2:26 AM...No Better Time to Start a Blog?

Hello. My name is Ben Kryder. This is my first Blog ever...and I'm realizing I don't know the formalities or etiquette of blogging despite society's efforts to saturate my mind with technological jargon and ability. So excuse any blogging social faux pas that I may commit over the course of my blogging adventure. I really need to stop saying blogging. Anyways, the reason I began this blog is because over the last two weeks God has worked in the most incredible ways. I came to Pepperdine knowing very few people and I approached orientation with a very shy, introverted reluctance to meet people. But apparently...God wasn't going to let that keep me from forming some life-changing relationships. I met a guy, Craig, who I had coincidentally spoken with several times this summer through Facebook. We have become great friends and spiritual partners. We've started a bible study with some guys that God has put in our lives and despite my feelings of being unworthy, ill-prepared, and too ignorant to lead any discussion or study of who God is and why it's so important that we know Him, amazing things are happening. Alvin, a good friend and guy I've been studying with has been really listening and pondering God's call in his life...I've never seen someone with a servant heart like his. His spirit and gifts are so ridiculously from God, and we've let him know that (I forgot about my laundry in the dryer and when I came back Alvin had folded them and started putting them in my dresser). God is so good. We have been holding these late night discussions and just talking and praying and reading the Word, and I come back to my dorm feeling like I could go run a couple miles (not actually I would get about 45 feet up the hill). God is present and working despite my initial desire to stay in and play Harvest Moon all day. How can this be? The people He has surrounded me with, the courage to speak up, the boldness to sit with the lonely, the words that aren't from me, the conviction to get fired up, the love for other people--He works thing out so well. When we begin to acknowledge that God Is, Everything Changes. When we look through the world through the lens of the cross--our classes, our jobs, our entertainment, our language, our friendships, our respect, our empathy, our priorities, our desires, our attitude--it all changes in the light of Him. This blog is really for me I suppose. For me--so that I can share and be spurred on because I'd be a fool to not pour out the goodness of God. He's so good. He's really working it out. In the words of Dr. S.M. Lockridge, "His goodness is limitless. His mercy is everlasting. His love never changes. His Word is enough. His grace is sufficient. His reign is righteous. His yoke is easy and His burden is light. Well. I wish I could describe Him to you, but He’s indescribable."