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[WW] Restoring The Years · The Wesley Word

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Wesley World.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, um, I'm a little nervous, so just bear with me.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um, Steve and I had a really great talk, and he's like, okay, like one thing you can do to like feel more prepared is that you need to like practice it.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, Yeah, I did not practice it.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_01: So I got great advice and I did not receive it.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_01: I've thought about this message a lot.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_01: I've really just cared a lot about you guys and just about Wesley in general.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_01: So if you guys can just pray for me for a little bit before we get started.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_01: Dear Abba Father, thank you for today.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for that this time that we have together to just learn more about you and the heart of who you are.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for giving me the people in my life that have introduced me to this ministry.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for Steve and for Julie and all the hands that have prepared the meals in here and all the songs that have been sung and all the hands that have been playing instrument and using their gifts for you, Lord.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um like Z says, um, if it's through me or despite me, please let me reflect you tonight.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_01: Amen.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_01: So um a fun little slideshow is gonna pop up in a moment.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_01: But until then, um, if you don't know me, I'm Cameron.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_01: I'm a senior, which is why I'm up here.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_01: I was introduced to Wesley when, let's see, we're getting somewhere.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um no, you're good.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um I'm also student teaching right now, so technical difficulties in Google Slides are the name of the game.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_01: So we're getting somewhere.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_01: Alright.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so what I'm gonna be talking to you guys a little bit tonight about is trusting God when things change, when circumstances change, when things in college don't necessarily go your way.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_01: So if you want to go to the next slide for the more cutesy introduction picture.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so top up corner, that's me and Ellie and Caitlin.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: They have, we like to say that we've really seen each other through it all, and it's true.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um I've had the blessing to live with them since my freshman year, and they're the ones that introduced me to Wesley.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_01: They started going in freshman year, and it took me a little bit longer to get here.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_01: I was in a different campus ministry my freshman year and sophomore year, and in junior year, I was really looking for a change.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_01: So I was like, you know what?
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_01: I already know some people here, I might as well come.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_01: And now I'm here speaking in front of you guys.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm very, very grateful.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um, that's my dog, Riley.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um, literal love of my life.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um he's my favorite.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_01: I just thought I'd put him up there.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um, friend, you're our bonus roommate for this year.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_01: We have had a lot cycle between the three of us, but it's honestly been such a gift to be able to live with four people in Wesley, just be able to talk about all the things together, the sermons, go on retreats, um, and just really learn and grow together, which I'm so grateful for.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um, as I said before, I'm a student teacher.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_01: There's a picture of me with leaves attached to my student teaching outfit.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um, if you don't see me around campus here as much, that's why I spend most of my days with 10-year-olds now.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_01: So um, if you guys like stare at me blankly or don't get something, I will get it because that's what I see most every day on my weeks now.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um that top right corner there, that's my twin brother Maddox.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um, he is just my guy.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_01: He is the best.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_01: And I am also so grateful for him and just being able to watch him grow throughout college.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_01: And like this year might be the first year that we are living apart when we decide where we go postgrad.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_01: So that's kind of crazy.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_01: And I don't have a picture of them up there, but also my parents, like my family is just absolutely my rock, and I'm so thankful for them just being what got my faith started, and they're the ones that introduced me to my faith journey, and I was able to make it what it is today, but I couldn't have done it without them.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_01: And then, bottom corner right there, all of you guys, I have a million pictures, and I wanted to include everyone, but I thought that just really sums it up.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I have so many memories with you guys.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um field trips, concerts, Marvel movies, QT dates, walks on the dikes, like I could just go on and on and on, and I am so incredibly grateful that I've got to spend so much of my college time with you.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_01: So if you want to go to the next slide.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_01: So um, my verse that I'm gonna be going over with you guys today is from Joel 225, and it's kind of short and sweet, but basically it just says that I will restore to you the years that the locusts have eaten.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_01: And when I was trying to think of something to really sum up my the theme of trust in God when your circumstances change, I feel like everyone can relate to that on some level, whether it be the friendships that you hold, or you change your major, or you're just trying to figure out how to trust God in the midst of so many things going on and when nothing in your life seems like it's going to be the same like you once thought it was.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um, this verse in particular means a lot to me for a lot of reasons.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um, if you want to go to the next slide.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_01: So um, this is my cousin Jessica on the far right, and that's her daughter, Nori, on the left.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um, Jessica just actually had their sixth kid this week, so snaps to her.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um, Ruth, um, Arwen, Joy, Paul Raj.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_01: But um one of the big parts of me and my faith journey has been through watching my cousin Jessica from afar.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_01: Her and her husband Raja live in India.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_01: They do a combination of missionary and mental health and medical work there.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_01: And Nori on the left is a big part of their story.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um, when it was my sophomore year, actually, um Jessica was working towards adopting Nori.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_01: And obviously, anyone who has any experience with foster care or adoption knows that it's literally an insane process either way.