Writing off Senioritis

Senioritis is not a fun thing. I remember when I was just about to graduate from high school, and I had a bad case of senioritis. I didn't want to do my homework or even be at school. Everything seemed so pointless because I already knew what I was doing after high school. I had already made up my mind that I was going to attend Ozark Christian College, and totally "checked out" by the time November hit my senior year.

Here I sit four years later, the same time of year, but a different situation. Next year I am not going to another school. To be really honest, I have NO clue what I am doing after I graduate in May, and it scares the poop out of me. I could either do a year-long internship somewhere (preferably out West), or take a youth ministry with a church. I could also just be a bum at my parents' house, but I've already done that for 18 years of my life. Basically, I'm freaking out!!!!

To add to everything else, the church I attend just finished up a sermon series titled "The Vow." They went through four different vows every married couple should be committed to fulfilling. For instance, the first vow was "God is my #1 and my spouse is my #2." There were three other vows, but this one is probably the most important. Without fulfilling this vow, the rest of them won't fall in line. I say all of this to say that I am as single as it gets! Out of the four weeks of this sermon series, I have been called out by the 2 different preachers about being single. Just today, the preached was talking about how he was friends with his wife for a year before they started to date, and he proceeded to say, "That means there is hope for all of you...that includes you Charlie Landis!"

It was actually pretty funny, and I love and respect the guy who said it. But it really got me thinking. I am graduating in a little over a semester, and I am single. There is NOTHING wrong with being single; in fact, I respect people who graduate from Ozark single. However, some churches won't hire a young youth minister who is single. I was joking about this with one of my friends the other day, and he said I should pretend to have a girlfriend who lives in Europe or something so that a church will hire me. I really don't blame churches for being careful who they hire, because there have been those instances where a young minister has succumb to Satan's lies and deception with someone in his ministry. I guess what I am trying to say that there are a lot of open-ended options in my life.

We all conclude different parts of our lives. There is that time in your life when you are about 5-years-old and you are done being a baby and you go to Kindergarten. When you turn 11, you are finally potty-trained. After your 13th birthday, you are now a teenager. Your 18th birthday brings about a new sense of freedom. But what about my life now that I am almost done with College? Shouldn't it mean that I have reached full maturity because I have my life planned out? David Heffren in his blog www.dheffren.blogspot.com, says, "maturity is something more than seemingly having life figured out." He goes on to explain that true maturity is found in wisdom and the proper application of knowledge. My friend makes a good point: maturation does not equal figuration. I do not have my entire life figured out, designed, and planned out.

I am writing the conclusion to my collegiate career, but I have not even began to start writing the introduction to the next section in my life. So what? I do not know what I am doing when I graduate. I do not have a girlfriend. But all I can do is be prepared to start writing. I am going to have a pen in hand ready to write a new chapter in the life of Charlie Landis...and you never know...this chapter could include a hot chick.