cheers to senior year

If you’re a senior, or have been at some point, you’re probably familiar with all the “lasts” that come with this year. “This is our last first day of class!” “Aw, our last second day of class!” “Ugh, I can’t believe this is our last two-hundred and seventh day of class!” Truth be told, there are a lot of emotions that come with this thing… emotions I did not know I was signing up for; sadness, nostalgia, sentimentality, happiness, crippling fear of the future, i.e. I knew coming into my senior year that I wanted it to be the best one, because after all, it is my last one. So I made a bucket list, came up with a slogan to live by, and set some goals for the year. Do I want to eat at every restaurant in Anderson? Heck yeah! Will I live if that doesn’t happen? Oh, honey absolutely. I’m all for checking things off the bucket list, but these are the things I really want for my senior year:

1. To plan and prepare while also being present: Honestly, I’m not much of a planner. I can’t really tell you what I’m doing next week, so to think about planning for my life just sounds like a living nightmare. But word on the street is you’re supposed to have a plan for what you’re going to do after college? If anyone has one of those I can borrow, let me know. OK, I’m kidding kind of. Seriously though, the urge to have your future perfectly planned out is incredibly real and while it’s important to prepare and make plans, I don’t want to be so caught up in the future that I miss out on the present. I want to be fully here; living each day to its fullest potential and appreciating every dang moment.
   
2. To LIVE IT UP: Not in a way that will get me arrested, but in a way that absorbs every stinkin’ possible opportunity. For example, doing something new, going on that weekend trip because why the heck not, paying a little extra for that concert ticket because I’ve always wanted to go, doing adventurous things with my besties because who knows where we’ll be next year etc. If YOLO was still cool, I’d use that here. Out of all the things I’m praying for this year, I think living it up will definitely be the easiest. Oh and don’t worry mother, I’m still going to do my homework and what not.
   
3. To walk in sole dependence on the Lord: …. And truthfully, this will probably be the hardest. The number of times I try to do it on my own and end up failing is almost laughable. He keeps showing me that He is all I need, all the time. He’s not what I need only when I’m stressed or when I really want that certain job. I don’t know about you but I tend to do this thing where I run to God only when I’m in a bind. When things are hunky dory, it becomes incredibly easy to “forget” to make time for the Lord. It usually starts with the occasional, “Oops, ran out of time today!” and the next thing I know, three weeks pass and I haven’t even cracked open my Bible. I don’t want to do that anymore. I want to live in a way that is solely and completely reliant on Jesus through the highs, lows, and everything in between and that’s my prayer for you too.
   

So in the words of Shania Twain, “Let’s go girls!” Let’s kick this year in the face with joy and confidence that the best truly is yet to come. Stay tuned for an abnormal amount of High School Musical 3 references because lucky for you, I’ve got more than I’m willing to admit.

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