Preparing for CHANGE!

The topic of preparation is fairly relevant to my life right now. I am three weeks away from graduating college which will present me with a world of changes and, in turn, the need for a significant amount of preparation for life in “the real world”. A few examples of the changes I am/will be preparing myself for include, working a “big girl job” with fellow “big girls and boys”, paying my own insurance and other important bills, and no longer living with my best friends that have been such a vital part of my life since we met. Although I’ve known this day was coming for years now, it didn’t seem like much of a reality until recently. Finances have suddenly become a big deal in my list of priorities. Spontaneous trips to the beach must be factored into, what I’ve been introduced to as, a budget, which doesn’t involve Mama and Daddy’s money anymore. Another foreign word that’s been shoved into my fun-filled college life is “retirement”. Why in the world would I need to consider that thing? I’m not old! Unfortunately, this is the reality of what these grown people do in order to prepare for the next Big Change in their lives.

This day, known as Graduation, represents so much more than the simple definition Merriam-Webster provides us. This day, this “academic-exercise-in-which-diplomas-are-conferred”, represents a rite of preparation as well as a rite of passage into the life of adulthood. One, seemingly simple, ceremony brings about so many major changes in ones life that preparing for such a transition seems inevitably impossible. Yet, this is one that people have been going through, and living to tell about, for years.

One of the most difficult changes that I must prepare myself for is my source of discipleship. For the past four years of college, I’ve been a part of a Christian sorority called Sigma Alpha Omega. God has provided me with an amazing group of girls to hold me accountable, lift me up, and sometimes even hold me up when I didn’t feel that I could do so on my own. Through the retreats, weekly Bible studies, and just the fellowship of these amazing women I have grown tremendously closer to the Lord during this stage of my life. As an alumnus I will still have contact with them, but the discipleship will no longer be as strong and steadfast as it is now. For the majority of my Christian life I have had a variety of children’s programs, youth groups, or campus ministries to disciple me and help me through the changes and trials that life throws at you. At this point of my life, I feel more of a focus on serving within my church rather than plugging myself in somewhere to be discipled. I feel that people my age are in high demand when it comes to service positions within the church. We’re young enough to still have the energy to work with youth or children, yet old enough to be responsible and respected. Unfortunately, I’m afraid that I, like so many before me, will get caught up in busying myself with service that I overlook my own need to be fed spiritually. Again, I compare my situation to Martha and Mary. Women today are encouraged to serve serve serve, and in doing so stretch themselves too thin and end up crashing because they’ve overlooked the most important part of their spiritual well-being. What began as a cry of freedom from schoolwork, homework, group projects, etc. has developed into a desperate cry for intimacy with my Lord.

“O God, You are my God, earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You, my body longs for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. I have seen You in the sanctuary and beheld Your power and Your glory. Because Your love is better than life, my lips will glorify You. I will praise You as long as I live, and in Your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise You. On my bed I remember You; I think of You through the watches of the night. Because You are my help, I sing in the shadow of Your wings. My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me.” Psalm 63:1-8

Without intimacy with the Lord, I will falter. Without consistency in my walk with Him, I will fail. Many strive and search their whole lives for “success” according to the world, but it’s only with Him that we can truly live. As my transition into the “real world” fast approaches, I have realized that although many changes will be taking place, the most important way I can prepare is to deepen my intimacy with Christ.