Decisions

My Lipscomb pride has been on a high this past week as the Bisons finally get their first bid into the NCAA Tournament. I remember being at the first game in Allen Arena when we won at the buzzer after a shot from the opposite free throw line. I remember countless Battle of the Boule- vard’s, one being mine and Bekah’s first date. I also remember years of watching us come up short and not make the tournament. So, this year, even though we will probably draw a tough team today, I’m pumped for the Bisons!

All this got me thinking about my decision to go to Lipscomb about 17 years ago. When I was in high school, I only took the ACT one time and only applied to one school. That wasn’t really because of great confidence - it was more a result of me not wanting to spend another Saturday taking a test, and...ok, I was pretty confident I’d get into Lipscomb. Luckily, they did let me in.

I talk to teens now a lot during their senior year about what their plans will be post high school. They typically fall between two extremes. Some stress about this decision endlessly, constantly weighing all the options and trying to decide where will be the right place to go, fearful that if they don’t pick the right one, they will be miserable and the rest of their lives they will live in regret. Others, you might wish, thought a little more about it than they seem to. Talking to them a few months into summer and their response to what they plan to do next is something like, “ahh, I don’t know. Some- thing probably.”

What I try to remind students this time of the year is that this is an important decision and it’s something you should be prayerfully consider- ing. But the most important thing isn’t where you go or what exactly you do. The most important thing is that wherever you go and whatever you do, to be faithful to God.

I was talking with a friend the other night. We were at Lipscomb together at the same time, and we were just talking about the ways that God works. My first year and a half at Lipscomb I nearly transferred. I didn’t have any friends at school and thought about going to a different school that several my friends from high school were at. In the end, I decided to stay and stick it out. The next semester I met a lot of good friends and then this other girl who was way out of my league named Bekah Kinzer. So, it all worked out, and I’m glad I stayed. My friend (really my only friend my first year or so at Lipscomb) left after two years, and we were talking the other night about how if it weren’t for him leaving he never would have met his wife.

It was a reminder that God can make anything work for our good as long as we are faithful to Him with our lives and our decisions. We both ended up doing different things, but God blessed both of us beyond what we ever thought imaginable. So, the biggest question for those contemplat- ing big decisions is not, “Where should I go? What should I do?” etc. It’s instead, “How will I be faithful to God wherever I go?"