Calling All College Freshman

You can stop pinching yourself because this moment is real. Its time to move into college.

If you are anything like me, your stomach might twist and turn at the thought of jumping out of your comfort zone into a huge pile of awkward confusion.

But I have good news. You can avoid that!

College is like one huge refinery, and you are about to be the material.

The reason I say that is because there are going to be so many things tugging for your attention (good and bad). You will have classes to take care of, professors to talk to, friends to find, and whatever else you decide to give your attention to.

I advise that you choose wisely..

I must say for me, the greatest thing I have found thus far is genuine friendship. The thing about it is that you must seek out people who will encourage you to do things that are in your best interest. That is genuine. If that friend is willing to pressure you, give you ultimatums, or leave you hanging out to dry, then you probably need to start rethinking some things.

So, choose friends that will uplift and encourage you. And try to return the favor.

Next, avoid Netflix like the plague.
I'm telling you right now, I love me some Friday Night Lights, but a career as a professional Netflix viewer will get you nowhere. Time management is essential. Save that for Christmas Break.

STUDY. 
For those of you who think you know what this means, stop lying to yourself. You don't until you fail that first test. Its okay, it happens to the best of us.

The beautiful thing about studying is that it works when you do it the right way. But there is a formula to this.

Go to class + take notes + review the material + find ways to apply that material to real life + ask questions + create a study group = How to study.

I'm sure there are more things you can add to that equation but that will work for now.

I might mention that going to class is pretty important. Professors are smarter than you simply because most of them were you at one point and after they get their degree, they are basically the smarter version of you. SO don't try to cheat the system. Simply go to class.

Make time for spiritual growth. 

This could be the most important thing I could ever write. There will come a time in your life and mine that you will no longer be able to use your career. The meaning of success will become blurred because like anything else in life, things pass.

Isaiah 40:8 says, "the grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of God shall stand forever".

Yeah all that metaphorical grass you grew when you were trying to fulfill your career goals will fade. That is a promise.

The good news about that is that your relationship with Jesus Christ will NEVER fade. If my major could be "disciple of Christ" you better believe I would jump on that opportunity. That degree would never go to waste.

The beauty of college is that if you do it right, you will be made into a beautiful person, and the even better part is that you will probably help other people be made into something beautiful as well.

Always remember that your grades do not define you, you do not need a GPA to get into Heaven, and your past is as good as gone. Be victorious. 

Road Trips

Road trips.

Its just you, your iPod, and the journey ahead.

When you first begin your trip you are completely excited. Why? Because you know your destination. And if you're me, you have an awesome playlist to accompany you. The only thing you are unsure of is what will happen on the way.

The cool thing about road trips is what you see on the way. You see new things you have never seen before. The bad parts are flat tires, speeding tickets, and other bumps in the road.  Even when the bad parts happen on the way, you still have hope because you know you are going to reach your destination.

I was on my way to the beach for spring break with my buddies this year and we hit something in the road. About 15 minutes later we hear this awful roaring noise and smoke is flying everywhere. My roommate says "I think its that strap hanging out of the trunk". No Jess, that's a flat tire. And it was. We were stranded for about 2 hours at a sketchy Wal Mart until AAA finally found us. While we were freaked out and somewhat annoyed at the current situation, we still knew that we would end up at the beach and everything would be fine. And it was.

The point of the story is to illustrate that we hit bumps in the road, and sometimes we get a flat tire, but we still trust that we will make it to our destination.

The same thing happens when Jesus enters your life and you become a follower of Him. This is when your journey begins. The beautiful thing about the journey is that no matter what bumps you hit or adversity you face, you know your destination.

Ya know, I don't think we would appreciate where we were going if we didn't face adverse circumstances on the way. How thankful we will be when we finally get there.

If you haven't began the journey yet, join me. I love company, especially on road trips. I promise that the destination will be well worth the ride.

Congrats Class of 2014!

Have you ever wondered why that extra ten pounds is there after you told yourself you would start dieting two months ago? Or did you ever promise something to yourself on New Years Eve and break your resolution one week later? 

Well let me tell ya, I have. For both. That's right, I "started" my college kid diet about two months ago, and it hasn't gone anywhere. 

So tonight, I'm going to share with you a wise statement from Andy Stanley, who founded Northpoint Ministries. 

In his book, The Principle of the Path he says, "Direction not intention, determines your destination". Let me say that one more time, "direction not intention, determines your destination".

