It has been a mere five days on the Wheaton College Campus and God is telling me that that is already too long for me to have been static in my faith. And so while I entered college with an attitude of pride and confidence, God decides to teach me about humility and the judgements that I so easily carry toward others. I have to admit that the beginning of college is draining. After move in on Thursday and part of Friday, orientation began and the immense slew of activities commenced. Encounters with other new freshman began as fun, but after the hundredth conversation about where I was from, what dorm I was in, and what I was majoring in, I felt totally over making new friends. On top of that, I was definitely getting used to the midwestern culture. So many people here are white and wear makeup and just look so cute it’s intimidating to me. I couldn’t get past their appearances, and didn’t even realize that I was judging them based on something that doens’t even matter. I had looked at these girls shoes and decided that that determined the character of their heart. On Sunday evening, however, I had come back from my trip to Chicago and was feeling slightly overwhelmed by the perceived superficialness of the people I’d been meeting, and so went to my floor’s lounge to talk to my mom. A few sophomore girls had lingered in and as I hung up with my mom and was getting ready to leave they began the normal “how’s orientation” conversation. Just in the way that these girls spoke, I could tell that God was really a huge part of their life. They seemed down to earth and real, unlike the impression I had of so many freshman. Here’s the BIG PICTURE of what I learned from them (I know there was more, but it’s been a few days and I unfortunately can’t remember):
-We need to see people and try to perceive them through God’s eyes. I had not been able to do that because I chose to judge based on the outside before seeing the confused and bewidered18 year old that was in the exact same position I was. I had thought that I was coping with the college environment well by not seeming to care as much about appearance, but I was instead showing my own fears and insecurities through the way that I allowed judgement to keep me from loving the people around me. The next few days were totally different as I began looking for people’s inner beauty and I began remember how God had created them and found them absolutely precious the way they are. I may not be used to how they dress or act, but it’s the heart and I don’t want my misperceptions to prevent me from meeting a wonderful friend.
I cannot wait until I have more time to blog because there’s def more… I’m just too tired to write it….
some awesome quotes of my first week though
” God is God, I am not”
“If Jesus were to come back this instant, would you be dissappointed”
“Sometimes pain is the best gift that God can give us”
Hey college girl!
Hope you’re having tons of fun and include some pictures of your college in your posts! (I’m curious what Wheaton looks like)!