A Fresh Start

As summer begins to landslide into the business of August and school and sports, I find myself in a place of transition. Now, I've been through a year of college, you would think the transition "feeling" would be over by now, but I'm transferring colleges. The switch has added a decent amount of stress to my summer and has challenged me to delegate my time well (in addition to my full time job and waitressing hours). But I am at peace. And I am SO EXCITED for this new beginning for me.

I'm getting a redo. A restart. No, I am not going to go on about the parallels with God's grace that I see in this beautiful change. But - do you see it?? J-E-S-U-S!

I have set 3 goals for myself this school year that stem out of a year of experience, wanting to succeed in a new place, and making sure I don't take the move for granted.

1) Be passionate.

2) Be intentional.

3) Be yourself.

Not by any means do I believe these three goals are the "key to success" but those are the kinds of things that I want to be able to truly describe myself with. I think these are healthy goals with healthy intentions. Let me break it down.

Be passionate. God has called us to abandon living "lukewarm" (Revelation 3:16) and to live with vigor and intensity for His name's sake. He doesn't want us to be so-so about Him. He wants us to be cRaZy about Him! So much so that others would see that and be intrigued as to what (more like who) is causing us to live in such a way. For me, this resonates in my faith walk, my sports career, my relationships with people, and my job.

Be intentional. This is a big one for me! My transfer relied heavily upon the desire to pursue Jesus in the classroom as a student and someday as a teacher. I want to study Him just as much (or more!) as I study science or math or English. So I need to be active about the goal of being intentional. Here this applies to my religion classes, my relationships with other students/professors/coaches/anyone, chapel time, and service hours as a leader at a youth group. All of these things are places and experiences in which I have the potential to grow and to know Jesus more. But I can't just go through the motions. I need to be intentional about whatever I'm doing, whenever I'm doing it.

Be yourself. This is something I have learned to do in the past year. Going to a college that was filled with high school outcasts really taught me to embrace my weird and be totally okay with it. I like who I am. I don't want to hide the real me anymore, because I DO have something to offer. There is freedom in being who you really are. I grew up in a church that only accepted the cookie-cutter version of a clean Christian and any step outside that boundary made you looked down upon. Luckily, I was able to break free from those restraints, find my identity in Christ, and move forward. If you're going through something similar... like your parents don't approve of the ways you express yourself, you feel alone in the ways you like to spend your free time, or you just don't feel like you "fit in" -- hold on! There's hope for you.

My challenge for you? Set one, three, or seven (attainable) goals for yourself this school year. Once you reach one, treat yourself! Be the YOU that you were created to be. (Psalm 139:13)