usually didn’t work. We tried hitting the ball off the walls onto the table, spiking it like volleyball, and using our paddle as a baseball bat. The people outside the game room watched with mouths gaping with awe. They were very jealous.

Then, to top it off, Sarah and I joined our friend Peter (who plays trumpet in band and goes to Covenant Presbyterian church) to sing “Carol of the Bells” in the Arch. Now, if you don’t know what the Arch is, I’ll try to explain. (It’s actually our mascot.) It is a hallway with beautiful arched ceilings made of stone….(aparently Pastor Tony has mopped it several times?).  Here’s the outside of it:

Pastor Tony and I at the Arch

The accoustics are so wonderful that the echo lasts for a whole second. It sounded beautiful! Sarah, Peter, and I agree that band members have the most fun at Moody. Tomorrow is our all-day, band fall social, and only the people in charge know where we’re going. To the rest of us, it’s a SECRET! :) All we know is that it will be 10 degrees cooler, and to dress warmly.

But, with all that, I cannot wait to come home to Kansas. Michigonians and Alaskans are hilarious, Californians are clever and outgoing, Iowians are great, Missourians are cool…..but I miss my Kansans! Hope to see you soon! Somehow, though, I must get my Old Testament homework done in two weeks. Please pray that God will give me strength and energy to read and write about all next 13 books of the Bible (including Psalms), and that I would gain something from it.

Soli Deo Gloria,

~April

 

Moody #3

Does Chicago ever just stop and relax, I wonder?

If it does, I certainly have not been involved in helping it happen. My idea of “relaxing” would be talking to friends, gazing out the window while traveling on the EL, doing homework, reading the Old Testament, or eating in the SDR (Student Dining Room). As far as breaks go, there are very few. SInce most Moody students are very busy working and taking classes, when we do have a break, the most likely decision we make is to take a 45-minute nap. Then, our break is over, and we must jump up and continue on our way. If I ever do have an extended break, I feel terribly distracted and not able to enjoy it, because my body is so used to buzzing around from place to place. :(

Good news, though! I have finally found a church I love. It is called Covenant Presbyterian, and it was where my Pastor Tony went fifteen years ago when he was a student at Moody. :)

Not only do I agree with their doctrine, but there are many children and music opportunities. It is everything I really wanted, and I didn’t expect there to be a church with doctrine, children, and music all combined. I have visited many good churches, but they were all extremely different. I’m not sure I could spend every Sunday going to any of them. One pastor had many tattoos all over his body and the congregation was mostly young couples. Another was a baptist church with an altar call, and many elderly men and women. Another was a Spanish church that was focused mainly on helping those in gangs around the surrounding neighborhood by giving them hope and sharing the Gospel to those in desperate need. It was a blessing to have have visited all of these, because it gives me a much broader perspective on Christ’s church. Now, though, I am ready to become a part of a great church! My roommate also enjoyed it, and might join me. 

The passage the sermon went through today was Phil. 2:1-11:

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

I bolded the main points the pastor talked about. To briefly cover it, while we grasp, clutch, and grab onto selfishness and authority (it all started with the Garden of Eden); God Himself willingly made Himself nothing and a nobody to draw us to Himself and to glorify Him. How humbling! How strange and yet so, so glorious.

Soli Deo Gloria,

~April

 

Living on the Top

Hi again! Life has been getting even more busy lately. However, I think we are all starting to get used to routine, so it doesn’t seem as stressful as when we first arrived. On Tuesday and Wednesday night, I played ultimate frisbee with my floor and brother floor against another bro-sis floor. It was incredibly exciting! At first it seemed very intense, and we girls were slightly nervous about playing, but it has quickly become one of our favorite things to do as a group! The second night we beat the other team 6-4, and we girls think it was because we usually take the stairs up to our dorm floor at the top of Houghton, which is the 10th floor. We are having a competition to see who can climb the stairs the most times, and we log our progress on a chart. We’ve counted the stairs, and came up with 145! Some of us have taken them over 20 times, so our floor is going to be in outstanding shape by the end of the semester. We also do push-ups, stretches, and situps together every night before we go to bed. None of us are extremely athletic, but it’s been fun trying to get in shape and alert for classes and homework! I’ve never had this much energy, especially on top of all the stress of college-life.

Another advantage to living on the top floor is that we are right next to the roof, which has a gorgeous view of Chicago. There are lawn chairs and picnic tables up there, and they make for perfect study areas. I’ve even played my violin up there as a different way to practice, but it’s starting to become too difficult because of the wind, and the fact that my music would blow away in one puff.

I hope to write more this weekend, but I also have to read the rest of the Pentateuch by 8:00 a.m.Tuesday. (I’m only in Numbers right now :)

I love you all! Please write me when you get a chance. Even though I’m busy, I make it a priority to check my mail almost every night.

Blessings,

April

“To God be the glory, great things He has done! So loved He the world that he gave us His son, Who yielded His life, an atonement for sin, and opened the life gate that all may go in.” (one of the songs we are playing in band)

 

2 Hours

Hi! Well, I have just completed my first week at school. Now I have tons of options concerning what to do with my weekend. I could go to a jazz fest with my band group, go to a barbecue cookout with my floor, go to a baseball game in Wrigley field for free (blah!)….or…I could even do homework, do laundry, go shopping, go swimming, practice more violin (I’ve already done the 10 required hours this week), go to the bank, decorate my dorm room with my roommate, clean the room (which never seems to work because it’s always messy again the next day!), etc.  Thankfully, at least, no one here is bored!

