Giving My Year Back… Was It Really Mine?

It has been a while. This might be a long one. Just to let you know…

Over the past year, I have had the wonderful chance to serve at Purdue Chi Alpha (the ministry that has changed my life forever). I had a chance to see college campus ministry from the “other side” of things. I didn’t have too much to give, but I thought I would give it anyway and see what happens.

Well I must say that it was in many ways the toughest year of my life and also the best year of my life. I learned so much about myself. God led me along a tough but rewarding path this past year. I got to rub shoulders with some great ministers, especially the Chi Alpha ones. I guess I could say that pastors are people too. It was really fun to go to District Council and see how the local AG conducts some of its official business. I also went to my first church business meeting at Bethel.

I have a new respect for the Chi Alpha missionary (or really any missionary for that matter). I grew up in church so the term “missionary” was not unfamiliar to me. It takes a lot of effort and even more blessing from God to do the job right. God pretty much has to do everything. The amount of prayer and listening to God required is insane, but it’s the only way to do the job. If you are around one of these great people, you can just feel the passion oozing from their pores. These people just give and give of themselves to everyone they encounter, and if they didn’t meet God everyday, I am totally sure they would completely run themselves into the ground with people, stress, and things to do. You better hear from God or you won’t make it.

I had many reasons for doing this “Give a Year”. The first reason is I felt called to do it, like it was something I was supposed to do. Also I did sign a card that said I would commit to that at the World Missions Summit the last time it was held. I had to hear that call twice before I went forward like I was supposed to. Also, I thought it was the right thing to do for the ministry that really set my life right. I grew up in a Christian home, but I wasn’t really a true Christian until I came across Chi Alpha at Purdue. I kinda felt like I at least owed them something, and most people value time more than anything. My time was the only thing I had to give.

I have experienced a lot over this year (this is pretty condensed):

One thing was how to be better organized. “Getting Things Done” was one of the books that I read this year that changed my life. It’s a lot about how to stay on top of the tasks that you need to do. Go to the store, finish the report, prepare for the meeting, or anything else in life. If you are having struggles keeping organized or are having trouble remembering things, implementing the concepts from this book will put an end to that. I think everyone my age (mid-20s) should read this book.

Another great book was “Discover Your God-Given Gifts”. This book really opened my eyes to all the relationships in my life. It talks about gifts we have according to Romans 12:6-8 that make each of us unique people. (See if you can guess what I scored.) I think after I read this book, I kept analyzing all the people I came into contact with. It helped me realize what I could work on as a person in all my work and personal relationships and that God created people with different personality traits, and I need to live with them no matter how far up the wall they drive me.

I learned a lot about dealing with young children in my time at the daycare I worked at part time. It was such a privilege to work there. All my co-workers were great to me. They showed me things when I didn’t know how to do stuff like change a diaper or make a bottle of formula. I was putting diapers on backwards for my first few days because I was confused, haha. Hey, that could have happened to anyone right? I just remember being scared for my life before my first day working there. I didn’t know anything about kids. I got to work about 15 minutes early my first day and began to intercede fervently because I was so scared. I had no idea what I was getting into. One of my friends that worked there told me that the kids would probably become very attached to me, but she never told me how attached I would be to the kids.

Since I was dealing with kids that were so young, their growth was happing at incredible rates. There was this one little girl, for example, that was only able to flop around on her belly when I first got there, and by the time she left, she was chasing me down for hugs. There was this other time I was in the 2 year old class and we were eating our snack. We had these cheese cubes as part of snack. Without even thinking, I started to stack my cheese cubes into towers and stuff. Then I looked around and all the other kids were stacking their cheese cubes into towers and saying “tower!” I gave up on trying to get them to eat the cheese. All I could do was put my head down on the table (and laugh)… Watching and encouraging the young infants to learn to walk was also an experience, and I was able to watch a few of them figure it out. I was puked on a multitude of times, which as you can imagine was also fun. There was this one baby that I swear was saving her puke for me. She would “tag” me every single week. But she eventually stopped so we could become friends. There was also this time I was ordered to remove my coat by a 2 year old girl upon entering the classroom, complete with hands on hips and mean look and yes I listened to her. I miss those kids more and more every day and it breaks my heart how everything had to happen. It would be really great to see them again someday. I have tons of stories I could tell, so don’t be afraid to ask.

I also had many experiences that a minister might have. I went to any meeting that I could get into because I wanted to see how things worked. I got to stay on the staff floor at SALT (no one told me they get a free breakfast everyday). I helped my friend and fellow missionary Kate with a breakout session about giving a year back to Chi Alpha. I have not had the chance to follow up with anyone in that sessions, but the ones that were there seemed pretty serious about being there. I must say that the concept of “giving a year back” is a genius concept. It is much easier to hand over a year of your life than to hand over your entire life. Who knows? Maybe God would call you to hand over a year or your life, to give up your pursuits and go for the greater good that He has. He might just take care of you like He took care of me. They had great questions and everything. District Council was really fun. I felt very out of place in a building with so many pastors that have been in the ministry for so long. It was really fun to represent Chi Alpha there. Being in the same place as that many people that love Jesus does something to you.

I must say that Chi Alpha has been the only place in my life that I have felt I have belonged to some thing bigger than myself. I think a lot of people go through life struggling with their emotions and feeling left out and such and I think it’s because they don’t have something bigger to life for. God is bigger in thought and deed than we are.

Isaiah 55:8,9 says…

For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.

So plugging into God’s plan automatically gives you something bigger to live for. I think that’s what ultimately happened to me. For the past year, I was living for something much bigger than myself, and God richly rewarded me for it. I wouldn’t trade anything that happened to me this year for anything.

There is probably a lot more I could say, but I think I will stop here for now.