lifestyle.

So many thoughts have been swirling around in my head this week. Thoughts about summer ending and school starting. Thoughts about looking ahead to another year of leading young life. Thoughts about being a senior in college. Thoughts about where I'm focusing my time and energy. Thoughts about balance. And thoughts about being intentional. 

Through all that swirling, there's one word that's stuck: lifestyle. It's been stuck in my head this week after a few things I've heard and a few things I've read.  

I am continuing to learn that being a Young Life leader is a lifestyle. It's not something I can turn off and on. It's not something I go to when I'm free and skip when I'm busy. It's a way of doing life. It's opening up, sharing, and inviting high schoolers into my life. It's being present, listening, and hanging out in theirs. 

This reminds me a little bit of when Jesus calls His first disciples. Matthew 4:18-22

18 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19 "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." 20 At once they left their nets and followed him. 21 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

There's a lot to pick out from these few verses. I could write about it for quite some time, but for now, I'm going to focus on one part. When Jesus calls His disciples, they drop what they are doing and immediately follow Him. For them, it was a total identity shift. They went from being fisherman to being  disciples. That's a HUGE change, considering that in biblical times, only the best of the best of the best most educated men were chosen to follow a rabbi (more about that here). He chose average people to follow Him. Which is HUGE and means so much for us and how we follow Jesus, but not the point I'm making right now.

The thing I want to focus on is that the fishermen drop their nets and follow Jesus. I think we could argue that being a disciples begins with an identity shift, or at the very least, a priority shift. And, I think that's not only true for when we decide to follow Jesus, but while we're following Him. There are multiple times in our lives when God invites us into something and we're asked to drop what we're doing to follow Him.

But when we say yes to something, we inevitably say no to something else. I've felt the weight of that in my own life this past week. I want to be everywhere, with everyone, doing everything. I can't be. I can't be in Chicago and Glenview. I can't be with teacher friends and Young Life friends. I can't be in two places at once. Heck, sometimes I struggle to just be in one place. I can't do it all. 

I have said yes to some things and therefore have to say no to others. And I'm learning to be okay with that. Because God's placed it on my heart to be a Young Life leader and I've grown into that this year. I've said yes, and as a result, He's grown me and transformed me in ways I didn't know I needed and I didn't know were possible. He deserves so much praise for that - when we answer His call and choose to follow Him, He rewards us beyond measure. I want to continue to be open to His guidance as I enter into the next year; making my lifestyle more about following Him and less about myself.