First United Methodist Church of San Diego, California, United States In Real Life for Friday, 12 June 2015 "Reality check" by Reverend Jessica Strysko

First United Methodist Church of San Diego, California, United States In Real Life for Friday, 12 June 2015 "Reality check" by Reverend Jessica Strysko
It was a huge reality check when I didn’t get to go to the college I had most hoped to attend.
I remember when I applied to college, I felt certain that I wanted to go to one particular university – a Christian college near where I grew up. I was naively convinced I’d be attending the school of my choice – that of course God would want me to go to a Christian school, and I’d meet the school’s requirements. I applied to a few other schools, but was not seriously considering any of them. But that’s when I got my reality check.
The financial aid I needed to go to the school of my choice did not come through, but another university did offer me enough to make it possible. However, that school was across the street from my grandmother’s house…and for a teenager looking for some new independence, it felt like starting college in my own front yard. To say I was disappointed would be putting it mildly.
They say hindsight is 20/20, and in retrospect, I am so grateful to God for the path that I ended up taking. It didn’t take long once college began for me to fall in love with it – it was the place for me after all, and shaped me in incredible ways. The religious studies courses I took, the friends I made, the professors who mentored me, the strengthened relationship I was able to build with my grandparents, and meeting my amazing husband were all unforeseen blessings that going to this other college allowed me to experience. God turned my disappointment into provision.
We all bring stories from our lives where we have longed for and experienced God at work. It is part of what we do, as a community of faith, that we share the ways that we have seen God's provision in our lives. It helps us to encourage one another as a church family and in our communities and families outside the church, so that when any of us are in need of that encouragement in faith or in times of struggle, we have stories that give us hope and people that show us how God is still at work in the world. May you be blessed as you share your story of God's faithfulness with others.
Blessings,
Reverend Jessica Strysko
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