God's Blessed Mission

My pastor spoke about the Great Commission on Sunday. He challenged us to make God's mission our mission with trust and obedience. This tied into a recent lecture from class where the speaker stated, "Get involved with what God is doing because it's already blessed."

Our mission and values should be in line with the big picture God has. He will bless when we are in line with His plan. The exciting part is that this will look different for each of us. We all have unique gifts and abilities that can be used for Him.

My recent classes have encouraged me to develop a personal mission statement for my life. I adopted a line from a song by John Waller that have have blogged about before: Blessing for Life. I have chosen to live by the line, "I will choose to be a blessing for life." I want to find ways to encourage and bless others, and I believe this lines up with God's mission of reaching people for Him.

How are you living to make God's mission your mission?

Embracing Change

Today is Tuesday - and I'm doing laundry. Now, I have mentioned in my blog before how my laundry day is Wednesday. Not Tuesday.

I have been living by a different schedule lately - not intentionally, but life has provided some opportunities to face change lately, and I've been enjoying it. Yes! I have been enjoying changes! Not a common theme in my life in recent years. Let me share a few examples of changes that have happened: (Sorry for the large gaps - my editing page is acting funny.)

-Canceled Plans - Plans with friends have been canceled lately, but I have been able to spend unplanned time with other friends because of it. I've had many random friend times lately!

-Haircut - I got my hair cut recently - at a salon! Not by my mom, who most always cuts my hair. It was a fun treat and something different for me!

-New Work Schedule - I have been doing work for my new position at Life Choices Center. My new work schedule allows for more flexibility with my time.

-Internship Tasks - I have moved away from grant writing a bit to gain experience with press releases, communication pieces, and event planning. I've also taken some field trips!

-Different Days - Last week, I was out of town on Monday, so missed those classes. Then later that week my Thursday internship was switched to Friday, so I put work hours in on Thursday. I was mixed up a bit, but was okay with the changes overall.

Lots of little changes, that I hope prepare me for the bigger changes that will come with graduation. I have been responding well to these schedule differences and finding that change can be a positive part of life.

SIFE Sign Editing

I had some fun last week after we won a large sign at SIFE Competition. My friend, Danielle, and I came up with the idea to turn the picture of people at the bottom in our 5 SIFE presenters. I had a good time printing off faces of Lindsey, Mike, Zach, Mark, and Honna and piecing them onto the sign. I also personalized the top to our SIFE team with our theme for the year, school's name, and currently held title. I revealed my secret project tonight at our meeting, and it got great responses! It is now on display in the business department lounge for students to see. I hope it will be used with SIFE for years to come as a way to bring some SIFE excitement to campus!

What I Will Not Miss

Lately, I've been thinking about what I will miss from me time in college once I graduate in May. However, tonight I was reminded of a few things I will not miss about Roberts and the college years!

-8am Classes.
-Night Classes.
-Buying Textbooks.
-Reading Textbooks.
-Walking all the way to Pearce in the snow and cold!
-Not knowing who to sit with in Chapel.
-Not knowing who to sit with in Garlock - the dining hall.
-Fire Alarms in the Middle of the Night.
-Dorm Kitchens
-People steeling my food, clothes, and movies.
-Homework!

Only 44 days until graduation!

Whose Approval?

In recent years, my life has become slightly less complicated. I simply learned the difference between being a people-pleaser and doing what I really want to do. It was a tough lesson to learn, but once I understood the freedom that came when I embraced the different mindset, I grew more as an individual and learned more about myself.

Much of this started when I began my journey at Roberts. I was very unsure of myself and what I really enjoyed doing. I mostly did the activities that others were doing, whether I truly enjoyed them or not. The end of sophomore year came around, and I had to decide between a handful of leadership positions, classes, and campus activities. I had the people-pleaser mindset, but knew I had to say no to some of the options on my list. How was I going to make those decisions? Easy - ask everyone around me what to do! ...BAD IDEA! I got so confused about what I really wanted for myself after too many people's opinions were floating in my head. What a mess that was! Junior year, I kind of took time for myself and discovered what I really enjoyed doing. It was great! I went to concerts that I enjoyed, I read books for fun, I took interesting classes, and took a backseat when it came to leadership on campus. I enjoyed discovering what I liked to do! Senior year came around, and I had the confidence I needed to make decisions based on what I wanted instead of trying to please everyone around me - what a difference that makes!

All of this brings me to think about a verse in Galatians 1:10, "For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ."

I needed to learn that man's approval is not the most important thing. I am ultimately a servant of Christ and need to be living a life pleasing to Him. I think He would want me living a life that I enjoy, not stressing about the opinions of others. I challenge you to think about who you are striving to please!

Regional Champions

Our SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise details in a past post) team on campus recently got back from a trip to Cleveland, OH. We competed in Regional Competition with other SIFE teams from Ohio, New York, and Pennsylvania. Five of our SIFE students prepared and memorized a 24 minute presentation on the projects we have worked on this year. Our media team put together a video with footage and statistics from our projects. There were judges in each league who decided who would move on to National Competition in Minneapolis in May.

I have traveled to Regional Competition each year since I was a freshman. It's always a fun and memorable trip to be able to spend time with SIFE friends, cheer on our presenters, and celebrate what we have accomplished through our time with SIFE.

The picture above is a handful of us with the signs we won at the awards ceremony. We were so excited about our signs that we forgot to have our Regional Champion Trophy in the picture too! So here's me and Danielle with the trophy below - heading to Nationals in May!

49 Days

I listened to Pomp and Circumstance today and was reminded that May 7th is only 49 days away! That's not a lot of time, and I'm realizing that I will soon have my last class in Hastings, my last game night in Adams 3, my last discussion with my roommate about my snoozing habits, my last SIFE competition, my last random coffee date because class was canceled, and more!

My time here at Roberts has had its ups and downs, but this past year has been GREAT, and I've been sentimental this past month thinking about it all coming to an end. Overall, I've enjoyed college life, grown to appreciate Rochester, and have learned and grown in so many ways! I'm hoping to make the most of these final weeks at Roberts and bottle up more great memories!