This year's struggle

Over two weeks in and I feel like this summer has been the exact opposite of last year's summer in many ways thus far. 

Social Life

First Rockies game of the year! "We" won 13-3

As an intern this year, my schedule is so flexible that I've had all the time in the world to hang out with whoever I want whenever they are available. I can adjust my work around when other people are available. I also no longer have to sit in the Rustic Cafe and watch my friends play card games and have a great time while I'm stuck at work. That's awesome for me because that was the hardest part of my summer last year. Now there is no excuse for me not to make deep relationships with everyone that God puts in my life.

The bad thing with not working at the Y, though, is that I'm having a hard time meeting non-LTers, especially since the Y put basically all of LT into one dorm by ourselves. Having a community with non-believers is one thing we really need to be able to reach out to people at the Y. It is hard for me specifically because I don't work or live with any of them. Pray that I am still able to find and seek out non-believers and share my faith with them

Time

Another huge difference for me this year has been how I spend my time. Last year, I had just become aware of my desperate need for personal growth and an understanding of God's love. While I'm still desperate for that (as every Christian should be), my job with GCM has made me turn my main focus outward to the students involved with LT. 

This desire isn't an inherently bad thing. Focusing on helping others improve their walks with God is a much needed thing and it's the thing that excites me most in life. I can't tell you how many times I've caught myself just smiling uncontrollably while listening to people talk about how much they have grown at LT so far. I desire to see that in everyone who has a budding relationship with Christ and that's what makes me think I want to do this full-time!

I'm still learning how to find the appropriate balance between spending time with others and building into them and spending time with God and allowing him to build into me.

Relationship with God

Sweet moonrise over Twin Sisters

Over the first week of LT, I basically neglected my relationship with God because of the hectic nature of the start of the program and because I think deep down I was starting to believe that I didn't need to focus on myself or my walk with God. Obviously that was dumb.

Through that trial, I've learned that the best way to be a good leader in a church setting is to set a great example of a fully-loving relationship with God for the people I am leading.

 

Like I've said before, my goal for the summer is to more fully understand Jesus' life and realize with my heart why God is worthy of my eternal praise.

 

Since that first week, I have been reading through various passages in the New Testament, but I'm mainly focusing on the Gospels, starting with Matthew. In reading and studying these chapters (with my new ESV Study Bible! Woo!) I am coming to a fuller understanding of who Jesus was and how his story and life connect so beautifully with what was prophecized in the Old Testament.

 

As far as the second goal, I have been in a constant state of joy and wonder so far this summer, rejoicing in what God is doing in my project group and in my life in general, which has certainly given me more reason to praise Him and realize his overwhelming power. Obviously, there is a long way to go in this goal and I'm sure I'll never be done learning!

Thanks for all your prayers and support!

Set a fire down in my soul

As I continue my growth in my faith this summer, my focus has been narrowed to one thing in past couple of weeks: to gain the skills necessary to become an effective leader of college guys (mainly freshman) in our campus church, especially during the next school year.

Before this summer, I had never had a mature, Christian guy my age that really focused on being a positive mentor and role model for me. That has changed in my first 8 weeks at LT with a great life group leader, staff guide and other people who have shown specific care for me.

I have had a ton of positive experiences with one-on-one mentorship at LT and I now feel like I will be more comfortable giving advice to younger college students because of the experiences I have had here. Because of this, I am super excited to be a spiritual mentor to people in our canvas group next year.

This kind of personal attention and caring is one of the better things that I have discovered about my faith in the past year. Honestly, what’s a more appealing faith than one that has people who truly care about you? People taking time out to meet with me just to listen to what is going on in my life has been one of the best things about LT so far.

I want to show this kind of Godly love to as many people as possible, no matter if they have been a Christian their entire lives, are just starting to think about becoming a Christian, or even if they are a non-Christian. I believe God has given me ears to listen, experiences to help people in tough times and a loving heart, so my passion and skills line up!

I don’t know if this means I want to stay at the college level after I graduate (sounds great to me) and help out a campus church somewhere, but I am certain I want to sell completely out for our canvas group next year.

Next year will be the first full year that I will be involved in a canvas group, so I am pumped to be there to reel all of the freshman in and start building into them. Seeing people you really care about grow in their faith is so exciting!

I’ve learned so much about myself and my faith this summer, all while gaining confidence in my ability to be a loving friend to other Christians.

When we started “Chazown” at the beginning of the summer, I didn’t believe I would truly find a solid purpose for myself before the end of the summer. I thought some of my better skills would be revealed and I would start to see my purpose coming to the surface, but I didn’t expect to have so many specific ideas in mind about where my life could be headed.

God provides and it is awesome.