What God Taught Me My First Year of College

This post is about the things the Lord taught me my freshman year of college.

I don’t know if you’re stumbling across this post well after it was posted but THIS IS MY FIRST BLOG POST! 😆

The Lord gave me the idea of starting a blog back in January when I was dreaming about the new year and since then, I’ve been writing lots of posts. 

As I wracked my brain for what my FIRST blog post should be, I came across this half-written note called “What God taught me my first year of college”. I read through it and thought, “This is really personal and vulnerable, I don’t know if…” and the Lord stopped me and said, “Perfect. This is your first post.”

I had written down in my vision for the blog that I want it to be relatable, honest, practical, and encouraging. What better way to display those things than to open up about what the Lord taught me throughout my first year of college?

If your first year of college didn’t go as amazingly movie perfect as you were hoping, you’re not alone. 

If you’re about to enter your first year of college and you’re a little scared, you’re not alone. 

My prayer is that this blog post encourages you that you are never alone. So, here are the things the Lord taught me/reminded me my first year of college:

1. He does not change.

As I prepared to move from Texas to Missouri, I thought about all the things that were changing: my daily routine, who I was spending my time with, living in a dorm instead of my house, living with roommates instead of my family, my church, even the weather. (Especially the weather😂)

Basically, anything that was comfortable and familiar- was changing. 

But God wasn’t. 

When I was overwhelmed with thoughts of “everything is changing!”, I heard the Lord say, “I’m not.”

That truth carried me through the season of change and moments of homesickness.

He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Read When All is Changing, God is the Same.

2. I cannot let DISAPPOINTMENT allow me to throw hope out the window.

There were a lot of things I had expected and hoped for in college that didn’t happen. 

Don’t get me wrong, I had a good overall experience, there were just some things that threw me for a loop. From little things like football games not being as fun as I had hoped, to larger things like miscommunications about my degree program, I was disappointed.

Y’all, first semester I questioned if I chose the right school. I remember praying “God, if you call me somewhere else, I’d be happy to go.” I thought about how transferring would be scary but it could also be really fun and I thought about all my friends that were at these christian universities or going on church plants and God stopped me and said— “I’m calling you to STAY.”

So after winter break and lots of prayer and conversations, I went back for second semester. I wasn’t excited to go back, but I had a different perspective. And slowly but surely throughout the semester, God changed my mindset from “I’m just not gonna get excited about things because every time I do, I’m disappointed ,” to “I am going to hold onto HOPE and joyful expectation even WHEN I’m disappointed.”

I’ve found that holding onto HOPE is absolutely essential in our Christian walk on earth.

It doesn’t mean I’ll never be disappointed again, the world offers plenty of that. But God is with me IN the disappointment. I have confidence and trust in my God that ALL things will work together for good. He’s got me.

3. He can do more with my time than i can.

I worked on giving God Lordship of my time throughout second semester and it was a game-changer.

Waking up each morning remembering that this is the day the LORD has made (Psalm 118:24) and He can do whatever He wants with it— brought so much peace. 

Rather than thinking of time as something I have to make the most of and hold tightly to by planning my days to a T and freaking out when something didn’t go as planned, I remembered that my time is not mine in the first place. My time is the Lord’s and He can do more with it than I can.

I started writing “My week is yours” on the top of my to-do list for the week.

I started praying “Lord, this the day that you have made and I want to do whatever YOU want me to do with it. Thank you for the time you’ve given me. Please help me use it wisely.”

And things changed.

God is the author of life and I want Him to be the author of my every move. Because He can do SO much more with my time than I can.

There were lots of other little lessons along the way, but these are the big ones I’ll share for now. 

College is fun. It’s also work. And it’s hard sometimes. But I’m SO grateful for a God that reveals Himself to me through my circumstances. 

What’s something God is teaching YOU right now? 

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