Work in Progress

One word can describe this year at college so far: Wow! God is soooo incredible. Truly words cannot explain how great He is! I say this not because of any particular thing He's done for me rather I say this because He's God! He is so holy and powerful beyond words and yet He chooses to have a relationship with us and use us in the process.

This semester I have the honor and privilege of being a transfer orientation leader. The students in my group are great! I had a great time hanging out with them during orientation week as I showed them around campus, got to know each of them better and even cleaned up the community together. God taught me so much during that week and continues to do so as we continue to hangout. He helps me to get out of my comfort zone and to reach out to people on a deeper level, rather than just asking "How are you" and leaving it at that. He's been showing me just how small I am when compared to Him and His sheer greatness. I also realized how selfish I often am, thinking of my needs and how often I forget about putting others' needs above my own. As He continues to work within me, I'm drawing closer and closer to Him and let me tell you, it's such a great feeling to feel Him moving inside of me as I begin to forget about my own wants and serve Him and His people instead. It's funny that saying that teachers (or in my case, leaders) often learn more from their students is so true.

Also, I've been going back to my home church on the weekends and I could definitely feel God using me there. I led worship a couple of weeks ago for the youth group and it was so great! The youth before would hardly sing and kinda just stood there as the worship team played. But now I can see that changing. Last time I led they were singing and you could tell that they were beginning to not be so concerned about what their neighbors thought of them and they just began to worship our Lord. It was such an amazing thing to see take place because I've been praying for this to happen for a little over a year now. Not only that, but that same Sunday I had a girl who's in junior high open up to me about her experience with peer pressure. What she said she was going through was exactly what I went through (and still do sometimes). As she was explaining herself to me, I said a quick prayer for God to give me the words to say. God totally took it from there. I began to tell her my experience, what I learned and what God says about it. He totally gave me the words to say and they seemed to just flow right from my mouth. It was truly incredible.

You know, as I reflect on all that God has done so far this school year for me and those around me, I can't help but remember what David said in Psalm 8:3-4: "When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that You are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?" (NIV). These verses have always had a special place in my heart, but now they have become even more precious to me. It's just a wonder to me why God would choose to use someone like me. I mean, what do I have to offer? But truly that's the beauty of it: none of us deserve Him or to be used by Him. But through His Son we can have a relationship with Him and as we draw closer to Him we will begin to hear His voice telling us where to go and how we can further His kingdom.

And this isn't to say that I still don't find myself stuck in my selfish ways. No not at all! But God is definitely doing a work in my heart and I pray that you will draw closer and closer to Him everyday and let Him use in amazing ways.