It is crazy to think that I received this letter nearly 10 years ago. I just came across it again yesterday while reading through some old messages I had written for our old church and papers during my first 3 years at Fuller. You may ask, ‘Do you know you actually sent it to you?’ I do not. I have never figured out who sent this to me. I remember asking everyone I knew at the time (parents, friends, professors, etc.) No one ever admitted to sending it to me. It obviously did not have a return address. It was hand delivered to my student mailbox. God knows.
It was put in a small legal envelope that only included my name and my Azusa Pacific student box number on the outside of it. Inside were included this note and I think $60 cash (3 $20 bills). This was October of 2003 (the fall of my Sophomore year at APU). I remember joking that I might be struck down dead if I spent that money too casually on the wrong thing. I ended up using that cash as a deposit to sign up and reserve my place as part of APU’s High Sierra Program at Bass Lake, CA. I went up to Bass Lake the following spring semester 2004. It was during this spring of 2004 that I fell in love with the Bible and felt specifically called to declare my major as Biblical Studies the following fall.
The scriptures listed are:
Job 27:8-12
“For what hope have the godless when they are cut off, when God takes away their life?
Does God listen to their cry when distress comes upon them?
Will they find delight in the Almighty? Will they call on God at all times?
“I will teach you about the power of God; the ways of the Almighty I will not conceal.
You have all seen this yourselves. Why then this meaningless talk?”
Psalm 27
“The Lord is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid?…
One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.
For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock…
Hear my voice when I call, Lord; be merciful to me and answer me.
My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, Lord, I will seek.
Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger; you have been my helper. Do not reject me or forsake me, God my Savior…
I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”
(vv. 1, 4-5, 7-9, 13-14)
Proverbs 27 (especially vv. 17-19)
“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. The one who guards a fig tree will eat its fruit, and whoever protects their master will be honored. As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart.”
Thy Kingdom Come 