Trinity is a campus full of blessings, one of which I'll discuss right now: Bible study. Each hallway in the dorms has a hall sponsor, and ours happened to grace us with her presence by leading our Bible study on Wednesday. We discussed what lent traditions, if any, we grew up with.
And then, near the end of Bible study, she challenged us to do something most of us thought would be impossible. She wanted us to write the final message we would give to our loved ones in 25 words or less before we died.
Crazy, right?
So we set to work thinking of the most loving, profound, and ground-breaking words to jot down with colorful crayons on our blank white sheets.
The first message I thought of, of course, was this: "Love deeply."
I chose this because love is the glue that holds people together. Whether you are a couple that after an argument realizes that the little things don't matter because you love each other, or a best friend that is always there to support the other. It doesn't matter! Every relationship requires work from both sides. And why do we want to do this work? Because of love! (insert cheesy smile here)
The second message is something a little more personal to me: "Find joy in everything."
A lot of people tell me that they have never seen me without a smile, or I'm always happy, or laughing, or something of that sort! To which I mentally respond, then you've never seen me after a stress-filled shift at work! While I'm not always a bubbly person, I am definitely not a Debbie-downer. I love the people I meet that always look on the bright side and take things as they come. Why do we need to be worried about every little detail? Let's just all take a deep breath, be thankful for what we've been given, and find joy in everything, even the dark times.
My third message is like a mini-motivational speech: "Strive for perfection in everything you do"
Now I know some of you are probably thinking, Are you saying it's bad for me that I make mistakes? Absolutely not. In fact, making mistakes is one of the best ways for us to learn. All I'm saying is that we should do our best in everything and work at what we need to improve on. That's why I put the word "strive" in there. We can never be perfect, but if we know we tried, then we can be proud of ourselves.
Message four: "Live boldly."
I love the fact that we are social creatures! How cool is it that we can converse with people, create relationships, feel joy, excitement, adrenaline? By living boldly, we allow ourselves to feel exposed, whether in a deep and intriguing conversation with a stranger, or by simply exploring a new place. These instances are important because we are trying new things and learning as we explore.
Number five I believe is especially important: "Appreciate beauty."
It is becoming increasingly difficult in our culture to truly appreciate beauty. Our minds have been slowly morphed into thinking that beauty is what we see in models and celebrities. But something so precious about every detail we see in nature, in animals, and in us is that everything we see is made by God's hands. Humans are even created in His image! How incredible is that? So why do we put others down? Why can't we learn to appreciate the beauty that is inside every single one of us? I know this is something I need to work, as it's so easy to be quick to judge, and I'm sure others of us struggle with this as well. So take a step back, think of God's masterful design of everything, and just bask in appreciation of it.
This next message is especially important for our walk as Christians: "Cultivate a servant's heart."
Christ had the ultimate servant's heart, and He is our greatest example of how to live. I know how easy it is to get tied up in our day to day lives of work, school, or what have you, but service is so important, it can't be passed up. Our world is so broken, every little step we can take will make a difference. On Thursday, I volunteered at an after school club for kids to help them with their homework. It was a very loud and rowdy environment, so it was difficult to keep the kids focused. But with every math problem we finished, the kids got more excited about being finished. It's as if they wanted to be successful, but just needed a little push to get there. Even service as simple as that is all God wants us to do. You don't have to be a missionary in some foreign country for three years. All you have to do is give some of your time to benefit the lives of others. That's the jist of service.
Message seven rings as a great reminder. What's something that bothers a lot of us? Two-faced people. Here's message seven: "Be yourself."
Remember those people in jr. high that would act one way with you and another way with others? That's the opposite of our goal. If you be yourself, the people you surround yourself with will appreciate you for you. I know this seems like such cliché advice, but it couldn't be more true! I can't imagine trying to keep up an act around my friends because I was acting like someone else when I met them. Why do that to yourself? Just be honest from the start! (okay, cheesiness ends here, I promise!)
And my final message is this: "Share Christ."
This paired with having a servant's heart is the simplest way to describe our purpose on this earth. We are salt and light to the world. Be in the world, but don't be of the world. I could go on, but I think this message is pretty clear.
Thanks for reading! I haven't blogged in awhile, so when I noticed I had some quality material, I thought I'd share it with you:)
