Surviving School/Life = Walking in the Light

"The famous old commentator John Trapp says, "We may be in the light as God is in the light for quality, but not for equality." We are to have the same light and are as truly to have it and walk in it as God does, though as for equality with God in His holiness and purity, that must be left until we cross the Jordan and enter into the perfection of the Most High."

-Charles Spurgeon

It's only been the third day of classes so it doesn't feel like school is going to be as tough or as busy as I suspected. I feel like I should be going out and getting a second job or something to keep myself alive, but I highly doubt that's a reality. I'm sure once it settles in that I have lesson plans to make, evaluations and treatment plans to give, on top of homework, on top of an assistantship I will surely be busy.  Last night to get to know some of the girls in my program more I went out for Karaoke with them. Three of us sang "Build Me Up Buttercup" and we had everybody singing and it was a lot of fun. 

I wrote a bunch of letters to family and friends yesterday, and to my dear Melanie (whose blog you most certainly should read: www.melaniedawn2.blogspot.com) I told her how inspired I feel lately to branch outside of myself.  I am at heart an extrovert, but in this new situation it would be so much easier to decide to sit at home and watch romantic comedies and eat cookies than to go out and make an effort to make friends with people.  I sometimes feel uncomfortable or nervous trying new things with new people that I don't know if I can trust yet.  They may never know it, but that's all that's going through my head as I debate what to do.  Yet here I am. Karaoke yesterday, probably Salsa with my roomie tonight.  Continuing in reading Radical I read about discipleship through building relationships.   So then, my prayer this year for Ithaca is to step outside of myself and really go to work building relationships with the people around me.  I want to try a new approach called... <da ta da>: NOT BEING JUDGEMENTAL! 

I hope to meet people where they are at and just show them the love of Christ whether I agree with their lifestyle, their clothing, or their behaviors.  In the past I had been described as being very democratic over the years of college I think I started to go the opposite way.  But I want to go back to that.  Go back to just showing people love because that's what I'm all about.  Some may think all I'm overusing the word love but the truth is I LOVE people.  And I really enjoy telling them so, whether or not the sentiment is returned.  People need to be loved and told they are loved and I hope God will forever use me to bring that love to others.  

So Ithaca is a little wild and it's easy for me to judge, and not being at home in my comfort zone it's a lot easier to hole up and hermit away from the unfamiliar, and my prayer is that God gets me right in there with people and teaches me to grow and mature. It will be good practice for sticking to my convictions or looking at my faith with a new perspective and it will mean sharing the light that I try to walk in instead of trying to keep the light to myself.

Sorry again readers for all my ramblings. When God shows me new things in my life I can’t help but go on and on about it...

So… thank you for reading these paragraphs if you were successful and made it to the end. Thank you Spurgeon for your encouraging words. Thank you God for the original Word that we might be inspired. And thank you D.C. Talk for the song that will now be stuck in my head all day:

"I wanna be in the light as you are in the light. I wanna shine like the stars in the heavens. Oh Lord be my light and be my salvation, for all I want is to be in the light."