Since August 15th, 2007 to August 15th, 2014, I've lived "America's Friendliest City." Those dates are true. It has been exactly, to the day seven years. I didn't plan that intentionally, by the way. Those are the days I was allowed to move into my dorm as a freshman and now to my new apartment in Louisville.
Murray has been home to me throughout my years as a college student and for the first year of my teaching career. It wouldn't have been as wonderful if I had not been in an amazing group of people called Christ Ambassadors. They are people who go hard after Jesus. People who are excellent in their studies. People who aren't too important to serve. People who love to have fun and love to support each other. Those are the kinds of people that will turn you into something spectacular. That's what I had for seven years and because of that, I'm ready to take on the years ahead of me.
So now, I'm in Louisville, KY to help start a new church (Daylight Church. check it out). I'll be doing children's ministry and I'll also be teaching English as a second language at the University of Louisville. Yeah, so my best years are definitely ahead of me.
So what did I learn from being in Murray for all of those seven years? A lot. But I'll spare you and narrow it down to seven things, BuzzFeed style.
1. You can't live on the mountain top
I really wish that every single day I could be high on life. I spent some time on the mountain top and was, during one semester, swimming in the naive conception that I could live like that all the days of my life. I'm convinced that a life devoted to following Jesus and being close to Him is the best. Indubitably and unapologetically, I believe that. But let's be honest, not everything you touch is going to turn to gold and sometimes life really kicks you in the teeth. You just have to keep going. You can't give up believing just because you've been feeling bummed out. Sometimes it's really hard to stay positive in those tough, meaningless seasons, but I had to teach myself to think about and believe God's promises in the Bible. Having the right perspective makes a world of difference. We don't have an excuse to ever stop saying "wow" because life really is amazing.
Proverbs 4:18 has become my favorite verse. It helps me look forward to my future and gives me a healthy appetite for Heaven. "The way of the righteous is like the first light of day that gets brighter and brighter until it is full daylight."
2. I can hear God
Really, it's not as mystical as it sounds. It's just that when you've got a relationship with the King of the Universe who genuinely cares about you and the quality of your life, He's gonna tell you things. The longer I've been talking to God, the easier it's been to hear Him. I've never heard Him in an out loud, physical voice in case you're wondering that. I hear Him through reading the Bible, in my situations, or, for the most part, sitting in a quiet place. It helps to imagine Jesus sitting next to me as if He were physically there. Maybe I'll ask Him a question or think "If He were here right now, what would I need Him to say to me?" Almost instantly, a thought jumps in my mind. Eventually, those thoughts turn into short sentences and then those short sentences turn into monologues from God Himself. He brings the truth in gentleness and encouragement. Deep feelings of peace come over me and sometimes I cry because of His affirmation.
"The more time you spend alone with God, you will find out you are not alone." -Ravi Zacharias
3. I am a difference-maker
This is one of those things I'll have to keep learning for the rest of my life. It's not too often that I feel like I'm being influential. I'm prone to believe the lie that my existence doesn't change anything. I'm even more prone to believe that my average every day life doesn't count for much unless I'm saving the world by writing inspirational books, making big speeches on TV, or hugging kids in an impoverished country. Lies. Extremely minuscule actions produce effects of mega proportions. It doesn't matter who you are, what you do for a living, or how dull or shiny your personality is, you have an influence and you decide whether it's positive or not. You may not be finding the cure for cancer, but whatever God has called you to do right where you are, do it and do it with all your might.
"Wherever you are, be all there." -Jim Elliot
4. Just be yourself... unless you're shy
While being in Murray, I found out that I'm an introvert who is called to be an extrovert. For a long time, I believed myself to be an extrovert who doesn't mind being alone. But once, a close friend told me, "You're definitely an introvert." An introvert? I didn't want to hear that. Honestly, I didn't want to be associated with the stereotypical view of introverts in a culture that idolizes the glorious extroverted personality. But later, I realized that it was true and I was denying who I was (I now believe that introverts are awesome, by the way).
The thing is, Jesus calls us to be comfortable with who we are AND I also believe He calls us to be more as He changes us. If you're an introvert (congratulations on being awesome), let me tell you, Jesus never called anyone to be shy. Shyness is fear. We are called to be bold and confident, even if it's quietly confident. Jesus really has changed me in this area and because of that I am often mistaken as an extrovert in social settings. The Lord gives me strength to reach out to people and be what I need to be in different situations. I can say that I am very comfortable with being who I am and letting God stretch me.
5. God doesn't need me
Another part of my personality that I discovered is that I always need a cause and tend to overload on responsibilities. Even responsibilities that aren't related to me. I need to be the superhero. I need to fight in the forefront of the battlefield so that I can really believe that I'm making a difference. A lot of preachers spend their time, and rightly so, exhorting people to take a stand and do more for Jesus. But what I really need is for someone to tell me to sit down and get out of the way. Let God do it. He doesn't need me or anyone else to solve all the problems of the world. It's even absurd to say "Ok, God. If you need reinforcement, I'll be right here." Ridiculous. The very cool thing is that God invites us to be a part of the mission and I take that seriously. Jesus actually commanded us to go change the world (Mark 16) but He by no means needs me. That doesn't mean that all I have to do is sit in a church pew for the rest of my life, but it does mean that the state of the world and all of it's lost people, pain, war, disease, and problems doesn't depend on me.
What a relief.
"Missionaries are very human folk just doing what they are told. Simply a bunch of nobodies trying to exalt Somebody."-Jim Elliot
6. You don't need a title to be a leader
It turns out that having an official position isn't the only way to get people to look up to you. It's not about getting attention for yourself or saying, "Look! Look what I'm doing! I'm something important! Notice meeeeeeeeee!" What I've learned from experience and from what the Bible teaches is that the best leaders are servants. Specifically servants who work behind closed doors where they're not noticed very much. That produces the extremely valuable fruit of humility. I don't want to say that titles are something to avoid or that people who have titles are attention gluttons by any means, but you certainly don't need a title to have a positive influence.
7. It's all about souls
I am so glad I was involved in a group that is focused on winning souls to Jesus. There were always visitors at each of our weekly large group meetings and at least one person would commit to follow Jesus pretty much every Wednesday night. That is awesome. I was challenged to share my faith on a daily basis. We did a lot of evangelism on trips and held a number of outreach events every year. Our mission trips consisted of giving surveys, holding signs, praying with people, and sometimes street preaching. Yes. Street preaching. Christ Ambassadors taught me to be active in preaching the Gospel "to all creatures." Even to storm troopers (which really did happen one time). My life, and everyone's life, has a huge purpose and that is to reach people and win them over to Jesus.
*This blog has been brought to you by the number 7.
Without a doubt, this is one of the best blogs I have ever read.
ReplyDeleteSo good!!!
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