I would have to say that the most important lesson that I have learned throughout Core is to not go through the motions of my daily life, that includes the spiritually, emotional and physical aspects of the day. Each day should have a purpose and I should always be working toward achieving those purposes, day after day. I’ve gotten comfortable with where I am in my life. I’m happy to be in college and sort of on my own and I know where I am when it comes to my walk with God. I feel like everything is good and so I’m not taking any risks.

In Irresistible Revolution, Shane talked about not sitting around and doing nothing about your faith. He wants us to be uncomfortable and currently I am not. I’m not risking anything right now. I’m not trying to build myself up as a person and as a Christian. I’m just going through the motions. I like where my life is right now and I don’t want it to change, but I also know that God is going to throw something my way that will make me uncomfortable. My schedule has remained the same for the year and I’m not ready for it to change when spring semester comes. I like having free time and I like being able to have moments to do whatever I want, but I’m not spending time with God and finding ways to challenge myself in my faith.

Randy brought something up to me as a challenge. I watch a lot of television especially at night. I go on Hulu when I’m trying to fall asleep and watch a show that I get sucked into and end up watching until the show is over. I’m only hurting myself by doing this. I am not spending time interacting with other people and I’m losing sleep. I need to start eliminating some of the time that I spend watching television. I am going to pick a few shows that I want to watch all of the time and then only watch those shows. Sporting events that are televised will follow a similar pattern. I will choose the teams that I want to watch and try to watch some games, but not all.

Another thing that I am not doing is I am not spending enough time in God’s Word. I’m so tired from doing homework and not sleeping, that I’m not reading my Bible. I am going to start reading my Bible more. I need to find a good devotional book that will keep me motivated to read my Bible everyday. I also have to find a good time to do the devotional. I am not a morning person and I don’t really want to do them when I wake up because then I have to get up a few minutes earlier. I could do it at night, but I’m afraid that I’ll just fall asleep while reading. It’s going to take some experimenting, but I’m going to find a way to take my faith to the next level even in the Spring Arbor “bubble.”

When Shane was talking about not sitting around and doing nothing to grow in our lives, I felt like he was calling us to go someplace and do something extravagant; however, that is not my plan. I’ve been on mission trips before and I’ve done something extravagant, but I’m not feeling called by God to do any of those large trips. Plus, they are expensive and I do not have a job that pays enough for me to just be spending it on a mission trip. I’m also not ready for another mission trip. I’m still trying to recuperate after two trips to Zambia. They really change your outlook on the world and I’m trying to figure how to incorporate some of the things I learned overseas into my life here.

I really enjoyed reading Irresistible Revolution. It made me think about a lot of things that I have never really considered before. Even though I was disappointed with how the book ended, I found my challenges from Shane throughout the beginning and middle of his novel. I realized that I have to stop sitting around. I need to get up and do something. It doesn’t have to be as crazy as starting a protest or getting arrested, like Shane has done. I just have to go out and love and build myself as a person and as a Christian. It is important to make sure that I am challenging myself and finding new ways to improve how I live my life.

In order to be a better person and a better Christian I have to make some changes to my lifestyle. I am going to have to screw up my routine sometimes and make myself uncomfortable. I also have to go out and do things that will make me uncomfortable. I know that in a few weeks I will be leading my Bible quizzers by myself and that is going to be a challenge and it is going to make me uncomfortable because I have only been to one meet and I’ve never coached by myself before. I am going to have to be uncomfortable and I’m going to have to feel challenged otherwise I’m not going to be able to change the world one day.