dealing with disappointment

I gave up my dream college.

I had searched for months after my high school graduation and finally settled on a college towards the end of the summer. I applied. I visited. I was ready to enroll. Despite the fact that it was a 15 hour drive from home, I felt like it was the perfect college for me, exactly what I was looking for.

Several weeks later, however, God opened up another college opportunity. Now I had a big decision to make: I could either choose to attend the college that my heart was set on, or I could pick the college that was I knew was a wiser choice (as far as distance and finances were concerned). The choice was mine to make. After much prayer and discussion with my family over my decision, I decided to give up my dream college and trust that God would not disappoint me for making a decision I felt best aligned with his will.

But I'll be honest—it was a tough decision that initially left me desperately disappointed. I felt like I was giving up the greatest thing in the world and that I'd never fully be satisfied with the decision I was making. (Since then God has showed me how my school fits my needs better than I could have ever imagined, and I can now say that I love my school. He is indeed faithful!)

However, I have discovered that life is full of disappointments. College, friendships, jobs, injuries, relationships, family, illnesses—there are just so many things that never work out like we want them to. "Disappointment" is a reoccurring word in my journal; I've had to deal with it often. And I hate it. It hurts, and it never makes sense.

Yet through it all, disappointment shows me how much more I need to cling to Jesus. He is the one thing that will never disappoint. Instead of wallowing in the unfairness of my dashed dreams or failed expectations, I need to let disappointments drive me to Jesus. Maybe I've been treasuring something too dearly; maybe it's God's way of bringing my attention back to him. Regardless of the circumstances, God is showing me (often very painfully) that Jesus is worth more than every disappointment life could bring my way.

Counting everything as loss for Christ's sake isn't easy, but it is worth it. He will never disappoint.

the story continues

Head's up: I. Am. A. College. Freshman.

Just getting here was one of the craziest journeys I've ever had. 

It was stressful, confusing, emotional, disappointing; but most of all it was one big adventure with God. I still don't know why God gave me such a crazy year of finding a college, but God was faithful through it all. (On that note, if you ever find yourself stressing over a college decision in the future, I'd LOVE to talk to you. I know exactly what it's like, so I'd love to talk to anyone who is going through the same thing I did.)

So, as I embark on this new unfolding chapter of my life, I anticipate a change in my schedule, my responsibilities, my time, and basically my life. In other words,

Head's up: My blog posts have a very probable potential of being few and far between in the future. 

Obviously, I don't know exactly what my schedule will be like this coming year. But I do know that I will have many more responsibilities, AND I know that blogging will (unfortunately) not be on the top of that list. Although I dearly hope to continue writing here when I can, there may not be much of it from here on out.

With that said, I'd like to hear from some of YOU! Since I won't have much of a chance to do a lot of blog interactivity now, I'd like to take the chance (while I can) and hear from some of my readers!

Ready?

1} The summer is often the time we do service projects, outreach, missions trips, leadership camps, and so on. What did you do this summer and how did you see God work in your life through that?

2} What song or songs do you currently have on "replay"?

3} Out of all the posts you've ever written, do you have a favorite? Please share!

(In case you were wondering, this is my favorite!)

4} I'm a quote-y person. :) Any inspiring quotes you'd like to share?

5} If you could travel in time, what time period would you travel to, and why?

 

currently

You know those moments when your heart is so full that you don't have the capacity to express it in writing (much less the time to do so)? Well, I'm having one of those moments. Of course, it's wonderful to have God doing so much in my life! But I shall spare you the plethora of deep, lengthy posts, and give you a few snippets into the life of yours truly. =) And as always, I'd love to hear about all the goings-on in your lives as well!

So then, I am....

...constantly being amazed by an amazing God...

...processing all that I learned at TeenPact National Convention 2012...

...learning more of what it means to treasure Christ...

...freaking out/getting excited that I will be in college in, like, 11 weeks! Cra-zy...

...loving all the travelling I've been doing...

...writing lots of graduation thank you notes...

...trying to find time to read the mountain of books I optimistically started...

...preparing for an INCREDIBLE week at Worldview Academy (coming up SOON)....

So, what's up with you?