What's your New Years resolution? Mine is to stop eating so many Pringles. I eat a lot, quite an alarming amount so I’m going to try and stop (if you see me eating them, stop me immediately). Have you thought about what your going to give up or take up this year? Could that be church?
Over the past year I have met countless second and third year students who regret wasting their first year at uni not thinking about God or church. Every time I hear it, it breaks my heart. And when they finally find themselves back at church (which sometimes they don’t) they find freedom, and the encouragement they so desperately needed, like all of us.
If 2015 was a uphill struggle for you and your faith, take this opportunity to message someone you trust and be honest with them about how your feeling. The new year is a brilliant chance to start fresh and really consider your honest feelings about faith. This is your opportunity to discover what it looks like for you to be plugged into church as an adult and have the freedom to build a community with new friends and family. This could be the year that you the fulfilling of all those little things you felt like ‘could be’.
How was your 2015? Why not take a minute to reflect on the past year. How have you entered into 2016 feeling about yourself, your faith and uni? It might be helpful to get a big piece of paper and map out your past year, or journal your high points, low points and what you learnt. It’s a brand new year that is filled with possibility and adventure! Celebrate what God has already done in your life and ask Him to do more. This could be your year.
Some questions you might find helpful
- What were your priorities last year?
- What did you love doing last year?
- Was there anything you really struggled with and why?
- Is there anything that, coming into the new year, you need to give up or let go of?
- When were the times you felt most alive last year?