Folks, you can intend on becoming a doctor, being a great student or employee, and having a strong relationship with God. But the key word there is INTEND. 

Your intentions mean nothing without direction. And by direction, I mean action. Putting these things into motion. 

I just finished up my first year at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, otherwise known as Blue Heaven. and what a year it was. You know how there are 5 stages of grief? PAUSE....Well I'd say there are five stages of your freshman year in college. 

You've got the "Scared Out of My Mind" stage. Which is; mom can't wash my clothes, tell me when to wake up, or check my grades on the internet. Not to mention, I have to try and not get lost every day for the first two weeks. And  I have no friends. 

Then there's the "Oh Yeah, I've Got This All Down Pat". You start making friends, and lose the obligation to go to class. And then BAM, you fail that test, and you're "Whaaaat?".

Next comes the "Just Get Me to the End of This Semester". This is when all eating habits go downhill because your stress level climbs thanks to that failing test grade. You are also missing the home that you hated so much before college. 

Then you've got the "BRING IT ON SECOND SEMESTER I'M READY FOR YOU". This happens after Christmas break and New Years. Your resolution is that you are going to make the Dean's List while being the greatest social butterfly. WRONG.

Now the 5th, and final step, which is the hardest to get to, but the best part of it all. It's the "I'm Not All That" step. This is the part where you stop with your good intentions, and you start realizing that it takes a lot more than your words to make it through college. 

Friends, you are in your comfort zone here. You have your possy, your family, and life is somewhat stagnant because you are in a routine. You check Twitter, Facebook, Instagram on a daily basis, sometimes hourly, and life seems to continue moving. 

When you take the next step, whether that be college, or a job, whatever it is. I want to encourage you with these three things:

1. Go in with the mentality that you are going to do everything whole-heartedly. 

2. Find people that genuinely care for your well being and encourage you on your walk with Christ.

3. Never let your pride keep you from being humbled, and never let your stubborness keep you from becoming wise. 

I'll tell you this. I struggled initially, but I soon found a fix for all my struggles. I came to know Christ in an intimate and passionate way this year at UNC, and I can tell ya right now, my life will never be the same. 

When we allow Christ to come into our lives, we create room for growth, wisdom, and joy. We begin to understand and grasp what's important, and we lose sight of the things that once corrupted us. 

And tonight I want to encourage you with this, 

No matter what path you are taking, choose to let Jesus guide you and give you direction, because I promise you that it won't be easy, but it will lead to beautiful things. Pursue Him, chase after Him, and consume yourself with Him because He loves you more than anyone on this Earth. 

Deuteronomy 31:6 says he will NEVER leave you nor forsake you. 

Lamentations 3:25 says the Lord is good to those that pursue him 

Galatians 2:20 says  I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God. who loved me and gave himself for me.

So tonight I ask you to pursue Christ, seek Him, believe in Him, and trust in Him, and your life will be changed forever. 

Remember, 

Direction not intention, determines our destination. 

Congrats Class of 2014. You made it. 

Proceed with Caution

The Unsinkable Ship 

If you know anything about the Titanic you would know that everyone called it the "Unsinkable ship"... and boy were they wrong.

The Titanic was magical. It was meant to stand out and make all other ships look like tiny. The ship was built with many compartments that would fill up with water in the event that anything should happen. These compartments were built to keep the ship from sinking.

I think its safe to say that some people are much like the Titanic, strong and invincible... powerful and strong. The problem is (in the words of Joe Nichols) unsinkable ships sink. Just as the Titanic did, we all tend to hit our iceberg and crash.

You see, the compartments talked about earlier were made for small leaks. There was hardly any preparation for such a crash. As people, we always tend to believe we are invincible, and we take life for granted. We only prepare for small leaks, and we believe that nothing will ever make us crash and burn.

The difference between you and the Titanic is that you have the choice to sink or swim. We all hit the iceberg at some point, but the key is preparation. Without preparation, you could allow something to split you in two and make you sink to the deepest, darkest depths. Although you cannot predict the future, or see what is to come, you can soak up every moment of every day. And by soak up I mean be thankful.

That's right. Thankfulness will keep your ship from sinking. Because when you are thankful, you are humble. You don't care which "ship" is the biggest.. you are just thankful for the ship that God so graciously blessed you with.

For the record, being thankful is not conditional. You must be thankful in all things, good and bad.

