How far we’ve come and how far there still is to go.

It’s hard to believe that this time a year ago, I was a little over a month into my Freshman year. Done with my first wave of midterms, recovering from my first college sickness, and fully immersed in the small group, large group, weekend event, Sunday service (hopefully) rotation of CFC. Heck, even at the beginning of this year, I was still writing “Freshman” on the activity sign up sheets.

Recently, I came across this video that really took me back to my first days as a Freshman. I think I saw this video at the “How to Survive” event CFC put on at Lincoln Hall, which was held the night after the first day of classes. I even friended the creator of the video, Michael Chang, on Facebook. You can check out his work at bluevisionuiuc.

It’s a blessing to see him use his amazing videography skills to strengthen the body of Christ. It really applied to this week’s small group Bible study, which was on Luke 16:1-13–using the resources God’s given you wisely before time runs out and eternity begins. Hopefully, I can use my graphic design skills–or at least, passion–in the same way. And I am! God granted me the opportunity to serve Him by making a flyer for next week’s Revival happenings, which I’ll probably post over the weekend. Anyways, watch the video:

Last year, I got goosebumps watching it for the first time, and when I saw it again today, it was no different. As a Freshman, I remember thinking what I would be like a year from then. Well, that’s now, and even though I’m a Sophomore, the same thoughts and questions still fill my head. I’ve come a long way from Freshman year but the message from 1:20-1:30 in the video still rings out: “you realize the person you’ve tried so hard to become…wasn’t quite what you expected. Mistakes made, opportunities missed.” And “only now do you realize how far you’ve come, and how much further you still have to go (1:06-1:13).”

Whether I’m about to turn twenty or about to send my own kid off to college, I’ll still have plenty of room to grow. There will and always will be mistakes that could be made and opportunities that could be missed. Through it all, it’s good to know that I am and always will be living out this second chance God’s given to me.