The definition of transitions is: movement, passage, or change from one position, state, stage, subject, concept,ext. For me transitions means the moving from one battlefield to another. I never thought that I would see more hopelessness than what I saw in Panama as I watched people worship and idolize to powerless blocks of wood; but I was wrong. I now find myself smack in the middle of a group of people who idolize themselves and worship pleasure. Yeah, I know, "Welcome to college Glorydawn! Wake up, this is how it has always been." Sadly, in America, one's college years is accepted as the time to live to the fullest and discover who you are; better interpreted as a time with no restraints. But for me it is different, because this is my new battlefield.
In Panama I was asked if I act differently at home compared to what I did in ministry there. I could not answer no, for I didn't spend my days walking up to complete strangers and asking if I could go into their homes and talk to them. It is not unusual to live differently in different places. Sociologist theorize that a person's performance (behavior) is influenced by both their audience and setting, and the person switches from one set of behaviors to another as these two variables change. So what I did in Panama as a Missionary could be completely different from what I do in my home country. But what if I were to get stuck in one mode? What if I chose to see everyday and every person as an opportunity to share God's love? What if I saw my campus as a new battlefield that God specifically sent me to? Well, this is exactly what I aim to do, with God's help of course.
As a student living on campus, I have many opportunities and open doors that others don't have. For example, I eat in the student dinning center for almost every meal. I have a slightly crazy schedule this semester and because of this my friends can't eat with me. Now, I could choose to be have a blind eye, and shut down my ministry mode and simply eat alone, quiet with my own thoughts; or I could see this as an opportunity to reach out. Every time I go in to eat by myself, I look for someone who is sitting alone, walk up to them and ask if I could eat with them. Is it easy? No. I am considered to be a shy person, so every time I walk into the dinning center I have to give myself a little pep talk and pray A LOT. Secondly, Americans have developed a kind of language that signals others when they want to be left alone. We do this by hiding behind cellphones or laptops, using ipods, filling the seats next to us with bags or covering all of the table space with our books. (Another sociology thing I learned, man, my professor should give me kudos.) So it is really hard to walk up and ask to talk to someone who is sending out every kind of signal that they think it would be best if they were left alone. Thirdly, if a person does say that I can eat with them, I have to be extremely mentally focused, so if there is any chance (even if it is the tinniest hint of a chance) for me to talk about God and His love, I can grab it and run with it.
Interestingly enough, I have yet to be rejected. Every person I have asked to eat with has said yes and helped keep the conversation lively. What they haven't done is let me talk about God-but I'm praying for that chance to pop up.
This is what it is like to throw a wrench in the gears of society; to get stuck in the abnormal. No matter how hard or unconformable it may appear, I have found that functioning within God's will is sooooo much better than outside of it.
In Panama I was asked if I act differently at home compared to what I did in ministry there. I could not answer no, for I didn't spend my days walking up to complete strangers and asking if I could go into their homes and talk to them. It is not unusual to live differently in different places. Sociologist theorize that a person's performance (behavior) is influenced by both their audience and setting, and the person switches from one set of behaviors to another as these two variables change. So what I did in Panama as a Missionary could be completely different from what I do in my home country. But what if I were to get stuck in one mode? What if I chose to see everyday and every person as an opportunity to share God's love? What if I saw my campus as a new battlefield that God specifically sent me to? Well, this is exactly what I aim to do, with God's help of course.
As a student living on campus, I have many opportunities and open doors that others don't have. For example, I eat in the student dinning center for almost every meal. I have a slightly crazy schedule this semester and because of this my friends can't eat with me. Now, I could choose to be have a blind eye, and shut down my ministry mode and simply eat alone, quiet with my own thoughts; or I could see this as an opportunity to reach out. Every time I go in to eat by myself, I look for someone who is sitting alone, walk up to them and ask if I could eat with them. Is it easy? No. I am considered to be a shy person, so every time I walk into the dinning center I have to give myself a little pep talk and pray A LOT. Secondly, Americans have developed a kind of language that signals others when they want to be left alone. We do this by hiding behind cellphones or laptops, using ipods, filling the seats next to us with bags or covering all of the table space with our books. (Another sociology thing I learned, man, my professor should give me kudos.) So it is really hard to walk up and ask to talk to someone who is sending out every kind of signal that they think it would be best if they were left alone. Thirdly, if a person does say that I can eat with them, I have to be extremely mentally focused, so if there is any chance (even if it is the tinniest hint of a chance) for me to talk about God and His love, I can grab it and run with it.
Interestingly enough, I have yet to be rejected. Every person I have asked to eat with has said yes and helped keep the conversation lively. What they haven't done is let me talk about God-but I'm praying for that chance to pop up.
This is what it is like to throw a wrench in the gears of society; to get stuck in the abnormal. No matter how hard or unconformable it may appear, I have found that functioning within God's will is sooooo much better than outside of it.
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