Rachel Toone: Nathaniel, what’s your major and what’s coming next for you once we kick you out next week?
Nathaniel: I’m in Outdoor Recreation Studies, which I believe to be the best major on campus. It’s been a really fun time and a really intentional program. I’ve enjoyed every bit of the professors and classmates. Once I get kicked out, I’m actually interviewing pretty soon to manage a production line for a small company over in Swannanoa. It doesn’t necessarily pertain to my degree, but I definitely hope to continue practicing everything I’ve learned with friends and teaching everybody else how to recreate responsibly.
Rachel Toone: Indeed. Yes and amen. Nathaniel, how did you end up at Montreat? How’d you get here?
Nathaniel: Post-high school, I was unconvinced about going to college and wasn’t sure I’d be able to afford it. I ended up doing a Bible school gap year program out in Colorado where I got to do all sorts of outdoor recreation stuff—skiing three to five times a week—but most importantly, studying the Word. Over the year I was there, we studied the Bible from the front cover to the back cover. We had guest speakers and we would be in class learning from the Word morning and evening each and every day.
It was a really sweet time. While I was there, I was considering where I might be going next and continued applying to schools and for scholarships. I knew that if I continued, I wanted it to be a place that was going to cultivate my faith and offer something that I enjoyed studying—which was clearly outdoor recreation after living out in Colorado. Montreat College was the only one that offered specifically that. As scholarships fell into place and doors opened, it really seemed like the Lord was calling me here.
Rachel Toone: Yes, He was. And so in your time here, what is something that God taught you?
Nathaniel: During the gap year program, we came across a piece of scripture in First Thessalonians where Paul writes to the church and tells them to pray without ceasing. I loved this idea, but I was always confused by how someone is supposed to do that. At the time, I thought that praying was specifically bound to verbal communication with the Lord, and I thought that just isn’t even possible.
I’d been wrestling with that idea and striving to do it—communicating with the Lord as much as I possibly could. But it wasn’t until a class with Dr. Sosler here, where we were studying spiritual formation, that we talked about the idea of “being present to the Presence.” The presence of the Lord is around us everywhere. It’s in friends who are saved and have the Spirit in them. It’s in creation. It’s in all sorts of things. If we are just to be present and look to hear from the Lord in each of those areas of our life—and thank Him and praise Him for those things—then that is praying without ceasing. Being present to His presence wherever it may be in our life is the way that we can pray without ceasing.That is what has been revealed to me was the answer to that question. I hope to always be intentional and look for ways to be present to the Lord’s presence and communicate with Him throughout every area and every day of my life.
Rachel Toone: Come on! That’s so beautiful, my friend. So good. And shout out to you, Dr. Sosler; we appreciate you. Nathaniel, for all the students who are going to be back here in January, what’s your word of wisdom for them?
Nathaniel: I would just say be intentional with your time here. Don’t just let it drift by. It can be so easy to get caught up in assignments and due dates and “things to do” that you just land in a friend group without being intentional about choosing them. Look for the people around you that you want to be surrounded by—those who are going to encourage you and point you in the right directions. Be intentional and be aware of everything and everyone around you.
Rachel Toone: So good. Nathaniel, we are very proud of you and we are very excited for you.