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THE SHOW GOES ON. I put this song on repeat on May 13 when I was surrounded by bags and piles- packing up to move home after the conclusion of the school year. This moment was bittersweet, as it had been such a fun, eventful, unforgettable year...and as I won't be back in the dorms until Spring 2012, as I will be in IBEX in the fall.
But compared to the end of spring 2010, I was so happy and thankful and excited to be going home. I get now what I didn't get then- THE SHOW GOES ON.
While I absolutely love ministering to a wing and living alongside of my girlfriends and am very much in my element when I am in the social scene- my family is so wonderful, rest is needed, there are so many things I am excited about this summer- AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, while life ebbs and it flows, my constant is JESUS CHRIST.
It can be a bit of a culture shock going from a lifestyle of being on your own, staying up late, and living alongside of your peers to being back under the roof of your parents and getting used to doing chores again, checking in with them, and respecting their direct authority. Life isn't just a carefree party anymore. Your friends don't live a few feet from you, or above you, or down the street from you-ready to hang out at your every beck and call. Reality sets in.
I have seen a lot of peers (and have gone through it myself) be literally depressed upon arriving home. Now I know a lot of my friends have completely different family and church and friend situations, and I know that I have been so BEYOND blessed in these departments. My "school church" is my home church and it is AMAZING- I absolutely love my church of twelve years, Grace Community Church. I have some of the most incredible church and hometown friends a girl could ask for and am always excited to have more time to hang out and catch up with them. I also get more time with my discipler, Mel, in the summer- as she is the wife of an RD. And if you read my third, fourth, and fifth posts on this blog- you know that my family members are my best friends. So all in all, it's a win-win situation.
But these things aren't the source of my contentment. Even when life circumstances are great, I can be discontent, if I am not placing my hope, joy, and focus on Christ.
When my heart is right, however, I don't live to be on SLS. I don't live for school functions. I don't live for wing events. I don't live to get A's in my classes. I don't even live for my friends. Or for fun. Or for ministry events. I live so that "in all things He might have the preeminence," Colossians 1:18.
The Lord has grown and changed me a lot this year, as it relates to being content in "every season." What is the secret to contentment? Resting in Christ, no matter where you are, no matter who you are with, whether your week is busy or boring. I am not waiting for school to start back up or to leave for Israel. I am striving to live for my Savior and am waiting for His return. THE SHOW GOES ON.
"Truly my soul finds rest in God;
my salvation comes from him.
Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will never be shaken."
Psalm 62:1-2
"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. What do workers gain from their toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. {He has made everything beautiful in its time.} He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it."
-Ecclesiastes 3:1-14
-Ecclesiastes 3:1-14
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