This past Saturday I graduated from university as family and friends cheered me across the stage. My favorite part about the day? I didn't trip and my cap didn't fly off (I forgot bobby pins - oops)! I am so glad that both my parents were there along with my siblings, my roommate, my adopted family, and my grandparents! I had a great cheering section.
Here are a few pictures from the day...
Laughing with my family!
My adopted family. As cliched as this sounds, these are the two people responsible for making quite a handful of dreams come true and ensuring that I stayed sane through some intense life moments.
I took off my robe and cap and found my brother wearing them! Who's the graduate here, hermano? Though he will be graduating in May!
With all the graduation fuss I find myself answering the same question from multiple people: "What are your plans now?" My response doesn't change: "I have no idea." I know that I want to pay off my student loans as quickly as possible, but I also want to go on and get my M.A. Education is so important and as I look for my first "adult job" (that has no relation to any previous summer jobs), I notice that a Bachelor's degree is required, but a Master's degree is preferred. So, studying for the GRE and applying to graduate programs in the next year or two are quite possibly in my future.
As I (attempt) to plan the next few weeks and months of my life I recognize that I need to be proactive about living life. It is way too easy to come home after working my part-time/summer job, make dinner, and slump into the couch to watch a movie or read a book. Those are great things to do during my last summer break, but those activities do not reflect my passion for travel, for languages, for helping refugees, for teaching, for being part of a Christ-centered community, for learning.
My family watched "Soul Surfer" tonight (good message, fair acting, weak script, but overall very inspiring) and after the credits rolled a Britt Nicole song played and part of the lyrics captivated me because they reflect the desire of my heart:
I wanna feed the hungry children
And reach across the furthest land
And tell the broken there is healing
And mercy in the Father's hands
She also sings, "Take my dreams/ Come and give them wings/ Lord, with You/ There's nothing I cannot do." I don't want my desire to be a language teacher or study abroad coordinator to be just that. I want to brighten other people's lives like so many people have done for me. I want to be an encouragement to take that leap of faith, a source of comfort and home for people who are displaced, and a prayer warrior who recognizes that life is nothing without focusing on Jesus.
A few jobs I'm interested in are with mission agencies and all of them ask about one's spiritual journey. To properly convey my answer would require a significant number of posts, but I can be more concise about what things are like presently. There are a few people in my life that are so encouraging and provide wonderful examples of what it means to love Christ with all one's heart, soul, mind, and strength. One of those people is the woman who mentored me my first two years of college. No matter where our conversations would go, I would always leave impressed with the wisdom God granted her and the desire to know God better because then I would be a little bit more like her. Another woman I only worked with for a year, but I remember her telling me how God woke her up in the middle of the night and instructed her to buy some very specific grocery items. She was confused, but obedient. At the grocery store checkout she stood in line behind the woman God intended the food for - imagine how surprised each woman was once they compared stories! I want to be the sort of person God uses for important things, big or small. I want to be the person who feeds the hungry children (and adults), who provides a better future through education, who loves the ones who need the reassurance that they are loveable, and the person who welcomes the foreigner home.
Some of the other people who make a difference in my heart are the authors of blogs I read pretty constantly. I only know one of the women personally, but they all have made an impact in my life. One woman - the one I know personally - is a mom of four in a nearby town. She and her husband are in the process of adopting two children from Africa and her heart for that continent, for children, for God are inspiring. I want to have a compassion like hers. I want to love others like she does. I want to be as sincere and genuine as she is; she will ask the questions that others mean insincerely and ask them with intention. Another woman lives in Africa with her husband and newborn son. Her life is so different than mine but I want my life to be similar to hers in perspective and attitude. She takes electricity cuts much better than I do and hers are on a fairly daily basis! Yet another woman is a few years younger than me but she is already the mother of fourteen daughters. This mom loves Jesus and unabashedly shows it in her actions. And yet another woman is a missionary in Costa Rica. She doesn't hesitate to call the Truth as she sees it, back it up with Scripture, and challenge others (ME). I want to be as bold as she is.
So, I have no idea what I am going to do in the coming weeks and months. But I know who I want to be like. Now the process is figuring out how to get there...
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