When I first arrived in Chicago I have to admit I was a little afraid of how I was going to continue to grow in my relationship with the Lord. For the past three years I had been surrounded by access to ways to grow 24/7 and suddenly my environment was very different. Not all of the students with me were believers. Worship and chapel were not part of my new schedule. Bible studies were not my evening activity. I did not have a church to call home on Sundays. However, I knew that if I wanted to continue to grow I would need to find new ways to continue this growth. I knew I needed to be intentional about putting in effort to ensure I was growing throughout the semester.
The first step I took was ensuring I had a daily reading plan and a devotional. Being in the word on a daily basis is something I have struggled with in the past and something I am still not great at, but I feel this semester has helped me to get better at this habit. Being sure to set aside time has helped to have a space and time to focus on what He has for me for the day. Where in my day it goes varies - sometimes it is when I get up, sometimes it is before I go to bed. The YouVersion Bible app has been great for finding good devotional plans because I can usually find one that interests me or speaks to what is going on around me. My daily reading plan has been a little different this year as I have been focusing on the books of the gospel. Dr. Paul Patton, one of my mentors at school, introduced me to this type of plan where I read one chapter of one of the gospel books per day for a month. The goal is to read it month after month until I can recall at least one thing from each chapter. January through March I focused on the book of John and at the beginning of April I started looking at the book of Matthew. It is a great way to encourage a daily habit, but is also a great technique for memorization and truly knowing scripture.
The second thing I did to ensure I was growing was continue to meet with mentors and prayer partners who would help keep me accountable in my readings and prayer life. I am so grateful for my mentor, Dr. Michael Buratovich, who I have weekly meetings with and all the advice, support and encouragement he has given me. He has helped me to recognize that even if I may not feel like I’m growing, the Lord is still moving. I am also incredibly grateful for my prayer partner Caleb. I have loved getting to grow our friendship, but he has also been instrumental in making sure I am doing my readings. I have also had a number of conversations throughout the semester with friends who have been so encouraging and have spoken wonderful words of wisdom into my life. They have listened to my troubles, given me advice, and shared how the Lord has been moving in their lives.
I keep a list of prayer requests and I have a wall with notecards with peoples names on them which help me to remember to be in prayer. Whenever I look at that wall, which is the same wall my TV is on, I am reminded of prayer requests and my dearest friends and it gives me motivation to be in prayer all day.
One thing I truly missed when I got here was gathering with other believers. I didn’t have a church to call home and there were not any bible studies or small groups organized. This semester has been great for trying out some new churches and exploring what the city has to offer in that area. I have watched a couple places online and I have been able to go to a few services in person, one of which has been very good and one I think I will be going back to. If I wanted to see a small group I thought maybe I should try being the one to put a group together. I mean, I did spend a good amount of first semester learning how to do this, so why not put it to use. I found some other Chicago Semester students who would be interested and we started having a weekly meeting on Thursday nights. We meet for about an hour and our topic usually revolves around the Lord’s voice and how he speaks to us. It has been so encouraging to gather with other believers and I have loved getting to know these new friends on another level.
The Lord has been moving in so many incredible ways this semester, ways I could not have even imagined when I began this journey in the big city. He had shown himself to me through the things here, the people, my classes, my internship, and so many other ways. I have experienced more growth than I truly thought I would, but the Lord has been faithful to me. I am not saying this to show off or make it seem like I have reached a new level because I still need to work on a lot of things, but I am saying this to encourage you to remain faithful in Him and He will remain faithful in you. Let Him guide your steps and be open to what he has in store for you. It is not always an easy journey and there will be struggles but the Lord will be with you through it all. I also say this to encourage you to be intentional about your time with the Lord. It is essential to carve out that time. It is work to do so, but it is worth it. Again, be faithful in that time to Him and He will be faithful to you. If you see an opportunity, take it!
Be blessed and blessing and remember, be faithful to Him and He will be faithful to you.