Dear college freshman struggling in your first semester of college,

If you are anything like me, you are struggling to find your place in this world. You are looking for that love of your life; that only God can provide in his timing. You have scholarships on the line. Getting your first C in college is the worst. Having classes that give just tests, no assignments, is even harder. Especially when you aren't a test taker. Things are going on back at home, that you can't be there for. You are in a time of discomfort. Struggling to find those friends you can cling to and trust is tough. Yet through all the tears (no matter how strong you are) there are tears, there is a God bigger than your fears. Here you can find comfort in God's words.

For the college student looking for love, God says in Song of Solomon 8:4, "I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases." I literally sat on the floor in the room of one of my friends dorms and cried and she showed me this verse and it reminded me of the book I've been reading "His Princess: Love Letters From Your King." It reminded me that there is a God that loves me more than any guy on this earth can and I must seek him first before I can see love from a man. Automatically my tears ceased from comfort in Jesus.

To the student with scholarships to worry about losing due to that first C, God says in Joshua 1:9, Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." The lord, your God is in every situation and whatever happens, happens for a reason. This is advice I need to take in my own life. I am struggling, knowing God is in every situation, whether is me be at Erskine or not, he is with me. He loves me. I am his prized possession and he has a plan for me to go into the world without fear and make a disciple of all nations in his name.

To the student who is struggling with things outside of school. The Song of David in Psalm 25 proves God's ability to keep one strong as long as your faith is in him, "Lord, I put my life in your hands.I trust in you, my God,
and I will not be disappointed. My enemies will not laugh at me. No one who trusts in you will be disappointed. But disappointment will come to those who try to deceive others. They will get nothing. Lord, help me learn your ways. Show me how you want me to live. Guide me and teach me your truths. You are my God, my Savior. You are the one I have been waiting for." He has a plan for everything happening in and out of school. People you love are sick or dying, things are crashing all at once. But God is your strength and your portion forever. (Psalm 73:26)

Through the tears, God takes brokenness and makes is beautiful, like my favorite song by All Son and Daughters, "Brokenness Aside", "I am a sinner, if it's not one thing it's another. Caught up in words, tangled in lies. You are my savior and you take brokenness aside and make it beautiful, beautiful!" Psalm 34:18 days, "The LORD is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are crushed in spirit." He has sent us into this broken world, that our brokenness may be a light (through love, smiles, faith, and being strong) due to God's awesomeness!

Also, sweet student, God has prepared friends and comfort in himself. John 15:15 says, " No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you." And God will provide friends in himself, those true friends, friends that love Him more than anything and this is true in friendships and relationship. God is your friend and through him true friendships will derive from him. I am learning this as I have gotten involved in student ministries. Friends that pray together, stay together.

I will leave you with this, in all things God is sovereign and in your first semester of College change is here but God works in the change. Isaiah 40:8 says, "The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever." Through the different seasons, God stays the same forever and his love remains. In God you will find your strength.