I haven’t fully processed this yet, but I am going into my sophomore year of college. It seems so weird to think that a year ago, I was scrambling around trying to make sure I had everything prepared for college (with a lot of help from Dad).

I’m a resident assistant here at my university, so I had the privilege of watching the new freshmen come in as they experience this next step of life. I helped a lot of people move in, and it’s fun to watch all the new friendships forming both in my life and in the freshmen’s.

Going into this year, the nerves aren’t exactly eliminated from my mind. As a resident assistant, I’m responsible for being there for the guys in my dorm, making sure people are both respecting each other and the regulations set in place by the university. I’m responsible for being that middle man for when there’s something wrong but they don’t feel like they can turn to a faculty or staff member. It’s going to be a fine line between enforcing the rules of the resident halls but also being a friend who in reality is no different or better than them.

I’ve always felt a call to go into ministry, and I’m super excited to be able to be a leader in my hall, but there’s always a feeling of being “not good-enough,” which is something I think everyone experiences at some point in their lives. What if I don’t handle a problem correctly? What if I get too busy with school work to be able to be there for the other guys in my hall? Or vise-versa?

It seems like human nature to have a fear of the unknown, which I’m sure a lot of freshmen are feeling that right now. This is their first college experience, so they don’t know fully what to expect. This is my first experience as a resident assistant, so I don’t know fully what to expect.

The same goes for people going into their first year of high school, getting hired at a new job, or making some kind of commitment in a relationship, whether that’s to date, get engaged, have kids, buy a house…

With so many opportunities that are all around me, I find myself thinking that I won’t be good enough as a student, a boyfriend, a son, a brother, a friend, and as a resident assistant. There’s so many things that could go wrong. But let’s try to flip that thinking.

There are so many things that can go right. With so many opportunities, it leaves room for creativity and uniqueness in life. Since there are so many opportunities that must mean that one way to do life doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s the right way. There are other ways to do it, so there’s no right way to do life. Some people will find that they actually don’t like college, while others will love it. Many people are content where they are right now, and that’s totally cool. College isn’t the perfectly right way to do life.

However, there is one crucial part of life that you need in order to make sure you live a fulfilled life. Above anything else, make sure that God is first. In order for us to get into heaven, what it comes down to is if we put our faith and trust in Him. If we do that, nothing else on Earth will effect that, as nothing can separate us from God. Knowing that we don’t need to live up to anything, we can live a life that is set free from expectations by God. So I leave you with this encouragement from Deuteronomy 31:6…

“Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.”

God bless!