Me, along with many others, have completed there first week of school since being on break. Now my break has been quite a bit longer than the average month college students usually receive. It has actually been over a year since I have walked on campus and strangely enough I am so glad to be back. I am starting to enjoy my math class which to those who know me is something you never thought you would hear. Although I am enjoying the new learning opportunities, I am not enjoying what I am seeing outside of class.
Since I wasn't going to school I was filling my time with other things. I have spent ample amounts of time at my church helping with various activities and programs. I have also been fighting the world along side my nephews, who are 4 and 2 years old, dressing up as super heroes and fighting off the bad guys. (You're welcome.)
I have been surround by my church and family this past year which has been such a blessing. They all love Jesus and I couldn't ask for better people to be around. Although it has been great spending time with them reality has set in. I was living in a bubble. One that only encased my church and family. One that blocked the outside world from me. And don't get me wrong, it's been really nice, but it has made walking through those college doors a lot harder.
As I walked in the first thing I saw was a girl inappropriately dressed. Something I have not been use to seeing lately because the most frequent place I have traveled to this past year has been church. And with a congregation that has an average age of 60 or older you don't see to many inappropriate clothing situations.
Next I saw a couple fighting quite loudly in the cafeteria. I don't know exactly what they were fighting about but what I do know is that the word "cheating" was thrown around one time too many. My heart quickly started to hurt. Not just because the only fighting I have been exposed to the past year was just with the average "Incrediboy" but because that is something no one should be dealing with.
I have been so use to seeing Jesus every where I have turned this past year, but I walked in those doors with it being so close to impossible finding Him.
With that I knew I needed to do something, but I didn't know what. I walked the hallways silently praying for the school and my peers and as I continued to class I was hoping God would show me what He wanted me to do.
I walked into my first class and since it is the beginning of the semester the dreaded action of saying your name and saying something interesting about you in front of the whole class was upon us. I've always hated this. First of all everything is interesting about me ;) Completely kidding, but seriously I always blank when it comes to my turn. And this time around it was worse than normal. All I could think of was "Hi, my name is Lindsey and something interesting about me is that this past year I have watched "The Incredibles" more times than I can count." Not something I was ready to boldly proclaim after reuniting with my peers after a year. So I kept thinking and I knew that this was something I could use to show Jesus, but I didn't know exactly how. So I kept thinking and it was just about my turn and my hands started to sweat and I could feel my face turn red. I stood up without anything logically prepared in my head I just started talking, "Hi, my name is Lindsey and I have two nephews whom I enjoy spending my time with."
I sat down completely embarrassed. Not just because my response wasn't the most interesting, but because I deliberately dismissed the opportunity to share Jesus. He put me in a situation that was so clear. I knew exactly what I needed to do yet I didn't.
I fell into a pattern this past year. I chose to place myself in that bubble with only people who love Jesus. I chose to be comfortable with my faith.
Jesus's whole life was uncomfortable. He was mocked and betrayed. He was crucified on the cross just so we could live freely of our sins. He was completely uncomfortable. He chose to pop the bubble. He chose to walk into situations that He knew the message needed to be shared and he followed through, it was worth the embarrassment.
I want to be uncomfortable. I want to be like Jesus. I want to pop my bubble.
