Where I'm At: Megan

I’m retracing the familiar paths and routines: power-walking my way across campus to be in class by 9:05 a.m., scheduling interviews for my feature writing internship and meeting up with friends for lunch and coffee.

I’m back at college for my senior year, and I feel a sense of excitement and urgency for this year like never before.

There’s a lot of hard work waiting for me over the next few months, and some pretty big life changes at the end of them.  I wonder about that future, about where and what my job will be and how my friendships will look different after graduation and how I’ll adjust.

But I don’t want to live in that future: this is my last year on this campus, my last year with these friends at college, and my last chance to pass on my faith to the girls I’m mentoring. And I get to be here, at Penn State, in a time of confusion and change, with lots of emotions and policy changes and unknowns because of the scandal.

And I’m overwhelmed by the sense that God is going to do great things this year. On this campus, in the lives of my friends – I can sense it coming, and I’m so excited for the journey that will be this year.

I find it spurring me on to prayer: that I would stay close to God, not miss the work that He is doing and the work He wants to do in and through me. After all, it’s a lot harder to be obeying Him and following His leading if I’m not listening.

Last fall, God put Matthew 6:33 on my heart: “Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added to you.”

Seek first the kingdom. Before my family, friends, school, work, sleep. If I make Him my priority, the other things will fall into place.

But it’s hard to do, isn’t it? On the days when I’m constantly running from place to place, from class to meetings and dinner at 9 p.m. and homework due and I need sleep – I’ll confess right now that I didn’t follow that verse very well last year.

That made a hard semester even harder. And I don’t want to be in that place again.

And I really don’t want to miss the mark this year. I want to finish strong, invest in all the people and places he wants me to invest and live this year for His glory.

Matthew 6 is still on my heart, but now it’s coupled with John 15:4 – “Remain in me. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” Megan, take the time to listen and know my words. Stay connected to me. Remain in me.

This is my prayer for senior year: that I would seek Him first and abide in Him, remain in Him. That in the face of uncertainties and worries, I would press closer, work hard, and cast my anxieties on Him. That I would make a difference in the lives of people around me and have the eyes to see what He is doing around me. That I would make seeking Him the first priority in my life, in action as well as word.

Where am I at? I’m standing on the edge of something big, exciting, and new. I don’t know where I’ll be nine months from now – but I know that God will lead and these next few months will be wonderful.

Excitement, uncertainty, urgency. All of those words currently describe my last year of college. But He’s whispering two simple words that will take care of the rest: Trust Me.