I semi-promised I would make a new year post, so I'm fulfilling that promise now. I wish I could've done it sooner, but to tell you the truth, life as an adult is busy and ain't always easy. As each new year creeps upon me, I begin to realize more and more how short life truly is and how quickly it can fly by. I can't believe my Christian internship started two and a half years ago, that I started college 4 and 1/3 years ago, that the first Vision week conference was nearly 7 years ago...etc. I still feel as is I'm in 2011 and that's the way it has been since 2009. So 3 years feels like one to me. And I hate it. Because as a kid, I really had no schedule, no adult responsibilities, and basically nothing that could prevent me from enjoying life. I also had no flashy, ringing robot in my pocket, no magic box that spewed forth captivating pictures upon a screen, heck I didn't even have cyber spider web. What I had was a woods, a tree swing, climbing trees, a football, a soccer ball, a sleek black Huffy Bike, a sled, a basketball, roller blades, kites, and most importantly my imagination.
I've told you in detail in past posts what this wonderful imagination could procure, and looking back there were times I craved those imagination destroying video games and there were many a time I was allowed to play them, but never own them. Because of my limited time, I made individual games last months, even years, unlike the mere days they last now. And today, I am really glad I wasn't raised by video games.
Where am I going with all of this? I am reflecting on the glory days of my youth when life was so much more perfect and without certain distractions that rule today's society, I was able to imagine, to hope, to dream. I had all the time in the world to do so and because of that, I still dream today. That's one of the few things that keeps me going realizing that all this stress and hardship i go through now is for a greater vision. It's so i can take care of the now for the future. So when I have that moment of nothing, I can turn it into everything I've been dreaming of. I not just talking about my own dream...those are a great vision. They may still come in due time. But the reference I'm making is of the greatest vision. The vision of Christ being complete in my life. My dreams coming true are only rewards along the journey to the Greatest Reward.
So what do I want to see for 2014? Well for the first time in my life, I have a plan for more than a year. And for this plan to come to pass, certain goals must be met along the way. One of my biggest non-self dreams for this year is to see over 600 attend Mountain Top. This summer marks the 10 year anniversary of the 1000 attendees at the second MT which was in Cleveland. Those past MTs as a jr high/ high school kid meant a lot to me and even more so with that large group of Christians enjoying the Lord.
I would also love to see high schoolers have the desire to serve, to put the Lord into where they go to college, to realize the need and fulfill it. Let me tell you a story about choosing a college. My dream school was The Ohio State. It is a huge school, with so much going on, an awesome football team/sports atmosphere, a good engineering program, I already knew a bunch of people there, plus there is a local church life right there as well. But I wasn't going to apply to just one school (I wasn't that confident), so I applied to Akron and Cleveland State. Originally, CSU wasn't even in the picture because I had been there all my freshman year of high school because my school was associated with the college. I wasn't a fan of the campus and I saw it basically as a fall back school. During the application process, I knew I had to put the Lord in it otherwise, I may have missed out or messed up something important. A reason why I didn't apply further away was because I wasn't big on spending vast loads of money on travel and housing and college it was a new and nerve shaking time. As I waited for the acceptance letters to arrive, slowly I felt a turn towards CSU, but wasn't fully committed yet.
Within two weeks of applying, CSU sent me a small envelope (which usually means rejected) that contained a letter that had said I had been accepted and contained an offer for a $1500 yearly scholarship because of my high school academics. I was for sure going to college (not that I was worried), but wanted to hear the other responses. It took a month for Akron and two months for OSU, but they both accepted me and Akron offered a yearly$2000 scholarship. I was overjoyed because I was 3-0 and had my OSU acceptance letter. Yet, something still poked at me to go to CSU.
Not that much later, I received an invitation to attend a scholarship competition at CSU. I inquired of the Lord that if I was really meant to go to CSU, I needed a final sign that would make CSU the right choice. I then proceeded to participate in this competition where I had to take a math test and write an essay. The results? The test added another grand to my total and the essay gave me two grand for my first semester. At this point, there was no doubt in my mind that CSU was where I was going. I let the Lord guide me and to this day I do not believe it was the wrong choice. Do I wish I had left and had the OSU experience?...sometimes. Do I regret not going?...Not at all.
So consider that aspect when searching for the right college. Don't just focus on academics and programs and pizzazz, but think about church life, serving, and your walk with the Lord as well. Start the new year off right by letting your worries fall at His feet, His way guide you, and your focus on Him. Here's to a new year in Christ!