And yeah, you'll hit a couple icebergs along the way, but I guarantee that if you continue to be thankful, and choose to swim, you won't sink. You will rise to the top (just don't do what Rose did and let go of Jack because you best believe I would hold onto Leo DiCaprio if my life depended on it)... Anyways, my point is to say that thankfulness is your life jacket.

My last point is that once you choose to put on the life jacket and swim, don't forget to take the hand of those who love you, and are willing to pull you out of the water. God didn't give you a support group for nothing.

Choose to swim. Put on the life jacket of thankfulness. Humble yourself. Take the helping hand. 

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
        ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Run Forrest, Run

I can imagine that you are reading this from the sitting position; which is great because I am writing this from the sitting position.

I went on my first run in a long time yesterday and I remember it well (along with my legs, gag reflux, and feet). I decided that I was going to run for fifteen minutes around campus. At around eleven mins into this run I make way to the nearest bush and had my lunch for the second time... Ew.

Needless to say I am way out of shape.

Hebrews 12:1 says we are to run the race with endurance. The race being referred to here is the race of life. 

I think it would be easy to say that life is a marathon, no doubt. There are ups and downs, a start and a finish, and some people make it to the end before others.

So my question for you today is, are you a spiritual runner?

Runners never start off running 26 miles at a time. They slowly build up their mileage throughout days upon days of running.

I would say that a good definition of a spiritual runner would be: one who meditates on the Word daily, prays without ceasing, seeks God's will and not their own, and spreads the gospel.

Often times we only see the word "endurance" in that passage and we automatically relate it to rough times, and we think that this endurance is automatically given to us.

Well I hate to tell ya, God didn't just fill you full of endurance powers, just like beginning runners can't run a full marathon. BUT God did give us all the tools we need to acquire endurance. So He says meditate on my Word, throw off the things that weigh you down, pray without ceasing, love me over everything else in your life.

I can guarantee that your spiritual stamina will increase ten-fold if you do those things. Talk about running with endurance. You may not even break a sweat. More importantly, you won't lose your lunch.

So I ask you again, are you a spiritual runner, and are you doing what is needed to run this race with endurance? If not, my best advice is to get up and....

Memories, Dr. Suess, and a Testimony

Merrium-Webster defines a memory as "the store of things learned and retained from someone's activity or experience". 

What is your fondest memory? (You're probably sitting here thinking "I have no idea"). 

Let me tell you mine. 

I can remember the day I found Jesus like it was yesterday. I was "saved" around ten years ago but I didn't come to know Jesus until July 25th, 2013. I was sitting in the auditorium of a high school in Cleveland, Ohio and I was actually there on a mission trip. I was currently at the worst point in my life because I had become a victim of my circumstances. 

It was called a Concert of Prayer and I was absolutely dreading it going in because my initial thought was "who wants to pray for an hour and a half?". Little did I know that the biggest turning point of my life would happen in that hour and a half.

One of the leaders stood up and said "Let go of everything that is weighing you down. Let go of your circumstances and the control over your life. Bring it all to the feet of Jesus". (now you're probably singing "Let It Go" from Frozen in your head which is totally okay).. It was in that moment that I felt tears streaming down my face. I was crying hysterically because it was like everything I had been carrying on my shoulders was gone. The pain was gone. I closed my eyes and gave my life to Christ in that moment. 

What a distinct feeling that was. 

Dr. Suess said, "You will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory". 

I believe that we have as many memories as their are stars in the sky, but I would compare my fondest memory to something as unique as the moon that gives light in the darkness. Memories are gifts, but sometimes they are burdens. The ability of your brain to look back on a moment and make you feel as if it were happening now is nothing short of miraculous. 

Sure we all are going to have good memories and bad ones, but which one do you have more of? Are they memories of value and depth? Do they make you smile and wish it could happen all over again? I sure hope so. 

I wonder what life would be like without memories. 

So I ask you again, what is your fondest memory? 

April showers bring May flowers

It's always around this time of year that the phrase "April showers brings May flowers" is incredibly overused. 

Rain can be depressing when it happens for an entire month, but the great thing about rain is that once it's done, everything looks beautiful and refreshed. 

I've realized that our lives can be like the month of April. Sometimes it seems like it rains without stopping, and you begin to wonder if the rain will ever end. 

And then you see blooms that turn into blessings. All thanks to that rain. 

So whenever it seems like the rain in your life will never end, just remember that April showers bring May flowers.