Rejoicing in Your Youth

I've realized a lot recently about why I'm thankful for college. It's the stage of my life where nothing is going to be the same ever again, and I'm grateful for the time I have here to enjoy it. One of the most prevalent things on my mind that college life brings is friendships. And the friendships in college are nothing like the friendships you have any other time in your life. The friendships in college are special. They're dependent, fulfilling, reliable, and life-giving. They give me breath and help me live and love more fully every day.

Let me tell you a few of the reasons why friendships in college are so special. You don't have your parents to rely on or call in times of crisis, so you lean on those close friends who have proved to provide for you through thick and thin. And they provide for you because they love you, not because they have some obligation, or because they're related to you. They love you for you, and that is such a beautiful thing.

We stay up late. Way late. And talk hours into the night about the past and the future, our hopes and dreams that we so badly want to be right now. Everything we hope for in the future is so real and clear to us that we believe fully that we can and will become the person we want to be. And we will find or fall in love eventually, but the time for friendships is now. Boys will come and boys will go, but girl friends remain forever. We've been through break-ups and make-ups, crushes and first loves, engagements and first dates together, and we haven't ever broken the other's heart. We're your girls, and we always will be, no matter what boy you date.

We laugh together, we cry together, and we pray together. Our friendships are based on a mutual love and pursuit of Christ and it is so wonderful because our Christianity is finally becoming our own. It's not our parents' or our pastor's, but ours, fully and completely. We learn who God is more and more each day together, and as our plans change to fit His, we encourage each other and hope beyond hope that this new plan is really the one He wants for us.

We love. We live. We hope.

The days of college have been precious to me. The friendships I've made and the people I've met and grown to love are some of the most important people in my life. There's nothing like the college experience. It's a one time thing, and especially since I'm a senior, I'm choosing to enjoy it. The football games, the endless classes and tests and papers, the library and the science building, and most of all the friendships I will cherish. I want to live this year to the fullest, and in gratitude and hope look forward to the future.


I'm choosing to rejoice in the NOW. You should too :)