Hey guys! Sorry for not writing for a spell, I’ve been extremely busy with senior year. One of those things has been Senior’s Assassin!
I’m gonna bet that most of you know what it is, but for those who don’t, here’s a brief rundown: everyone who signs up gets a target.
You have to “kill” the target by the same day next week or else you’re out of the game. We can only use water guns, and can’t shoot inside the school, etc. And there’s a 10 minute grace period after school where we can’t kill anyone.
Now I’m not usually one for these games. But this is senior year, so I thought, what the heck? I’ll sign up. I have no idea what I’m doing, but I’ll do it anyways.
I didn’t know my target, nor did I move in the same social circles as him. My mother and I did find his address. So on Saturday, four days before I would be eliminated, I concocted a scheme to kill him involving my mom, a syringe, and going to his house. It didn’t pan out.
On Tuesday, one day before I would be eliminated, my friend Kate (whom was also a senior but had already killed her target), Alexa, and I rushed to her car, and I saw him.
I saw him get into his car, 5 minutes before I could “kill” him, and drive away. So that was it. I was done. What were the odds that I would be able to get him by tomorrow? So I went inside with Alexa and just broke down. Guess Senior’s Assassin was a lot more stressful than I thought.
At home, I read the Bible and came across my favorite verse: Jeremiah 29:11. This is the verse I’ll be unpacking in today’s post, and connecting to my Senior Assassin experience.
For I know the plans I have for you: God plays the long game. He sees and knows all His plans for each of us, all 7.7 billion people. He knows exactly what we have done in the past, what we’re doing right now, and what we’ll do in the future.
Meanwhile, each of us are living day to day. We have a plan for tomorrow, but circumstances change. The future is nebulous and uncertain, even with plans in place. So isn’t it just comforting, to know that God knows what will happen for us?
declares the Lord: This part of the verse really stuck out to me. In the Bible, God says things or God declares things. To declare something is to announce it clearly.
There can be no doubt in a declaration. So by God declaring this, there can be no doubt that He has plans for us. Plans that at times, may seem harmful…
plans to prosper you, and not to harm you: I’ve touched on freshman year before, but to sum it up: my best friend cut ties with me, and instead became best friends with the queen bee of my class.
It’s one of my life-changing moments, one that I didn’t think I could get through. That year sucked. But it’s only with three years of new experiences that I can say I needed that year to happen.
I was stagnant and comfortable at my old school. I was only going to grow if I changed schools, and that would only happen by a drastic upheaval of my life, i.e. freshman year.
plans to give you hope and a future: Circling back to my disastrous assassination, not all hope was lost. On Wednesday after school, only 7 hours before I would be eliminated, I “killed” him!
Senior Assassin: First Kill from Alexandria Weber on Vimeo.
I had held out hope that I would be able to “kill” someone. (Out of context that sounds pretty bad.) God had answered that hope.
It may only be a game, but I had so wanted to succeed, and God answered that want. I had envisioned my future on Wednesday to be in the newly-minted “losers’ bracket”. Instead, I’ll be “assassinating” someone else next week.
This was a lesson in hope and planning. While our plans go awry, God’s never do. He always has a backup plan for us. Sometimes, it results in what we want. Sometimes, it takes us in completely new directions. I’ll be interested in seeing how this lesson will play out in the World Race.
Until next time!
A dangerous ray of sunshine signing off.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord,
“plans to prosper you, and not to harm you,
plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11, NIV)