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_01: But this was also during COVID, and they were trying to adopt her, and just national, international adoption is insane anyway, but they were trying to adopt her, and what turned into one year is turned into two, and my cousin was just she was stressed because she didn't know if her daughter was being taken care of, if she was getting enough to eat, if she was just being loved.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_01: And something that she would post over and over and over again when she was sending email updates to our family is that she knows that there the Lord is going to restore, the Lord is going to restore the years that were stolen from her.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_01: And you can see her now.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_01: She's so happy.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_01: If you guys could just see a picture of her when they got her when she was a baby, but she's walking on her own two feet now.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_01: She has a little sister that she can now take care of, and that is usually the most continuous reason that comes to the verse in my head.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_01: But the reason that I chose this verse for my talk is, and I looked up some context because I'm also an English girl and I just love context, but at the time of this verse, it said that Israel's crops had been destroyed by locust invasion, which makes sense.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_01: It was an agricultural society at the time.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_01: But the impact lasted more than one year.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_01: And we didn't know that this was because it was over several years, but it's likely that this had a multi-year impact.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_01: And this meant that even though they had destroyed a crop in a certain year, they had destroyed it the crop from the previous year, the harvest of the current year, and the seed that would be used the next year.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_01: And the reason I felt like that really impacted is just because you go through something, whatever it might be, it could be your major, it can be your faith walk, it can be family circumstances.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_01: It has it has after effects, and it has effects before.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_01: You aren't the same person that you were before the thing, you aren't the same person that's walking through it currently, and you're not going to be the same person after.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_01: So if you want to go to the next slide.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_01: So things change.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_01: You can, I could have put a million things on this board, and I'm sure that you guys also could have put a billion things there.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um, these were just some of my main things that came to mind.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um, friendships.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_01: They are some of the greatest blessings in college, and some of you guys have been that for me.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_01: But it can also be very challenging, you know.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I'm really grateful to have had like a same core group of friends that I've carried from high school into college.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_01: But, you know, there's also people that you know you can just naturally drift away from, or friends that you make and you think are gonna be like your bridesmaids or whatever you want to call them, and they end up not staying in your life for whatever reason.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_01: And that can be really hard.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um, churches and church beliefs.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um, like I said earlier, I grew up in a Christian home.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um, my entire family is very religious, so I'm used to growing up in that background.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but going to college, I really wasn't sure where I was gonna fit in.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_01: The first campus ministry I was involved in looked typically in what I was used to in high school.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm so grateful for that in many ways, because it gave me the foundation that I stand on today.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_01: It introduced me to a lot of great people, and it gave me a lot of wisdom that I was able to learn from.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_01: But in other ways, as you guys can see, in whether your spiritual walk or an academic walk or just the way that you approach the world, sometimes things don't fit anymore.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_01: And that can be particularly lonely when you're in a faith community because you don't know if the thing that you've grew up with your entire life, if there's a place for you for whatever reason.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm and even when I joined Wesley, I was so grateful, but at the same time, I was a little insecure, you know, because I had my wonderful roommates, but I also didn't want to be a third wheel.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I really wanted to feel like I could make my own friends, that I could stand on my own two feet.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, it can be hard even when you come into any space if you feel like people have known each other for a while.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, when I came, we were all coming out of COVID.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_01: I'm an introvert at heart.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_01: I just really wasn't sure how to interact with people in a way that was really organic and natural and authentic.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um, career paths.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like this is the most difficult thing.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I came, I'm the type of person that when I walk into something, I feel like I'm very set in it.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_01: Like I'm either like 110% go for it or I don't want to commit to it at all.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_01: And one of my biggest like fears, I guess fear's not the right word, but one of my biggest things walking into college is that I was very set in my plans.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_01: I had wanted to be a teacher since I was about five, and that was the only thing that I had ever wanted to do.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_01: And then all of a sudden, things start changing, thoughts start changing, what I want to commit my life to starts changing, and all of a sudden it's that fear have I wasted however many years of my college life.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_01: And for a girl who really likes, um, I've gotten a lot better with nuance, but at the time I really didn't like it.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_01: And that was really, really hard at first.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm really happy with the path that I'm on now, but that can be really hard whether you don't know whether it's your major or it's your career, or even if you're just trying to figure things out along the way there.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_01: And finally, mental health.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um I feel like I could say a lot of things about this, but there's the verse where you say you need to lean not on your own understanding and he will make your path straight.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_01: I like knew that, but I didn't practice it, at least not the way that I should.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_01: And it can be really, really hard for someone who likes to be self-sufficient the way that I do, learn that in some and aspects of life, you need you need you sometimes need an out someone who does isn't so close to your life to give you solid sound advice.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm very, very incredibly grateful that I have friends who modeled that this was okay for me.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm really thankful now that I have a therapist that I'm able to talk to about some of these things.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_01: Alright, next slide.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_01: See here's a cutesy little picture of me senior year, my Tiger Town bound um letter.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_01: I remember I was so incredibly excited to go to Clemson, and I'm still so grateful.