The "Right" Answers

Wasn't your freshman year just so great? Was college all you thought it would be?
These were questions I grew to dread over the past year.
  In our society today, and especially in the south, being polite is expected. It's just what you do, when you see someone you are supposed to ask how they are or how they have been. It's the nice thing to do, right? Well it is, but do we really ask these questions wanting an honest answer?
 
 I quickly became very good at giving the "right" answer to those two questions I mentioned. A simple yes or good is what I thought they would want to hear, they don't want to know the truth, or I don't want to burden them with my problems are the things I would tell myself. The truth was this past year was the hardest year of my life, but in a way it was great, because God taught me so much. I had become a master of hiding the pain or heartache I was going through with a smile and a few surface answers. I continued with this life of surface happiness as I came home from school.
  And then came a new question...
How was your summer?
   I wanted to be able to say it was great! But the truth was I was terrified of some things that were happening, and others just felt like they were falling apart. There came a point during summer when I had basically lost hope, I joked that if I planned it would happen you could pretty much put money on the fact that it wouldn't. I felt like I was stuck, God was teaching me so much, but I was stuck in this cycle of disappointment, this was when I became so convicted of what I call the "right" answers. You know, giving the easy answer I believed people wanted to hear.
   We live in a society that wants everyone to be "happy" so we ask and answer these questions that show we care and we give answers that make life sound great all the time. This summer when I started to see the need I had to be real with someone  I asked myself how often do I ask these wanting to know the truth or answer them honestly. For me that was not the majority. It was then that I truly saw the need for honesty in our lives.

  Honesty is the best policy, as cliche as it may sound it is true. The fact is God works in different ways in all of our lives and we should view these simple questions as a witnessing tool, to tell others how God is working. Because the truth is life isn't always great, sometimes it really stinks, and you know what? That's ok. The point of our lives is to bring God glory so if you feeling a little awkward or uncomfortable telling somewhere your life isn't perfect is the cost of sharing the truth about our Lord, I think it's worth it.
  On the other side we should want to know the truth, so when we ask the question we should not expect a simple good, or yes.

   I guess all in all, over the past year God has really challenged me with the truth; the truth of the gospel, the truth of the struggles of life, and the truth of his joy. I want to live a life that is true, and that involves being real with the people. This life of truth goes hand in hand with a life of love. My desire is to BE REAL and truly live out the truth of the gospel with love.


John 13:35 "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

A Search for Significance

As summer comes to a close I am once again reminded of the emotions that come along with the words "back to school."  Depending on what going back to school means to you, it can be either terrifying or so exciting.  Now for me, I am excited because going back to school means moving back to the Loveliest Village on Plains! (But that's beside the point)  The truth is both these and others are understandable reactions, and I think if we are honest with ourselves these reactions stem for the answer to the question "Who am I?"

 We live in a society of labels, in high school it may be things like Jake the baseball player, or Allie the girl on SGA or Austin the guy who only takes AP classes.  In college it might be: Caroline the AXO or Emily the student recruiter or Ryan the Plainsman.  And even as adults the labels continue. Now these labels are not necessarily bad things, but we can't let a label define who we are.   I believe that if we look we can learn that we are more than a label.

 Before I said that I was excited about going back to Auburn, now this is not because I had the perfect freshman year, with the perfect friends and just can’t wait to get back to my perfect college life.  Actually it is far from that, let me explain a little...I like many of my friends went to Auburn last fall to start my freshmen year; I was so excited.  I had   dreamed of going to Auburn for years and it was finally happening, but I was also so nervous. I, like most girls from the Over the Mountain area moved in early to go through rush.  Although I was forced to quickly learn that sorority was not for me, that didn't come easy.  Some of my best friends were already in sororities so I took all that happened personally.  I went through some time where I felt unwanted, even not good enough.  For me rush started a time where I had no idea how to answer the question “Who am I?”

I am by no means saying rush is not a good thing, some of my very best friends love it, but I am saying that rush is a crazy, stressful, emotional time that feels like the only thing that matters.  But here's the truth, you are loved by the most amazing God, and he calls you his.  I went through rush seeking the approval of certain girls and truthfully guys. I thought that getting some letters at the end of the week would somehow make me a better person.  Sometimes I think it is funny how God teaches us things. Going into to rush, well first I told myself I didn't care what others thought of me, but the truth is that was all I cared about.  It took me a while to learn this, but God is so faithful and he does not give us more than we can handle.

 So earlier I stated that I believe that the answer to our identity crisis can be found in a simple question "Who am I?"  But I think that the truth is really found in changing that question a little. The question we should be asking is "Whose am I?" God calls us his. Let that sink in for a second...

The God of the universe calls YOU his. So with that being said, does it matter what others think of you, does it matter if you make the team, if you fit into that popular crowd, if you get invited to that party? NO.

Now I'm not saying that that will take all the hurt away, but what I am saying is that you no longer have to worry about "Who you are."

When we change our mindset to this we can eliminate the labels that we put on ourselves and others.

"I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty."

2 Corinthians 6:18