COLLEGE...

Sorry about the gap in my blogging. I've been on a business trip and very busy all around that time. I'm still trying to catch up, but I felt compelled to write a blog for the college freshmen I know. This picture found it's way into my mind as I read Special K's blog.... http://kevinkassakatis.blogspot.com/2008/08/homesick.html
My reading of his most recent post surfaced the memories that sparked the writing of this one.


The first few months of college can seriously suck if you let them. To admit weakness for a moment... I have always been very reliant on my friends and those around me. I struggle with solitude and do not like the feeling of loneliness one bit. When I went to college, I had one friend. One person I knew, and I was three and a half hours away from home. The one person I knew was my roomate, who I ended up disliking VERY much. I decided to room with someone that I had known in KINDERGARTEN..... thirteen years beforehand. Bad idea folks. I hope none of you have done this. This guy was a nutcase... drinking constantly, taking my stuff, inviting strange girls into our room, and any stupid thing you can think of. I met the campus police at my door more than once thanks to that fool. I made it once semester with him, and that was WAY too long. Choose carefully who you will live with in the same room. It doesn't matter who it is, it will take every one of the fruits of the spirit plus an extra apple or two from the tree of life to tame the aggravation of adjusting to a roomate. If you don't believe me, ask my wife... she is probably still getting used to me, and now another male has been added to the house!

Needless to say, my first few weeks of college did in fact, suck. I'm not the type to just go up to somebody and start talking to them though. I hate to admit it, but I'm that guy in line at BBQ Shack hoping I can get out of there without my grade school buddy's step-dad sparking a conversation about something meaningless... "Boy, that Michael Phelps! How bout that?!". GO AWAY. I mean...please don't think I'm a rude person.... I just don't think it's neccesary to give my life testimony at lunch when every working man in the country is in a hurry. I meet friends by being a non-creepy person. If you never acknowledge me, I'll probably never speak to you. I went my first few weeks of college only meeting a few people. I met these people because I lived on the same hall and we would have small meetings in which we introduced ourselves. I often found myself eating lunch or dinner in the dining hall by myself. I also remember constantly feeling sorry for myself, which I know now to be the enemy's sly way of sneaking into a young mind. I have since learned that being alone is sometimes paramount to concentrating on my faith.

My first mistake was not looking for Christian fellowship. I could have immediately become involved in Campus Crusade or one of the programs that offered a Bible study. Instead, I found immediate friends to replace my loneliness. I was homesick pretty bad, and missed my friends back home. I remember buying an old Fender accoustic guitar for $100 from an acquaintance at school. I had no idea how to play, but plenty of time to sit around the room and teach myself. Thats how I learned to play. I also spent a lot of time on AIM trying to find a familiar friend to talk to. I would leave it up and check it often to see if a close friend was on. I wondered if everybody else was feeling the same way I was. Beth and I were very close as many of you know, and this was the furthest I had ever been from her. She was not dealing with these same issues though, because it was her second year of college. I felt alone and like there was no one in the world dealing with the same issue... obviously a lie.

Remember this... The enemy is ready and waiting for an opportunity to show his face in your new adjustment to adulthood. If you slack off in allowing God to be your focal point and most important relationship, you are opening a large can of worms. As a matter of fact, you're opening like a 5 gallon bucket of worms. If you don't constantly fight off these depressing emotional epiphanies with the Word, the enemy will lob suttle thoughts into your mind that you will soon believe as fact. I tell you this, because I delt with it first hand. It is God's will for you to have Christian fellowship, but you must choose your friends wisely. If you put no boundaries on these decisions because you feel the need for companionship, you are walking blindly down a dark tunnel of evil obstacles. As I said earlier, I have always been too reliant on my friendships for stability, and it resulted in being even more lost.

When I was about 11, my best friend and his family moved to Hickory. Soon thereafter, I met Rusty who still today is like a brother to me. He moved from East Davidson to Weslyen our Senior year, then accepted a scholarship at a college in Houghton, NY. Another very close friend went off to school at Mars Hill, then moved to Atlanta GA, and now lives in Washington D.C. While I was at WCU, I learned that my sister was dating somebody way older than she (he will wittingly scold me for that statement) Of course I didn't know what to think about this until I met the guy, whom most of you are now familiar with. Chris is now like a brother to me and a very important part of my life. As most of you know, he and Lindy responsibly accepted their calling into the mission field and moved to Kenya in June. I am now hearing that more close friends of mine are considering moving... one to Tennessee, the other to England. The point I am trying to make is, God has put me back in my place several times as far as "comfortable" friendships go. These friends have never left me, but many have just accepted God's calling to live in another location. Your life will also never be the same since you've recently left home. Your friends will change, you will develop new relationships, and you will lose touch with those you call great friends now. However, your closest Christian brothers and sisters in life are bonds that will never be severed because they are anchored by the same purpose.

John 4:13-14 says, "Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." If you attempt to put your trust and value in worldly relationships, you will continue to be unsatisfied. If you value your relationship with Christ as your most important one in life, your other relationships will fall into place in their proper order.... behind Him.

Control your emotions by controlling your thoughts. Know the Truth as it opposes the lies of the enemy..... because you will hear and experience both. The great news is written down for you, use it.

Collosians 3:16- "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God."