It's been a while since my last post. About 5 months to be exact. A lot has happened in this time, and I wanted to use this blog post to tell you what has happened to me.
My life, for the last few years, has been very concentrated on preparing for success in my career. I am a finance and marketing major, and business really intrigues me. It is certainly something I am interested in, both then and now. However, the focus for me had been, "How can I position myself to make as much money as possible?" and, "How can I be successful - knowing the right people, driving the right car, having a 2 story house, 2.4 children, a beautiful wife (although that one has been inevitable for a while), kids that love me, etc?" I was extremely consumed with the "stuff" of the world and what I might be able to gain from it. The revolutionary change in my life has been that right now, none of that matters to me. None of it. I don't care what car I drive, I don't have to have a 2 story house, and I want as many kids as the Lord wants to give to me. I have found that I have a greater calling and a greater purpose. I am here not to collect stuff, and not to be satisfied with the world. I am here to serve my God and Savior Jesus Christ, and my purpose is to spread His Gospel to my friends, family, community, and the nations. What matters to me now are things of eternal consequence - that people will know the gospel and worship the Lord. What I have seen in my life is the American Dream literally turned upside down. All of what it encompasses just does not intrigue me anymore. What intrigues me about the future is being a godly, spiritual leader to my wife, raising children who know and honor the Lord, being the light of Christ to my family and to the world, and just humbly giving my life to the purposes of God. If I end up making some money in my life, great. If not, also great. I am to provide for my family and love and serve them. That doesn't mean going on 4 vacations a year or all of my kids having iPads (although that would be great beacuse iPads are really fun). I want to use my life for purposes greater than myself.
The other big change in my life is that although I love business and finance, I have decided that upon graduation I am going to prepare to enter the minsitry as a pastor. As of now, I am planning on going to Seminary after graduation, although I am open to anything that the Lord might bring my way (particularly a church plant, or getting started in a church right away). I love the idea of seminary - of getting trained and discipled to do ministry by godly people who have been doing it for way longer than me. I crave knowledge, particuarly Biblical and theological knowledge, and am looking forward to diving into that. I do not feel like my time in college studying business is being wasted. I think that financial and marketing knowledge are exteremly important in whatever field one goes into. I will be a more effective leader of my family with financial knowledge - particuarly in knowledge of saving and stewarding my money to further the purposes of the Lord. As of right now I am feeling very called to two particular areas: the city, and college students. I have a heart for bringing the gospel to cities - particularly tough areas of broken cities. We all desperately need it, but that is where I feel like the Lord wants me to bring it. I also really have a passion for college students. I love to connect people and for students my age to hear the gospel. I pray that the Lord will send me to the college ministry. This is such an important time in our lives, and in my experiences, many, many people find Christ and begin their faith in Him during their college years. I want to be a part of that and help lead these students to Christ. Who knows where that will take place, or even if it will take place. For now, I am volunteering in the college ministry at my church (the Summit) and doing what I can at this stage. I will be doing some more of that this summer, but that is for my next post :)
All of this is to say that the Lord has been so good to me. He has been so faithful, even when I haven't been. I have been up and down in my walk with Him, yet He has been so constant and so loving to me throughout. He has revealed so much to me about His purposes for my life, my career, and my relationships. I feel like my life has been revolutionized from the ground up. Everything looks different - what I do with my time, how I interact with my friends and family, and even how I spend time with Him. It is no longer out of obligation or feeling a need to - I want to. I couldn't imagine not spending time with the God who has delivered me out of death and into life. The God who sent His Son to die for me, wants a personal relationship with me.
That is something worth giving your time - and your life - for.
This is AWESOME!
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