So I just finished my last college final. I am done with school. Forever. Whatttt.
It still really hasn’t hit me that the only thing I have known since I was 5, school, is over. I just completed four years at the best university and couldn’t be more thankful, and I graduate in one week. But it still hasn’t fully hit me that I am moving on to an entire new chapter in my life.
I remember the year before I came to Baylor I had no clue where I was going to go for college and what I wanted for my next four years. At this time last year, I felt the exact same about what to do after college. I never would have guessed that I would be traveling the world for 11 months and serving others with the love of Jesus, but that is God’s plan and He led me to it.
These past four years have taught me so many things about myself and about God. God doesn’t always do what you will expect and He doesn’t always lead you where you’d expect. Honestly, some days I wish I was just starting some random job after graduation because what I am about to do scares me so much. Other days I am beyond excited, I guess it just depends on what side of the bed I wake up on.
As I have been preparing for World Race, I have had some really anxious days and some extremely happy days, and that is something I need to be honest about. What I am about to do should in no way be romanticized. It’s not about the instagram pictures or trying to feel good about myself – which are some very common misconceptions about missionary work. What I am about to do is about love. Loving and serving others and leaving myself behind. In my book, Jesus and love are synonymous. What better way to share who Jesus is than by loving everyone I encounter? It is not about me. It is about Jesus.
The main thing God has been teaching me in this last year of college is to live in the moment. The relationships I have made at Baylor have been transformational, and I know the reason for that is because I have been so good about soaking up life with the people I love. Lately, God has been telling me to be extra intentional in doing that. I will only be in Texas until the beginning of July, and I want to make the most of my time here. I remember when I first committed to Baylor, Waco did not excite me at all. I was extremely ready for college itself, but Waco honestly seemed pretty lame. Over the past four years, however, it has grown on me so much that it has become home. I’m going to miss so many little things about Waco, and because of that I really want to be present during my last couple months of calling it home.
I’m hoping to employ everything I have learned at Baylor about soaking up life and living in the moment this next year. I cannot wait for the new relationships that are about to form and most of all cannot wait to go even deeper in my faith and serve others. I have no idea what is coming, and that is all at once the best and most terrifying part, in a good way.
🙂
