GOALS

I’ve been back in Columbia for a little under a week, and while I am still settling in, I feel like this is the right time to finally get to the goals blog I have been planning to write for a while. I remember reading a goals blog that my friend Lindsay posted a couple of weeks after she got back from LT last summer. I liked that post so much that I thought I’d steal it and see what kind of challenging goals I could set for myself after an intense summer of growth.

I’ve never really been a guy who has taken the time to set specific goals or the type of guy who has worked really hard to accomplish tough tasks. Honestly, I have relied too much on my God-given intelligence and up until now, I have neglected my spiritual gifts way too much.

I have the type of personality where I like to just go with the flow, but I’m set on changing that a little bit this semester (at least to avoid laziness). I’m doing all I can to avoid post-LT depression that I have heard so much about and I really want God to continue to work in my life and everyone’s lives around me like I saw this summer. There’s no reason He won't do that if we all allow him to, which is the key part.

So, here’s a list of pretty specific goals that I have for my final fall semester as a student in college:

1. 1. Earn a 3.5 GPA in my four classes this semester (3 journalism, 1 religious studies). I have usually hovered around a 3.0-3.3 GPA in my first 6 semesters in college, but I want to finish school strong and actually give a crap about my studies this year.

2. 2. Dedicate at least 15-20 hours a week to my KBIA reporting class. It’s a great opportunity for me, something I really want to do and it would be great to get a good reference (Karen Mitchell) if I end up doing something with my journalism degree.

3. 3. Be intentional in tithing 10% to The Rock every week. That church (and God, really) has given me so much over the last year and I really need to praise God with my money (something I have never done). Should be fairly easy.

4. 4. Seek out a relationship where I can be discipled. If you’ve read any of my last couple blog posts, you know that discipling relationships were a big part of my summer, so I want that to continue into this semester.

5. 5. Once core groups start, I want to be a discipler (even if I’m not technically a leader). I can do this by meeting with each member of the core group weekly and showing that I truly care for each of them by showing God’s love as effectively as I can.

6. 6. See our canvas group grow to at least 30 consistent members. Based on what I’ve seen in the first week, there is no reason this goal should not be attained. We have a ton of capable leaders and if we all do our part, we could honestly see 40 people per week attending (which would be AMAZING).Numbers shouldn’t matter too much and I care much more about touching single people’s lives, but if we can increase attendance, we have a better opportunity to reach more people.

Six goals seems pretty good, doesn’t it? These are the things I will be focused on for the entirety of this 16-week semester and I will pray that God makes me capable to reach all of these goals.

What I learned about myself this summer

Well, I’m sitting here only a couple of hours from leaving beautiful Estes Park, CO (it’s especially beautiful today, of course) and I’ve decided to blog about what I learned about myself as a person this summer.

I already discussed what I learned about God at LT, which was a lot, but I feel like I learned a lot about myself as well.

One of the themes of LT was “Chazown” which means “purpose” in Hebrew. We were all united in searching for God’s purpose for our lives. I was really interested in seeing if I could find out what to do after college, mainly because journalism is kind of running it’s course in my heart and I only have a year to really figure out what other options I have.

Even with this hope of finding a “Chazown”, I didn’t think God would put a certain passion on my heart that I could transform into a career or lifestyle, but hey, God always shows up when you don’t expect it.

Through one-on-one meetings, project days and everything else that went on here at LT, I have felt led to consider going on staff at GCM church after graduating.

I discovered that I have a passion for helping college students find and pursue God with all of their hearts. I really want to help people avoid going into a spiritual rut if they were Christians before coming to college and I want to help interested people come to know the Lord. College is a great place to do this.

Needless to say, this passion has really got me excited for the upcoming school year. I am ready to go back and #dowork in the Dobbs Canvas group for one final year.

The reason I know that this is a real passion of mine is that I can’t see myself finished helping at the college level after this year. That may be a bit of selfishness coming through (who really ever wants to leave college?), but I really think that I am built to relate with college students and I can’t wait to see what God has for me in that area.

For the first time, I actually feel ready to help lead people in their Christian walks. I have considered myself a Christian for my whole life, but I would have never felt comfortable sharing my faith, helping others through faith issues, etc. Now after LT, I am more than ready, which is another thing I have learned about myself: I am good enough to lead.

One other thing I learned about God is that he is always making me new. I blogged about this earlier, but coming into the summer I was thinking: “man, this has been a great semester of growth, what else is there for me to grow in?”

That was an obviously stupid thought, but God showed up in areas I didn’t know were problems and helped grow me in those areas. I now truly believe that God is continually making his followers new, which is ridiculously awesome.

During a quiet time today, I read Proverbs 11:26. It says this: “People curse the man who hoards grain, but blessing crowns him who is willing to sell. (NIV)”

If you apply this to spiritual growth, it makes complete sense for me going back to school.

All of the things I have learned about myself have been great and I have grown a ton, but what good will all that growth be if I didn’t pass it on? How can I help affect other’s walks with Christ?

There’s one thing I need to learn about myself in the coming year: how to balance building others up with getting built up myself. But that’s for another blog post (coming soon!)

What I learned about God this summer

Wow. Talk about the longest, most challenging (but also thrilling!) summer of my life.

I came into the LT program thinking I would probably grow closer to God, grow as a Christian guy and have a pretty good time hiking some mountains. This all happened in my two and a half months in Colorado, but my experience was so much more than I expected it would be.

So what did I learn about God this summer? First I should probably tell you where I was coming into the summer.

I’ve always known that God existed and always believed with my head that he loved me, but I never knew what that love really looked like until last school year.

Last year was my first year plugged into a small group and a church at Mizzou, and it was the first year I really got to experience God’s love through other people. The people there truly cared for me and were always accepting of me, no matter what.

This summer took that love to another level. Before LT, I had never had a real good one-on-one relationship with another guy who could keep me accountable with things and challenge me to grow closer to God.

I finally got that kind of relationship this summer! Two guys really dedicated themselves to discipling me and helping me through trials, good times, or whatever the summer threw at me. These meetings and relationships were the best part of my summer, which has inspired me to share God’s love with younger guys by caring about them and discipling them (the #dowork movement is coming to the Dobbs Canvas Group in this way).

So basically, what this all means is that I have finally experienced God’s love consistently and it has been through other great Christian men and women. It's not just the people who have discipled me, but also through others worshipping God with all their hearts, giving everything away to God to find healing or just working really hard to love others.

This is not the only thing I’ve learned about God this summer. His love is insane and keeps me going when nothing else will, but I have also learned that he is indeed mighty to save anyone he wants.

Through hearing crazy testimonies of great redemption, I am convinced that no one can be considered a “lost cause” in the eyes of God and that we as Christians should reflect that thought by loving everyone we know, even if it seems like they will never love God.

Many times in my life, I have thought that I shouldn't really talk to people about God or what they think about spiritual things because it could be uncomfortable and I didn't want to be seen as "that Christian guy." Now I know my mission is to help show as many people as possible the love of God, no matter what sacrifice it takes.

God is love and God is mighty to save. Two pretty important lessons that I learned through the great Colorado LT program. I can’t wait to share more about my summer with anyone who wants to hear it!