Hey there.  I know it’s unlike me to post twice in two weeks, let alone twice in one week, but I just had a thought I wanted to share.  I have written on this before (that super long post about “Oh the Places You’ll Go”) but I just had this feeling again.

I just finished my third of five finals of this semester.  Tomorrow, in about 30 hours, I will be done with my freshman year of college.  That sounds so unnatural, but what I want to write briefly about today is, that while it sounds unnatural, it doesn’t feel unnatural.

I’m sure people who have watched me grow up think it’s uncanny that I’m finishing my freshman year of college (these are generally the same people that comment on how much you’ve grown and pinch your cheeks).  But while it may seem unnatural to them, it doesn’t phase me at all.  There is a blessing in not being overwhelmed with how quickly your life is moving.  College people used to seem so old, so weathered, so mature.  And now that I’m here, I see that while we may be older, and probably smarter, than those younger than us, we do not face any different problems than we used to, just new experiences.  There is still the drama of high school, the awkwardness of middle school (though not in astronomical quantities), and even a little bit of the naiveté of elementary school.  People still stab people in the back, people still cheat, people still have problems sharing; we aren’t unprepared for the problems of college.  College allows us to encounter new experiences, some of which may be unnerving, but in reality, we don’t deal with any new issues.  We just deal with the same ones in different packaging.  And this may all be because I am only done with my freshman year; by senior year, I may encounter new problems I have not yet encountered.

While this is whole college thing is nothing new, and while it is good to consider it just another step towards Christ and his glory, we need not let it pass without notice.  There is a fine line between taking the college transition in stride and taking it for granted.  It is so important in these four(ish) years our lives, as we continue to discover who God made us to be, that we do not wish it away and live through it like any other period of life.  The work is difficult, the relationships rewarding and stressful, the growth straining, and the memories many.  But do the work, build the relationships, persevere the growth, and make the memories to glorify Christ.  I have only gone through my first year, and I can already see myself and others wishing away these college days.  To get to what?  To get to life after college, which, like we once saw college, we see as amazing, rewarding, freeing.  But, if we attempt to get through college as fast as we can, we will arrive at adult life only to realize that is another step in the road, like college, like high school, like middle school.

Don’t treat this college experience as a stepping stone, live for the now.  Let your degree and future aspirations take a back seat to living for Christ and glorifying him in the present day.  You can glorify Christ no less in how you write your papers, how you take your finals, than you can in your future job, with your future spouse, at your future job, in your future home.  Those are going to be just as much of a chore as college is if you continue to treat these parts of life as arbitrary means to an unforeseen end.

This has been a much longer rant than I had planned on it being, and I got off track a bit, but it didn’t turn out too bad.  Bottom line is:

To college students – Stop wishing away college.  You have no less work now than you will in the “real world.”  If we keep looking at college as a chore as we are, we will see our jobs as chores as well, and, before you know it, we will be living for retirement.  And when we get to retirement, we will see how much we wasted in pursuit of…boredom.

To pre-college students – Enjoy every minute of high school.  Find every way to inject Christ into your high school experience, public or private.  Please use this time to begin to discover what God has made you to do, and who God has made you to be.  And remember, this discovery is best done through prayer and meditation on God’s word.

Ok, I think I’m done writing.  I could probably write a bunch more, but I would undoubtedly start repeating myself.  I have a couple of finals to study for, and I am going to do my best to enjoy them.

Have a great day.  Pursue Christ and his kingdom.

-Chris

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 19th, 2010 at 10:00 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.