Ready for a new challenge

Tomorrow, I'll be headed out to Estes Park, Colorado to spend the summer with college students from all around the country, work at the YMCA of the Rockies and participate in LT, a program that helps create young leaders in the church.

I made my decision to go to LT early in the spring semester, so my anticipation for going to Colorado has been building for a while. I am excited to get out to Colorado for a number of reasons:

1. I will be challenged and encouraged daily to grow in my faith.

This year has been an awesome year of spiritual growth in my life. I’ve used this year to re-dedicate every minute of my life to the Lord and I’m doing all I can to be a great example of God’s love. The community that God provided for me through the Mark Twain Canvas Group and my core group was just what I needed to be motivated to live my life for Him.

With that said, there is still a lot of room for me to improve my relationship with the Lord and become more dedicated to serving Him daily. Being surrounded by about 150 Christian college students who have the same desire to grow in their faith will create an awesome atmosphere that will challenge me more than I have ever been challenged.

2. I will become more comfortable with outreach in preparation for next year.

As I look toward my senior year at Mizzou, I can’t help but be excited about all of the opportunities for outreach that we will have with the new Dobbs canvas group. That area of campus has been kind of neglected over the past couple of years, so a strong leadership group in that area will be necessary for it to be a prosperous canvas group.

With all of these opportunities to evangelize next year, I must use this summer to prepare myself to be bold and more intentional with incoming freshman. Even though I’m not officially a leader for the canvas group next year, being a senior means that freshman guys will naturally look up to me, so I have to be prepared to at least be a good role model.

The LT program is known for helping develop leaders (Leaders are developed at a leadership training camp? Who woulda guessed it?), so I am excited to see how I can finally become a true leader in the church.

3. I will grow closer to great people who love the Lord.

If I’m being honest, this past semester was the first time I really developed any relationships with people my age that were based on our shared love for the Lord. It was really the first time I realized what a true “brother” or “sister in Christ” was. Having people my age that can help me depend more on God with every passing day is something I have never really had in my life.

Whether it’s through encouraging words or just seeing what God is doing in other people’s lives, the power of friendships that are built on shared faith is undeniable. I’m really looking forward to finding more brothers and sisters in Christ in Colorado!

I’ve also thought of some specific goals for the summer: set out a specific time for God every day, read my Bible every day, learn to play the guitar a little better, be extremely committed to my project group, etc. This should be the best summer of my life, and God willing, it will be!

I’ll use this blog to keep everyone back home updated on all that I am learning and how I am growing in my faith! As you can tell, I'm extremely excited for what God has in store for me this summer and I hope some of you share that same excitement for me!