Ashleigh’s Summer Snapshot

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A few things that I learned this summer that have stuck with me: do not hide behind your sins, do not go through it alone, bring it to the Lord first, and it is okay to grieve and honestly lament.

This past year has been extremely challenging for me, yet the most spiritual growth has come from it. The beginning of this new spiritual walk started when I was called to do something (for the first time!) by God – go to Honduras. This was a huge step for me because I had never been even on a mission trip let alone out of the country. Although this was way out of my comfort zone, I listened and I went, thinking that was going to be the hardest part.

While prepping for evangelism I realized I truly had never understood the gospel. Simultaneously, I was brought with a wave of excitement and shame; how could I say I was a Christian and not know what it really means to be one? I hid this for a long time, until this summer at LT. Surrounded by Christians and non-believers who were all in different stages of life and faith, I was able to see our differences and not put one person above or below me on this weird hierarchy of “how good of a Christian are you” that I had made in my head in the past. It really does not matter what step we are at with our faith or how much we know about the Bible, what matters is our love for Him and His love for every person regardless of our faults. Nothing you ever do or think could ever make God love you less. He meets us with love and grace every time we falter and fills in the holes of our mistakes, all we have to do is let Him in. [Ephesians 2:8]

And let him in I did, with my decision to get baptized at the end of the summer. Not for salvation (because we are freely given this) but because I wanted to outwardly profess the internal change that has happened over this past year. I am excited to finally let God in and walk with me everywhere: in my victories and in my hardships.

-Ashleigh L.

Welcome to Blacksburg #VT22!

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With Orientation starting today, we wanted to make sure you got a hearty welcome!  We hope that Blacksburg and the campus of Virginia Tech begins feeling like your home-away-from-home.  Family is important to all of us, and we would love to help you find a group of people here that you can call family.  You have a place here, and we’re glad you are coming to Virginia Tech!  We would love to extend an invitation to become part of the NLCF community.  Check out the info and videos below to get a better understanding of who we are and what we do!

About NLCF

One thing that may strike you first about NLCF is that we’re mostly comprised of college students! That’s right: a church built around YOU! We meet on campus, our schedule reflects the school year, and our desire is to see the Kingdom of God move on campus! We want to love God and love Hokies!

Learn about who we are, when/where we have Sunday Services, how to get involved in our small groups, and more!

 

While we have meals and small-groups (as we call Engage Groups) throughout the week all across campus, there are two spaces that we have a lot of gatherings: The Loft and 130 Jackson.  Check out this video to see where they are!

 

Want to get involved?

 

  • Moving into your Residence Hall– We’d love to give you a hand moving into your new Blacksburg-home!  Simply shoot an email to [email protected] and we can coordinate a few folks to come help move you in.

  • Kickoff – The week before classes start, and into the first few weeks of school, we will be having a ton of chances to meet new friends and have a blast!  From a Pizza Party Extravaganza on the Drillfield, to a Cookout in the Quad, there is a ton of free food, free swag, and awesome people.  Check out our Facebook page for the most up-to-date info!

 

We’re on Social Media!

4th of July Cookout and Fireworks

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We will be meeting in Foxridge (behind 7100 Hunters Mill Rd) on Wednesday, July 4th at 6:30 pm to grill some hamburgers and hot dogs! We will hang out until about 9 pm, at which point we will head over to Blacksburg Municipal Park to view some fireworks! We can’t wait to celebrate with you!

God’s Creation in You

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I was watching a video series with Ben Stuart (if the name sounds familiar, it’s because it is – he did the breakaway series on dating) about the Song of Songs. I was excited because I had heard this section of the Bible was awesome, and I think Ben is pretty cool too. So really I just started watching it because Ben was teaching. And also apparently he is not at Texas A&M anymore so that’s shocking. I must keep tabs on his future endeavors.

During the third episode, centered around the wedding night (yaaasssss), something really hit me. I cried actually because I was so hurt and upset. Eve was the last creation of God. And let me tell you, it was not an afterthought. He didn’t forget to make her earlier and was like “oh crap! Eve is due at 11:59PM and it’s 11:34. Better get on that.” He didn’t rush, He saved her for last. He created the Woman last because it was His final masterpiece.

“The female form was the pinnacle of God’s creation, there is nothing in creation more beautiful.” That’s the thing that sent me to tears. Because every single woman has insecurities, some run deep. Every woman is told they are not “enough” (skinny, curvy, smart, bold, polite, strong, etc.) or they are too much of all of those things. That makes me mad. What an awful, but not surprising, thing for the enemy to do. To take what God has created as the pinnacle of beauty and to tell every woman (who the Lord designed to live in this identity) and tell her she is not worth it, or not beautiful enough. GRRRRRR.

NO. You are beautiful in every way and even still God has given each of you fantastic traits and quirks that bring me joy every day and I KNOW for sure He delights in each of you because He created you “last.” You are the pinnacle God’s creation. Mountains and sunsets ain’t got nothin’ on you, my dear.

So the main update on what God is healing in my life is a broken sense of reality for my own self-respect, worth, and beauty in my eyes. Because it’s easy to say God thinks I’m beautiful so I am, but it is another battle to feel it in your own heart. I can already tell this will be a long and slow process but that’s good because that’s where permanent change can take a strong grip. And since this grip is God’s grip, I know it will endure anything. Side note: cried twice writing this because I felt it so strongly and I have been praying that His message is received in your hearts. Additionally, in Reckless Love it says there’s no wall He won’t kick down, no lie He won’t tear down, coming after me (and you). So He’s coming for us.

– Lauren Haacke