For me, the beginning of the year starts in September and ends in August. My life cycles around the beginning and ending of a school year as my primary job is in a school district and everything I participate in revolves around what I do there.
But there is another reason I choose September because I refocus myself on learning new things, embracing new experiences, and starting new goals that I have pondered over during the summer. I want to be better at the things I am called to do. I want to make a definite impact in the world where I am through presence, through writing, through commitment, and through communication. This year I have finally decided what I want to pursue in my graduate studies. At first I thought it would simply be writing and then teaching and then social work. But none of those ideas seemed right for the direction I am going in.
My decision to embrace my call as an advocate for the children and teens in this generation caused me to rethink what I love in terms of ministry. I attended college in undergrad thinking that I was meant to be a social worker, but now after much thought I have decided to pursue youth ministry instead. I want to impact youth in a real, life-changing way and not just in terms of providing services to people or helping promote programs I do not wholly believe in. I also want to use my love for writing and art as a way to minister to those young people that are so creative but feel at a loss as to how to express that creativity in a very real way.
The school I am planning to attend is the same school that I had questions about in regards to the young lady in my last post. I went to visit Huntington University in August and found it to be a wonderful place to start over - at least for me - and a wonderful place for her to find out who she is truly meant to be on this earth and in the Kingdom of God. It's not that I no longer have any questions; it's just that this school is trying to bridge the gaps in the Body of Christ that racism, classism, and separatism have caused. They are trying and for me, that is important.
It is important to say, "I recognize that there is a problem and I need to do all I can to fix it." Right now, that is what they are trying to do and also what I am trying to do. That is what I need to do in order to truly fulfill the call on my life and fully work the ministry that is developing in my heart. I need to be in a place where people are actualizing the true work of healing the Body of Christ and impacting the world around us simultaneously. I believe now that Huntington is embarking on that journey as all Christian institutions should be doing now.
Besides their Master of Arts in Youth Ministry Leadership program is perfect for me and is not as time-consuming as some of the other grad programs I was investigating. I can see the education and the degree leading me into a new territory as the school is directly affiliated with Youth for Christ which is one of the leading orgranizations all over the world impacting kids in inner cities, in church settings, and on school campuses. I love the idea of that and I will talk about all that later in future posts.
In that program as well is the opportunity for me to write and publish in the areas I am most interested in, such as social issues like parentless kids, teen pregnancy and parenting, and sex education. I have so many experiences and writings already - including a manuscript that I am finishing entitled "Father to the Fatherless" that would likely find a home in publication while I am pursuing graduate studies in that program. I am very excited about this little glimpse God has given me about what the future can hold if I just pursue my goals.
Along with that decision, I have also decided to begin teaching a Bible Survey class to the teens that attend my church. God placed in me the idea to start a class for youth at my church in order that they can understand the Bible and learn to read it for themselves. We often talk about faith and the Word of God and having a vibrant relationship with God but for teens that is so abstract. So this class is meant to help them formulate their spiritual formation and the ability to read the Bible in a way that makes sense. This is also very important to me and may be helpful as I enter that graduate program.
The decisions I have been making for this new year are tangible, relevant changes that I will be making in order to draw closer to my own person destiny. For a long time I have been giving everything I could give to others, but I realize that sometimes, we overlook the most important gift we could ever give. We could certainly give ourselves to God for the express purpose of living out His purposes in our lives which really is more effective.
I am going to use this blog space as a way to document this year of changes, and in particular the lessons I teach and the lessons I learn as I help these kids walk through the Bible in a more real way. I will be adding a blog after each class that they can look at and I can use as a landmark for each step toward owning their faith that they make. But also I will be blogging about my own changes and steps toward destiny and deeper relationship with God.
There is so much I want to do, and I am so excited to be starting out a fresh year with some great goals in mind and heart.
But there is another reason I choose September because I refocus myself on learning new things, embracing new experiences, and starting new goals that I have pondered over during the summer. I want to be better at the things I am called to do. I want to make a definite impact in the world where I am through presence, through writing, through commitment, and through communication. This year I have finally decided what I want to pursue in my graduate studies. At first I thought it would simply be writing and then teaching and then social work. But none of those ideas seemed right for the direction I am going in.
My decision to embrace my call as an advocate for the children and teens in this generation caused me to rethink what I love in terms of ministry. I attended college in undergrad thinking that I was meant to be a social worker, but now after much thought I have decided to pursue youth ministry instead. I want to impact youth in a real, life-changing way and not just in terms of providing services to people or helping promote programs I do not wholly believe in. I also want to use my love for writing and art as a way to minister to those young people that are so creative but feel at a loss as to how to express that creativity in a very real way.
The school I am planning to attend is the same school that I had questions about in regards to the young lady in my last post. I went to visit Huntington University in August and found it to be a wonderful place to start over - at least for me - and a wonderful place for her to find out who she is truly meant to be on this earth and in the Kingdom of God. It's not that I no longer have any questions; it's just that this school is trying to bridge the gaps in the Body of Christ that racism, classism, and separatism have caused. They are trying and for me, that is important.
It is important to say, "I recognize that there is a problem and I need to do all I can to fix it." Right now, that is what they are trying to do and also what I am trying to do. That is what I need to do in order to truly fulfill the call on my life and fully work the ministry that is developing in my heart. I need to be in a place where people are actualizing the true work of healing the Body of Christ and impacting the world around us simultaneously. I believe now that Huntington is embarking on that journey as all Christian institutions should be doing now.
Besides their Master of Arts in Youth Ministry Leadership program is perfect for me and is not as time-consuming as some of the other grad programs I was investigating. I can see the education and the degree leading me into a new territory as the school is directly affiliated with Youth for Christ which is one of the leading orgranizations all over the world impacting kids in inner cities, in church settings, and on school campuses. I love the idea of that and I will talk about all that later in future posts.
In that program as well is the opportunity for me to write and publish in the areas I am most interested in, such as social issues like parentless kids, teen pregnancy and parenting, and sex education. I have so many experiences and writings already - including a manuscript that I am finishing entitled "Father to the Fatherless" that would likely find a home in publication while I am pursuing graduate studies in that program. I am very excited about this little glimpse God has given me about what the future can hold if I just pursue my goals.
Along with that decision, I have also decided to begin teaching a Bible Survey class to the teens that attend my church. God placed in me the idea to start a class for youth at my church in order that they can understand the Bible and learn to read it for themselves. We often talk about faith and the Word of God and having a vibrant relationship with God but for teens that is so abstract. So this class is meant to help them formulate their spiritual formation and the ability to read the Bible in a way that makes sense. This is also very important to me and may be helpful as I enter that graduate program.
The decisions I have been making for this new year are tangible, relevant changes that I will be making in order to draw closer to my own person destiny. For a long time I have been giving everything I could give to others, but I realize that sometimes, we overlook the most important gift we could ever give. We could certainly give ourselves to God for the express purpose of living out His purposes in our lives which really is more effective.
I am going to use this blog space as a way to document this year of changes, and in particular the lessons I teach and the lessons I learn as I help these kids walk through the Bible in a more real way. I will be adding a blog after each class that they can look at and I can use as a landmark for each step toward owning their faith that they make. But also I will be blogging about my own changes and steps toward destiny and deeper relationship with God.
There is so much I want to do, and I am so excited to be starting out a fresh year with some great goals in mind and heart.
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