A transformative decision

Last night we had the fifth session of the Life in the Spirit seminar.  I know that I have mentioned the seminar series before, but before I explain about the fifth session, I would like to give you a quick summary of the series.

It is set up in such a way that each week builds on the previous weeks, talking about and expounding on different truths of Christianity. The series begins by telling participants about God’s love for them.  Then, in the weeks that follow, we talk about the ultimate sacrifice Christ makes for us, the gift of salvation, the new life that He offers us through His Holy Spirit, and what it means to receive these gifts.  The fifth week of the series is really the action week.  It is the evening where participants have the opportunity to choose for Christ after all that we have been discussing over the last few weeks.

white paint

Imagine coming out of your business class and seeing the already unusual sea of bikes parked outside of the university building all sporting pink and red seat covers.  Despite the huge heart design, you know that Valentine’s day is already passed and what could possibly elicit bike seat propaganda?

It turns out that the first week in March is dedicated to community service by an organization known as iCare.  They blanketed the city with bike seat covers, hoping to invite students to join in on one of their hundreds of service projects throughout the week. 

Clare, my housemate, and I decided that we did 'care' and signed up to help paint the public library.  Though they handed us white paint to repaint the already white walls, it was a great opportunity to talk to other students, share with them a little about what we are doing here in Leuven, and laugh together about our complete inability to see which part of the wall we had already painted.  

Despite the physical white paint that we were given, pink and red were really the colors that we painted with.  When you serve someone else, you give them a piece of yourself.  It was life giving and, I think, important to ban together with other students and create a splash of color in the city with our time, elbow grease, and passion.