(Band retreat photo. We are playing the “tummy ha ha game, only saying “bunny bunny instead of ha ha.”

 

I’d like to touch a little more on the violin practicing. How and why would I consider 10 hours every week of long, hard, dedicated practicing “fun” and “exciting”? Many Moody students have actually changed from being a Music major because of the hard work involved. It’s hard at first, but this is how I think of it:

• Playing violin for a long time is not monotonous. The more you play it, the more you experience different aspects to it. (And, the more you play, the better you sound!)
• Being in a small, enclosed practice room for 1 or 2 hours keeps you from any distractions. You are here to build a “relationship” with your violin, and nothing else!
• Being focused and dedicated in one area such as violin helps you grow to be focused and dedicated in everything else.

Now, that sounds great, I’m sure. However, what I’ve been struggling with recently is this: I spend 2 hours every day building a “relationship” with my violin, but only 10-15 minutes building a relationship with my Lord who loves me and has died for me. Does that sound slightly lopsided to anyone? My violin doesn’t love me. It’s just a piece of wood with a purpose: to glorify God in the sound that I make with it.  Maybe this rings a bell with some of you. Maybe you play sports after school for 2 hours, or watch movies for 2 hours, or hang out with friends for two hours. There is so much you can do with “2 hours.” Hopefully, I’ll be able to schedule a time during the day for prayer and for being transformed by His holy Word. Sure, it’ll be hard, and maybe frustrating when things come up, but the same situation goes for practicing violin. What’s more valuable? Two hours of laughing with friends, or 2 hours of getting to know the most important, wonderful Being who always was, always is, and always will be?

It is so easy at a Christian college to get into the routine of thinking about God during classes and homework, but not at other times. As one of my professors put it this morning, “If we only spend our time here at Moody “preparing” and not actually getting involved with ministry and living our lives radiantly for the Lord, our faith becomes stagnant. We take in all these spiritual ‘calories’ and don’t exercize to stay spiritually ‘fit.’” I am so thankful for my Practical Christian Ministries (PCM) program. It will start next wednesday, and will entail being an after-school tutor for inner-city children grades K-6.  It will be challenging, especially for me because I have not been very exposed to inner-city life, but I am excited that it is where God has put me, and I pray that not only will the children be changed by our ministry, but that God will work in our own hearts and that we would come out of it more spiritually mature.

May the Lord bless you in whatever you are involved in! Please let me know how I can pray for you!

Soli Deo Gloria,

April Cervinka

 

Moody!

Hi! Sorry I have not updated my blog in a while. The freshman schedule before classes start is extremely packed, and it took a while for me to realize that a cord was necessary to use the internet on my laptop. :) Here is a little tidbit of what’s been happening.

 On Wednesday I arrived with my parents and waited for the various booths to open. Then, after being encouraged by two people to join the Symphonic Band, I explained to them I had already auditioned and was already in it. Then, I took a theory test. And then another theory test.  The ticket to getting in and out of buildings is a little black, square called a “fob.” They are “fob-ulous.” :) While traveling all over the place trying to find places, trying to acquire a fob, being completely overwhelmed at all the people and the college check lists, I was able to get moved in and meet my roommate. Her name is Jessica, and she has been homeschooled her whole life, plays the violin, and loves Spanish! She’s even from Colorado, and as I’ve lived and vacationed in Colorado before, we have much in common. It is amazing how God worked things out. Having a compatable roommate experience has been one of my greatest anxieties this summer, and I’m so thankful now, and so very happy!

On Thursday and Friday we had small group orientation classes, and also fun activities to get to know one-another. We were so busy bustling about, making sure we weren’t late for anything, trying to remember each other’s names (which was quite a challenge and still is!) and where we were from and what major we all had, we were exhausted by dinnertime! Then to defy our exhaustion, the girls on my floor and the brother floor walked to the beach and played spoons, ultimate frisbee, swam, and broke our glow sticks and stuck the glowy goo on our hands. Some people were covered in the stuff.

Saturday morning, I met with my band members to go on a retreat to Winsconsin. I got to make friends with so many people–wonderful, missions-minded, God-fearing people! It was incredible. Our band director really pushes us to do our best, to take our playing to the next level for God’s glory. Also, though, everyone plays from their hearts, which makes the music sound so glorious even though we’re still sight reading! We swam in the lake, went canoing and paddleboating, played volleyball, and I taught several of the girls some new games and a camp song called “The Moose Song.” That night we had devotions around a campfire, and sung praise songs to our most holy and awesome God and Savior!

 This morning, we practiced again and then had a small church worship service. We ended the service by letting people share what God has been revealing to them or teaching them this summer. It was very interesting how different our backgrounds are. Being a “Moody student” doesn’t mean we come from great Christian families, or even be strong, mature Christians (although many are). What makes a huge difference is what our references say about us. A Moody student has a passion for ministry, and comes to this college to study the Bible, grow in faith, and pursue what God has planned for us. Many of us don’t have everything figured out concerning the future, especially since God often changes our plans anyway. :) But, we take it one step at a time, and seek to follow His lead with everything we have.

Moody students on the beach

 

     Soli Deo Gloria!           

  I love and miss you all!

                     ~April

 

Guys Can Play Harp, Too

I thought this was really neat. Before you actually see a man playing a harp, it may be hard to visualize, since the harp is such a graceful, elegant instrument. It’s true that they are rare, but we definitely need more of them. With big, strong hands you can go far with a harp. Let me know what you think. :)

Greg Buchanan Playing Amazing Grace on Harp