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_01: It was one of the best decisions I've ever made.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_01: And just to go along with the theme that things change.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_01: I am so grateful that I've had this experience.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_01: I'm so grateful to have gone here.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_01: And it's just like in the case with anything.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_01: Things are in some cases better than I'd hoped, and in some cases, there's really been a lot of growing experiences.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_01: You can still really value some friendships you've had and you can let some go.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_01: You know what you're doing, you know what you're doing, what you need to do for your future, and you can still be really frustrated in the day-to-day of knowing what you need to do to get here.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_01: And I feel like a lot of us graduating high school have had an idea of what our lives were going to look like, whether it be a certain major or a certain relationship or even where you want to live post-grad.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_01: And basically, I've heard it said that the only constant thing about life is change.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_01: It is going to change in some aspect, in some way.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_01: Things happen that you had no idea were going to happen, plans change, and sometimes people leave.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_01: But the most consistent theme of my college career is that God can really bless what seems like obstacles in your past.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_01: He restores the years that the locusts have eaten.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_01: And even when I have been shouting at him in my car, I have cried myself to sleep, and sometimes you are stuck in emotions that you feel like you cannot get out of.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_01: And even when you cannot see an inch of good of what you're walking through, there are redeeming qualities, and there is always something to learn.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_01: The girl in that senior picture is a lot different than the girl I am now.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_01: I'm more confident in myself and what I choose to believe.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_01: I'm more resilient, and my relationship with God has changed, and so has my relationship with the people in my life as a result.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_01: You can go to the next slide.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_01: So, um, this is a succulent in front of our um couch.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_01: It I think has definitely lost a few more leaves since I've taken that picture because I have not watered it for several weeks.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, Caitlin's nodding, she has good.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_01: That's probably why it's still looking as good as it has.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_01: I like chose this picture because I'm like, yeah, like growth greenery.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um ironic because it's probably dying.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_01: But um basically, just kind of like this plant or dog going through a growing season, um, the effects like of me not watering this plant, um, things are basic the things that happen to you are going to affect you.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_01: When I was talking earlier about the verse and these crops being eaten, um even though there was provision over that, and even though God restored that, um the crops still had to be regrown.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, people had still lost their livelihood in that situation, and it wasn't coming back.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, sweet Nori, who I showed you that picture of before, um, she had to have physical therapy because when she was growing up, that wasn't something that she received, and that was something that they had to invest in for several years to make sure that she was moving and grooving and dancing the way that she wanted to.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we all carry what we've been through, the change that we've gone through in our bodies, our brains, our habits, our hearts.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um he restores the years and he redeems them.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_01: That doesn't mean that you forget, nor should you.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_01: There are lessons to be learned there and growth to be taken in.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um just to sum it all up, um, maybe the way that you approach God or talk to him will change.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_01: I know for me, um I usually feel I feel close to God when I'm in church, but I also feel extremely close to him in the moments that I'm not.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_01: It can be when I'm listening to the same worship song for the millionth time and I hear something different in it.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_01: Or I recognize patterns that something that came up with a conversation with a trusted friend is being reiterated in a podcast that I'm listening to.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_01: Or maybe I'm simply just walking on the dikes or in the botanical gardens looking at the sunset, being thankful that this is the creation that I get to live in.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_01: There are other times that I've gotten so mad at him that I could barely talk to him.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_01: There are times that I could not read my Bible, and there are times that I've been so upset about what has happened to the people that I loved that I could barely stand it.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_01: Things change.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes they are not that fun, and that is part of life.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_01: But the good thing is, we have a God that walks through it with us even when we don't feel like it or feel like his presence is there.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_01: He'll restore the years that you've been through, and your walk will never be the same result.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_01: He knows how you feel anyway.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_01: He just wants you to tell him.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_01: And to finally wrap it all up, change can be the best thing that ever happened to you, or it can totally rock you to your core.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um actually, around this time last year was around March, I was walking through a pretty tough season personally, and I had texted my parents this, and I can't remember where the quote came from, but it basically goes that in the times when I'm weak and I can't get to God's throne myself, it's a great gift to be carried there by my friends.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_01: And so many of you have been through that with me in ways you may not even realize.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_01: So thank you for being some of those people.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_01: See, I'm gonna close this in prayer again so that the band can get on up here.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_01: But dear Lord, thank you for this time.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for this chance to share about some things that I've walked through and my college story.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for Clemson West and the blessing it is to the people on this campus who want a safe space to come and worship you and learn more about the heart that you are.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_01: Please let us reflect you in all of our actions.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_01: Please let us be a safe place and a sanctuary for those on campus.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so incredibly much.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_01: Amen.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_00: The Wesley Word is a production of the Clemson Wesley Foundation.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_00: For more information about Clemson Wesley, check out our website or follow us on Facebook and Instagram.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, get out there and love your neighbor.