From the end of the school year to the beginning of the next is approximately one-third of a year. Three and a half months; 109 days; 2616 hours; 156,960 minutes; 9,417,600 seconds.
Last week, I gave you a list of 19 things I thought were pretty awesome about summertime. Summer gives us all this time to do whatever our hearts desire without the responsibility of meetings, classes or homework. If you recall a little further back, a post several weeks back titled “I’m No Good at Trigonometry, but Could I Interest You in Some Moral Support?” talked a little about passions playing a starring role in our destiny. At the very end, I said that your passion is “what reaches out to you and implores you to meet it there in that place of your deepest hunger.”
With that passion in your heart and all the free time that summer has to offer, how are you going to let that shape what you do? How will you grow and be fulfilled in what you love to do while you have the chance?
My mind goes to a group of Wesleyan students who will be spending some time in Zambia, Africa this summer with Overland Missions. Former Wesleyan student Beau Krpicak and his wife Courtney are passionate about spreading Christ’s love to the people of Zambia, Africa. They came and talked to Fellowship of Christian Students about the opportunity for them to serve alongside them this summer for a couple weeks.
These students had to raise over $1000 to go, and, as broke college students, that is really difficult. This didn’t cause them to lose heart, though! They got right to work making t-shirts, having Mary Kay fundraisers, and doing whatever else they could think of to support their trip. As their money-raising deadline drew nearer, things were looking a little grim, as they were still needing money. They kept fighting, and the day the money was due, an anonymous donor gave the rest of the money needed for all of the students to go to Zambia. How awesome is that!
This inspires me to not give up. My passion is to give people a voice with music and relate to people through the struggles I’ve dealt with, to share with them what is on my heart. I want to lead worship full-time, making music and talking to people. I want them to know they aren’t alone. Since I’ve discovered this passion, it’s not been an easy road. It seems like everything that could take me off the path has tried to…and failed. I’ve been impatiently waiting for an opportunity to come that never would. Finally, after a year and a half of praying and pleading, something is starting to come together. It’s very slow right now, but I’m holding onto hope that greater things are coming! Things are going to work out!
This is not to say that I’m going to throw my good sense to the wind, live off the grass, steal from someone’s fruit trees to eat and live on my mother’s couch (disclaimer: I am not saying that living on your mother’s couch makes you less of a person. Not at all! My job will just keep me away from home this summer, so living on my mother’s couch is not an option for me.). This summer, I’ll be staying on campus, working as a Summer Conference Assistant. I won’t get to see my family very much, but I’m getting paid. I’ve talked to my bosses and they’re going to let me pursue my passion of music and worship leading on the weekends as often as possible.
I say this because I hope to inspire you to pursue what you love to do this summer, to do what you’re passionate about. Maybe you’re lucky enough that your summer job or internship is what you are passionate about. Maybe you’re not so lucky, and you’re working doing something you know you don’t want to do forever. Maybe you have more than one passion and your job or internship only covers part of them.
Do what you love. Find time. At the end of the summer, don’t look back and think, “I really missed it.” Don’t waste your summer wishing that you could do what you love to do. Sometimes you’ve got to reach a little farther. If there’s opposition from you, your family, your friends, or a random stranger, let that push you to try harder. There’s always going to be opposition between what you want to do and what others want you to do because they aren’t you.
In this final Better Your Life of the semester, take time over break to live a Summer of Purpose. Come back in the fall feeling fresh and ready to take on the next year! Hey, when you get back, try and keep doing what you love to do. Wesleyan’s campus is great for expressing yourself. You can find someone else who will jump on board with you and support you as you chase your dreams!
I can’t wait to hear what you did this summer, Collegiettes! Let’s come back in the fall with big stories! Share with us, throughout the summer, what you’re doing on our Facebook page!