So, we are now back in San Diego for the school year. It didn't really hit me how much I missed this place until we drove past SDSU. I think tears actually welled up in my eyes, which to me...seems really weird.
You see, I was at ASU for 6 years, 5 as a student and 1 volunteering alongside Ryan. Yet, I can't say I have the same affection for the ASU campus as I do SDSU. I remember a former Navigator staffer at ASU composed a good-bye video for her friends and donors before she left the ministry. I remember being struck by how connected this women was to the campus at ASU. Her video was so incredibly sentimental and nostalgic. I had to rub my eyes a few times just to make sure the video was truly talking about the same campus that I had been to for the last handful of years. You see, I didn't really feel any of that. I was incredibly excited to be off that ASU's campus, and done with the "political money maker" that I saw was ASU. The only sentimental I feelings I had were for the PEOPLE at ASU. However, I think I'm finally starting to understanding a little what she was feeling.
When I think of SDSU I think of the countless hours Ryan and I have spent praying for SDSU. The miles on campus we've traveled while doing prayer walks regarding the campus. All the lunches and coffee times we've had with students in our short 9 month stint. It all adds up. The events, the Nav nights, the hangs. All for the purpose of proclaiming God's glory in one form or another. Our time at SDSU is intentional, focused and not centered around ourselves. I think that's what makes the difference. I was at ASU for the sole purpose of achieving my degree. No matter how much people told me, it was so difficult to to get out of that selfish mindset. But here at SDSU, there is not that constant struggle between self interest and the "interest of Jesus Christ."
I sorrowfully regret the time I wasted at ASU, focused in such a self-centered manner. But I am joyful for the things God taught me despite my disobedience. I'm beginning to understand more and more the sovereignty of God regarding where he places you in life, be it a college student, a Navigator employee, a resident of Arizona or resident or California. All of it needs to be put under the submission of Christ. My job is to glorify Him no matter what circumstances he puts me in, and to remember that he perfectly orchestrates every stage of life I walk through. It would be a shame to waste any of it on my own self-motivated interests. I want to be like Timothy...
You see, I was at ASU for 6 years, 5 as a student and 1 volunteering alongside Ryan. Yet, I can't say I have the same affection for the ASU campus as I do SDSU. I remember a former Navigator staffer at ASU composed a good-bye video for her friends and donors before she left the ministry. I remember being struck by how connected this women was to the campus at ASU. Her video was so incredibly sentimental and nostalgic. I had to rub my eyes a few times just to make sure the video was truly talking about the same campus that I had been to for the last handful of years. You see, I didn't really feel any of that. I was incredibly excited to be off that ASU's campus, and done with the "political money maker" that I saw was ASU. The only sentimental I feelings I had were for the PEOPLE at ASU. However, I think I'm finally starting to understanding a little what she was feeling.
When I think of SDSU I think of the countless hours Ryan and I have spent praying for SDSU. The miles on campus we've traveled while doing prayer walks regarding the campus. All the lunches and coffee times we've had with students in our short 9 month stint. It all adds up. The events, the Nav nights, the hangs. All for the purpose of proclaiming God's glory in one form or another. Our time at SDSU is intentional, focused and not centered around ourselves. I think that's what makes the difference. I was at ASU for the sole purpose of achieving my degree. No matter how much people told me, it was so difficult to to get out of that selfish mindset. But here at SDSU, there is not that constant struggle between self interest and the "interest of Jesus Christ."I sorrowfully regret the time I wasted at ASU, focused in such a self-centered manner. But I am joyful for the things God taught me despite my disobedience. I'm beginning to understand more and more the sovereignty of God regarding where he places you in life, be it a college student, a Navigator employee, a resident of Arizona or resident or California. All of it needs to be put under the submission of Christ. My job is to glorify Him no matter what circumstances he puts me in, and to remember that he perfectly orchestrates every stage of life I walk through. It would be a shame to waste any of it on my own self-motivated interests. I want to be like Timothy...
Phil 2" 19I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you. 20I have no one else like him, who takes a genuine interest in your welfare. 21For everyone looks out for his own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. 22But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel."
I want to daily exchange my interest for the interest of Jesus Christ. I want to have a genuine interest in the welfare of the students at SDSU but also their professors, the janitors, and not to stop their but also for the barrista I see when I get my coffee, or the women that rings up my groceries, and especially my neighbors who live life just a few feet from my home. This is my continual prayer. I want to get so connected to this campus, to these people, to this community so much so that I hope my heart hurts leaving this place as much it did leaving the home of my family. A home is what you make for yourself. God gives it to me, but I have to learn to open my heart to it. Only when my heart is fully open, does it begin to be a home."Father God, open my heart, give me the strength. Help me to see the everyday opportunities you give me as blessings and not mundane circumstances. Show me how to love the students well and to use this period of my life for your glory. Help me to learn what it looks like to continually make this place my home"
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