Recent Comments ARCHIVE - Love writes a letter to Hate - 19 things I want RUF to be about - Time to Start - Casa Hogar 2 - Casa Hogar 2 - Casa Hogar 1 - End of the Semester Report - A poem by Nicole Rowlette - Mexico - Poem by Anthony Plopper - My Poem - Patty Griffin Rocks My House - End of the Decade - The Gospel by Tim Keller - Sex by Marva Dawn - The Interviews - Becky Robertson - The Interviews - Katie Willis - The Interviews - Ian Puffenberger - The Interviews - The Moyni - The Interviews - Chris Schaefer		The Interviews - Nicole Rule 9/20/09 I first remember meeting Nicole when Clint called me up to tell me that the girl he'd been talking about, well, she was at the house so I should come over and meet her. I did just that. Hi, Nicole. Hi, Doug. I think we chatted and watched them play XBox for a few minutes until I thought that was dumb so I left. Since that underwhelming meeting, I have gotten to know Nicole's heart for Jesus and seen her heart for the church grow. She and Clint may be the most creative couple I know. And they serve and love people, giving their hearts. Check out Nicole's work here. 1. How did you first get involved with RUF? I liked a boy named Clint Rule. He was involved in RUF and I had been having lots of trouble finding a campus organization to get involved with. I started going to RUF, a few weeks later we started dating and now we are married. 2. What was/is your favorite part about RUF? It was so wonderful in college to have a place to go to learn about the Bible and worship God. But the greatest part was the community and spiritual mentoring - Doug and Julie, interns, other RUF students and RUF alumni provided an excellent support system. They offered emotional support, spiritual wisdom and practical advise that were invaluable to me and still are. 3. How would you describe your RUF to people interested in coming? RUF is a place where you can go to sing great songs with meaningful content, listen to the Bible preached and the gospel applied to life, hang out, have fun, and get advise about the biggest things in life to the smallest things in life. It is a place where sinners can go and be encouraged to change and yet be loved in the midst of the worst sin. 4. What traditions did you have at RUF that meant the most to you? I loved listening to the seniors talk at the last RUF of the year and being encouraged by stories of change, redemption and growth. I loved all of the songs and I definitely loved summer conference. 5. How did God use RUF in your life? When I began college I was going to church because it was the right thing to do. I believed in God because that is what I had been taught. RUF encouraged and facilitated the process of me taking hold of the Christian faith for myself. Rather than believing because that is what I had been taught as a child I began to challenge and study the Bible and consequently to see the truth of the Bible. This change happened partly as I studied and mostly as I saw the beauty of the gospel in the effect it was having on my life as well as the lives of others. I began to worship God not because that is what I was suppose to do but out of an appreciation of his love for me and an understanding of his holiness and mercy. RUF showed me that I was a Pharisee rule follower and hypocrite but I didn't have to be any more because God can change our heart and our desires and it also taught me that I will be learning these things and needing more change for the rest of my life. 6. What did RUF teach you about Jesus and the church? Jesus is pretty awesome - he loved us when we were sinners, when we were his enemies. He loves me even though I am jealous and prideful and mean and manipulative. He took on our punishment of death so that we can have eternal life with him. The church is an amazing gift - it is the body of Christ. We need each other - as the spirit dwells in each Christian we can bring Christ to each other and to the world. God has used other believers in my life to continually preach the gospel to me - if not for them I would often have ended many nights in despair rather than hopefulness. I should learn how to be vulnerable with my church community and to depend on them even more. 7. What are you doing now? Where are you in church? Clint and I are living in Savannah, GA. Clint is going back to school and working part time and I am working as a full time photographer. As we have recently moved we are still in search of a church. Name: (optional) 10/2/09 8:36 am keels: Have I mentioned how much I love these interviews? (Though I also miss your writing...)