As someone who teaches ninth graders, it’s interesting to see how they enter high school and have very little idea what their next four years have in store. My job is to bring out the best in them and watch them transform into young men and women of purpose. Much transpires between ninth grade and graduation, and I’ve spent some space discussing this in blogs prior. What I’d like to focus on this month is the journey that we have all experienced in our days prior.
This month, college freshmen the world over will step foot on campus and begin their journey of higher education. As alumni of Chi Alpha chapters far and wide, we all have memories of our time in college. I distinctly remember climbing a seemingly endless mountain of stairs from my dorm at the base of Texas State’s quad to the top of Chataqua hill and joining my fellow Chi Alphans on the top floor of historic Old Main. It was here that I found my community, my support for the next three years, my circle of friends for many years afterwards. I had no idea what was in store as I strolled out of the antiquated elevator, and the thousands of incoming collegiate scholars have a journey ahead of them as well.
I ask you to join with me and the National Chi Alpha Alumni Association as we pray for these students who seek the proper path to take. Apart from their area of study, they will be choosing friend groups, leisure activities, and living arrangements. They will be selecting classes that prepare them for their future and making choices that will frame their lives. I pray that they will seek the Lord’s wisdom, and be guided by Scriptures such as Psalm 30:21, which promises in the ESV “And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.”
These next several years are vital not only for the world’s workforce, but for the health and wellbeing of the students. Let’s pray over their journey, and trust that God has a plan and a purpose for each of them. The familiar assurances of Jeremiah chapter twenty-nine and verse eleven are encouraging for us all, and we believe that God orders the steps of the righteous.
I’m blessed every time I hear a testimony from fellow alumni of how God used Chi Alpha in their journey of faith, and I have faith that many more testimonies will take place over the coming days, weeks, and months. As Chi Alpha chapters start their welcome week activities, let us lift up the next generation of Chi Alphans. God’s Word is true for them as it has been true for us, and the future looks bright.
Be blessed and encouraged!