Monday, August 29, 2011

Past, Passions, and Purpose


My name is Douglas William Harkness, Douglas is the name of my grandfather on my mom's side and it means "dark waters", and William is my uncle's middle name.  I am the oldest of 2 sons, my little brother's name is Shane, and we are sons of Drake and Shannon Harkness.  I spent all of my life before Northwest growing up in a little town called Deming, WA, about 30 minutes southeast of Bellingham.  I was born and raised in a Christian family by loving parents who taught me right from wrong and how to maintain good moral character.  We went to the same church throughout my adolescent life, a little Assemblies of God church of less than 100 people.  I always enjoyed that place and learned many of life's hard lessons from my time growing up in that congregation.  I decided to come to NU after visiting during a NW Friday and seeing the place for myself.  I also received a calling to music ministry during my senior year of high school at a youth conference put on by the Network in Yakima, WA.  My original plan was to major in Communications, but when I received this calling, I immediately changed to a Music Ministry major.  During my first year at NU I changed to a general Music major, because I very quickly learned I couldn't handle the Bible classes--history and philosophy are two of my poor subjects.

The most exciting thing about NU for me is the real community that is well-established here.  I strive to continue in the legacy of those who have gone before me in my current position as an Apartment Representative.  I did this last year also as a Community Builder in the dorms, I see it as a way of ministry when I can live with people who are or aren't on my same level.  I like to point out strengths and abilities in others and most of all I love to be around people.  Another thing that excited me and give me great joy is music, or more specifically worship arts.  I love creating music directed to my Savior and my God, and I love to sing and play others' music of the same origin.  It's the most expressive way I can find to give back of myself and my talents to the Lord, and I find great peace in doing so.

This summer was a very satisfying summer for me--I worked in a summer camp in Poulsbo, WA for 9 weeks as a music director.  I led worship every night and controlled sound equipment for games and meals.  It was an incredible learning experience for me, and was also very honoring as well as humbling for me to receive such a position.  It not only confirmed God's calling over my life, but also stretched and grew me as I came across different situations and put what I had learned the past couple years into play.  It was very helpful experience to have before going into full-time ministry in the near future.

1 comment:

  1. You could use the summer camp story as a "good experience" story for that assignment when we get to it. You will need to go into detail with names, dates and places and steps that you took.

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