It feels amazing to be back here writing again. This semester at UM has been the busiest, craziest, most awesome time of my life. Unfortunately, with all of the craziness, I had no time to keep my blog running. To start off, I began the semester rushing a few fraternities here on campus and ended up pledging Beta Theta Pi. I also now have a girlfriend who is the light in my darkness, my foundation that keeps me standing tall. Lastly, school hit me this semester like never before. All three of these things, pledging a fraternity, girlfriends, and school, take a lot of time. With so much of my time consumed by these three things, I let my pursuit of Jesus fall a little behind in some ways. I stopped reading, writing, and barely was able to go to Church, Bible Study, or Cru. What this did was help me learn to spend time growing closer to God in other ways. Whenever I would be struggling to keep up with school, devote enough time and love to my girlfriend, or getting through pledgeship, I always prayed. I truly felt God's presence by making all of the stress and pain of the semester have visible worth that He showed me daily. He answered prayers this semester like never before. I was having issues finding a roommate, prayed about it, and within a day I met the guy who would end up being my roommate just a week later. I had no idea what I was going to do with my summer this year, I prayed and my friends form home reminded me to apply to work as a counselor at LLYC (Laity Lodge Youth Camp), which they had told me multiple times before but I never listened. I decided to apply and I got the job! Now I get to spend my summer ministering to kids and having a blast hanging with some of my best friends doing a job I have wanted to do since I was a kid. God has blessed me with an awesome Big Brother in Beta who probably cares more about his littles than anyone else in the Greek system nationally. God pulled me to a new church, Granada Presbyterian, where I have found an awesome college small group that I have really enjoyed getting involved with and cannot wait to get even more involved next year! What is great about this is that even when I was not doing the "normal Christian things" like gong to Church or Bible Studies, etc., God was still right with me. I knew he wanted me in Beta and I am so excited to see what He has in store for me there now that I am a brother. He never left my side, even when I would fall and sin, even when I was distracted from Him. Sometimes I would forget about God for over a week, but I know He never left me. He continued to bless me daily with amazing brothers and happiness, joy, and strength. The trials I endured this semester would not have been possible without the strength He instilled in me.
"God keeps his promise, and He will not allow you to be tested beyond your power to remain firm; at the time you are put to the test, He will give you the strength to endure it, and so provide you with a way out."
-1 Corinthians 10:13
He definitely tested me this semester, but as He promised, He always gave me the strength to persevere. The growth I have experienced this semester has been unsurpassed. I thought I had the biggest growth semester of my life last semester, but this semester has already surpassed it. Learning to depend on God in ways I never have before, learning to lean on others to get through tough tasks, receiving unconditional grace from my girlfriend when I never deserved it has been eye-opening. While I was worried this year was a huge distraction, it was in reality just a short deviation from my normal path so that I could learn some invaluable lessons that I will keep for the rest of my life.
Life is crazy. We will always have things come up that consume our lives. I am not saying that I handled this semester in the best way possible. I did have some down time that I spent sleeping sometimes 11 hours in a day, or watching TV when I could have been reading or writing. Even though I chose superfluous sleep, TV, or other worthless things over Him, God always stood right next to me through it all. He never left my side, and now that I have the time, I am running to Him and He is sitting there with His arms wide open just ready to love me, as He always does.
The biggest lesson I learned from this semester is this:
1. When you trust in God and have faith, you WILL succeed and your life will be great. He rewards for faith, and I have countless examples in my life where He has rewarded me, even just this semester, for taking steps in faith.
2. Even when you are distracted from what are considered the "normal Christian duties," the whole point of Christ is that He came to Earth in the form of a human, lived a perfect, sinless life, and died so that WE could have grace and forgiveness for our infinite sins so that God could be with us and we with Him. Because of Jesus' grace, I had God with me every minute of everyday this semester. He never abandoned me.
God sometimes can seem far away, I felt that last semester, but He never really leaves. He does test us and put us through trials, but they are always for a reason that end up helping us or others in the end. Never forget that God is with you and will support you, and try taking a step in faith, you have no idea the wondrous places it may take you.
Live differently by taking the road less traveled, the path that leads to Jesus
