Freshman year has been a whirlwind full of crazy, stressful, exciting and new memories. For me, it has been completely different from what I expected. The shift from high school to college felt so abrupt, making it very difficult for me to catch up during my first semester. Luckily, I was academically prepared for college and my first semester was spent efficient studying and getting enough sleep, but one thing was lacking: relationships.
I am such an extrovert, it’s a little bit scary sometimes, and my lack of fellowship really hurt my heart. I had had so many high expectations for the friendships that I would make in college, and for some reason, I couldn’t figure out why the Lord wasn’t giving me people in my life.
Fast forward to this semester. I began this semester praying that the Lord would give me a group of people who would encourage me in my walk with Him and show me what godly friendship looks like. Through Rush and joining a social club, I found a great group of girls who love Jesus with everything they have and make me want to love Him more. The Lord showed me this semester that He was preparing me for my new friendships by showing me at the beginning of the year what it looks like to be lonely and teaching me that He is the only one I can rely on all the time.
I started to make friends—good ones, ones that were rooted in the Lord. I became friends with upperclassmen, with fellow freshmen, and even with someone six years older than I am! I never expected it! The Lord blessed me so greatly with the friends that I have now; friends who show me daily what it looks like to pursue a life rooted in Christ’s love. These friendships are so good –they are forgiving, full of grace, and truth giving. They share in suffering and build me up when I feel like the weight of everything going on in my life is caving in on me.
That being said, I can depend too much on those friendships. I invested everything I had into those friendships and neglected the ones with my family and more importantly, my private relationship with God, who had blessed me with all of those people in the first place.
Over the past couple of weeks, the Lord has been bringing me back to the learning stage, teaching me how to rely on Him and Him alone. It’s hard, especially for this extrovert, but I am starting to realize that God doesn’t hate my relationships; in fact, He gave them to me, but He wants me to want Him more, which is so much more difficult than it sounds.
College is all about balance, but it’s more about how we can give God our full attention when things seem completely out of balance. When our exegetical is due in 24 hours and we have only finished the context portion, we give Him our full attention. When we can’t seem to connect with people we wish we could, we give Him our full attention. When we have no idea what to do with our futures, we give Him our full attention. When we give Him our full attention, He, in return, gives us His full presence, and with that, we have full peace and joy.
Freshman year has been a year full of learning, but not only in class. I have learned what it looks like to be completely terrified of the future, but also how big God is. He is pouring out His blessings on us, friends. Take action to seek Him and only Him as we transition out of this year and into the next. He has a grand and marvelous plan for our lives, one that can’t be stopped by our worry or fear. Do what is necessary to give Him your everything. It takes sacrifice, but He is worth it. After all, he did the same for us.
By Camryn Reeves, staff writer
