Time has really flown by since being up here in Central/Clemson, but it's been an awesome experience so far. Although it's been an awesome experience, there have been plenty of tough times. Realizing that the classmates that you talked to from home don't always carry over when you leave to go to college is always upsetting. But since coming here, I've realized two things that are a lot worse than a couple classmates that haven't made it from the past to the present.
First, is that the people you always thought would make it to your future don't. Not just the classmates, but your VERY best friends. It's come to my realization that you can only invest so much into a person until it becomes dangerous. Dangerous in the ways it starts to affect your thoughts, moods, behavior, and most importantly your relationship with Christ. But that last one is something to emphasize later. Anyhow, I'm getting sidetracked. College has taught me a tough, and much needed lesson about life and friends. Invest in your friends from back home, but don't get stuck in the past. Don't allow yourself to only think of the friends you have back home. Don't allow yourself to become upset when they don't think of you as often as you think of them. Don't allow yourself to become moody with the people around when you're in college; remember they're your friends too and they care about you. College is the place where you can find some true life-long friends...but only if you allow yourself to cultivate those friendships. And if you're stuck in the past investing all of yourself in your best friend back home, you're going to miss that chance. This is your time to find who you are and make mistakes. You might not hang out with the right people your first semester, but that's okay. You can make new friends. College is a time of transition and reflection. It's also a place and time where you can really grow your relationship with God.
And this is the second realization I've come to since being up here. God is an awesome god. He deserves glory, praise, and our utter devotion to Him. However, sometimes, we don't give Him all that He deserves. We make idols of the things here on Earth and make them a higher priority than Him. For me, I've realized my idols that I placed above God have been my friendships. I've always invested a lot into my friends...especially my best friends. And I would let my friendships come before God. I realized that I feared man more than I feared God. I was and still am what you can call a Codependent Person. It's something I'm still in the process of being free of. But, the amazing thing about the whole thing is that God still wants me and forgives me for not being devoted to Him and fearing man more than I feared Him. He is truly an awesome God.
So just take a moment and just breathe. What are some idols that you have in your life? You're bound to have one or two of them. And just take a moment and apologize to God and take the steps to return to Him and glorify His name. If you haven't made it to college yet...savor the time you have in high school. Those times might be the last you see of some people and while you might think now that you don't mind if you never see them again you will miss some people and wish for more time with them. And if you're here in college...don't miss out on opportunities by living in the past. Get out there, meet new people, get plugged into a great church, and have fun! Oh yeah...passing your classes so that you can stay in college would be good too:)
Hebrews 10:10
Matthew 6:34
Hebrews 13:5-6
