Have you met the interns yet? They're pretty amazing. The following post is from Becca Pugh, our happy-go-lucky intern from Pittsburgh.
I wish I knew that Eaglebucks were in fact “real” money, not fake like I often told myself.
I wish I knew that McDonald’s would only be on campus for so long, and that every day should have been a milkshake day (*cries inside*).
I’m just kidding about those previous things, kind of. What I really wish I knew is how much my habits impacted not only my present but also my future. I came into college with less than stellar habits in most arenas of my daily life. My sleeping, eating, exercising, studying and even spiritual habits were sporadic and ruled by every force around me except my own will, especially in my first semester. It was a struggle to try and regulate my schedule and discipline myself in these areas when I was already in the mix of my class and work schedules.
It was also difficult as I was trying to make friends. I’m not much of an initiator, so I try to take every chance to spend time with people when they initiate. That meant I was basically on call for doing whatever whenever, because I wanted to make friends and I wanted to get to know people as much as possible (and a big part of me wanted everyone to like me).
What I didn’t realize as I let my environment around me control me, is that it was slowly affecting different areas of my life. My habits, or lack thereof, were causing my grades to suffer, my mood to swing, my body to get bigger (no lie) and my relationship with God to be minimized to sporadic spiritual experiences. That’s not to say that there wasn’t value in my relationship with God, or that those experiences weren’t valid. I experienced some breakthroughs and growth during that time, but I wasn’t setting myself up for a healthy and vibrant relationship with Him that was consistent.
In my second semester, I gained some wisdom from my small group leader and felt a deep longing for change. That was a time when I worked on those habits, with equal amounts of determination and a willingness to make mistakes and receive grace. In that second semester, I made some big decisions of obedience that opened doors for God to move in my own life and the lives of my friends. While I’m certainly not the perfect example for healthy habits, the cool thing is that I’ve grown a lot since that time, and the prayer is that I keep growing and learning as the years go on, grateful to God for the progress I’ve made.
