The Way I See It

I sit here at my desk. I'm a 19 year old college student studying to be a social worker. I'm currently putting off studying and spending my time not on Facebook (my roommate changed my password so I'd stop procrastinating), but reading blogs about people that are all over the world spreading the gospel. If we're being honest here it makes me jealous. People are on the world race or spending their semester  in another country. I love people and helping them. I love learning about different cultures. (Why I've chosen social work, who knows.) I love learning about religions (I'm currently fascinated by LDS and Fundamentalist Mormons). I love hearing life changing stories and seeing God work in miraculous ways. I love traveling and always have. There's so much more to this amazing world than living in the U.S. In fact it's my dream to one day live outside the U.S., and hopefully more than one country.
Last night I watched a sermon from Louie Giglio, it was the last session at Passion and he was talking about carrying names. We carry names on the clothes we wear, the things we buy. Giglio talks about how my generation we're good at this, and that carrying the name of Jesus shouldn't be any different. But it really is. It's hard to start a conversation about this man who died for our sins, and rose on the third day. A man who walked on this earth a hundred percent man, but also a hundred percent God as well. A man who was tempted and had his own desires but took the high road and entered through the narrow gate. It's intimidating and makes my stomach do somersaults just thinking about it. I've done it before on mission trips, but never really on my own. My passion for people, helping the helpless, traveling, and serving God all makes sense to me because I know that's what I'm here on this planet.
This year at college I've been challenged in so many different ways. The first few weeks living here in Evansville I finally experienced the real-world. I was no long hearing about it from my parents or others, but I was living in it. My eyes were opened to a place of darkness, people with different beliefs, and opinions. I was challenged to figure out what I believe and why. I needed to be prepared to defend my faith and not just say 'well it's biblical', but actually dig deep into scripture and make note of it. The way I see it God has been preparing me for something huge. I wish I knew what it was, it could be numerous different things. I'm still digging deeper and learning more than ever about Christianity and taking it to heart. I'm tired of conforming to what the world says and it's time to take the high road. I'd rather not be in college right now (that seems selfish), I'd rather be living with the poor and learning from them. I've spent the last 13ish years of my life learning, learning about history, math, English, government, etc. While yes I'm grateful for it beyond imaginable, I'm tired of learning in a school. I'd love to spend my time learning in the real-world, with real people. Not just seeing pictures and hearing about it from other people. The way I see it one day I'll be married and have kids and not be able to do this. The world says I should be married by at least 24 and have kids a few years afterwards. I don't want to waste this precious time I have now, where I'm free to do whatever. So here's to taking every opportunity and spending my free time wisely.