No tags yet.
I have never been one for a "word of the year," but I recently saw many of my friends reflecting on their past words and I started thinking. Some approached it where they see how the year goes and reflect on what it taught them, while others chose a word and utilized that throughout the next 365 days. As I look forward, I can already see challenges and struggles before they even happen. It is inevitable. Being Cassie, I tend to look at things that are months ahead and stress wayyy more than I need to. I have been back on campus for about three days and cannot tell you how many times I have said, "this is the busiest semester that I will ever have and I am not looking forward to it."
Yeah, I said that - someone who chooses to put so much on my plate and takes as many classes as I can because I (usually) enjoy it. In high school I was busy and that certainly did not change when I came to college. This semester is potentially going to be my busiest semester ever. Here is what it looks like: 20 credit hours, taking two classes for no credit, working four hours a week at the Child Development Center for my major, my RA job with weekly staff meetings and duty nights, participating in my a cappella group, Hall Council, and I just became a YoungLife leader. Not to mention working out, studying, and socializing with my friends. Ooof.
But again...the kicker is that I said, "I am not looking forward to it"...yet I chose all of this. So why did I find it necessary to make that negative statement? In reality, I am excited for this semester. Yes, it will be challenging, but I am ready. This is just the start of a kind of tough and *strange* year.
My word that I will choose to utilize when I get so wrapped up in my challenges, struggles, and negativity will be: rejoice.
I will rejoice in my busy academic schedule - knowing that I am studying to become an Early Childhood Educator and I want to learn as much as possible for my future tiny friends. Not to mention that I love it!
I will rejoice that my brother, Benji, is doing adult things now - I was fortunate enough to have him on campus with me for a year and a half. Not many sisters get to go to college with one of their big brothers.
I will rejoice that my brother, Josh, has continued to choose life over addiction. Every single day is a blessing and I will never lose sight of that.
I will rejoice in my summer spent in Athens - again, taking more classes to graduate on time! It will be great to experience Athens in the summer.
I will rejoice in the fact that the Lord gave me the ability to move and worship Him by taking care of my body - although working out has taken a backseat in my life recently, I will rejoice on the days when I do get to worship Him in that way.
I will rejoice in my busy spring semester extracurricular activities - I believe the Lord has placed me in these groups for a reason...Title IX a cappella, Wray Complex, and YoungLife to love people well and to serve Him.
I focused on Acts 8:26-40 while thinking about the word "rejoice." Prior to the story, Philip, an evangelist, went down to Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah to the Samaritans. At this point in history, this was huge - the Gospel had never been spread out of Jerusalem and had never been preached to non-Jewish people. Not to mention that the Jews and Samaritans did not get along. Philip met Simon the Sorcerer...Simon, himself, became a believer after seeing great acts like baptism. So, Philip and Simon continued on when eventually, Philip was called to Gaza (the desert road). He was called not for the multitudes, but for a specific man. There was an Ethiopian eunuch (a man who had been castrated early in life) who did not know the Gospel but was reading from Isaiah (specifically, 53:7-8). The eunuch was confused by the Scripture, so Philip used that time and place to tell him the good news. The eunuch then sought to be baptized when verse 39 comes in: "When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him any longer but went on his way rejoicing."
Philip used this time and place to explain the good news of Jesus. The eunuch rejoiced in this news. He rejoiced in his life and his place on Earth. I cannot think of a better way to approach this new year - using the time and place I am given, my "here and now"...rejoicing.
