a few ramblings

I am finished the first week of my last semester of college and I have come out on the other side of it with a ton of reading to do and a bunch of assignments for the semester. There is so much that I have to do and I have found myself, numerous times in the last week, wondering how on earth I am going to accomplish all of it. I am going to have to apply myself to my school work harder than I ever have in my entire academic career but in the end I know that it will all be worth it.

An update on funding for school: I received notification from student aid, and praise God my school is covered. This is a great relief as I did not know how I would pay for school if student aid did not come through. The only thing I am now needing to figure out is how to pay for simple stuff like rent and groceries. I know that all things will work themselves out but sometimes it is a little frustrating not knowing everything that God has already planned out for me. Again, I am being taught all about faith and I have a feeling that this is a lesson that I will continue to learn pretty much daily for the next four months and into the rest of my life.

And now something completely unrelated. My group of friends were hanging out last night, like we do most Saturday nights, and we were talking about faith and religion and being used by God. Our entire conversation was a very good one but it would be a really long blog post if I tried to summarize it all, however one part that I took from it that I would like to share is about being used by God. We were talking about how some people are more gifted at evangelism than others and how some people don't really feel comfortable 'leading' someone to Christ. This really got me to thinking because as much as I can be outgoing with my close friends I am really more of an introvert than some people would realize. I realized that I am one of those people who really don't think I am qualified to 'lead' another person to Christ. This is why I am really glad and blessed to know that God does the work and He may choose to use me in some way but that it is never on my merit that someone turns to faith in Christ.
It was also during this conversation when a quote that one of my professors at Prov has said numerous times (I believe it was Kara, and I believe that the quote is by Francis Assisi) "Preach the gospel and when necessary use words." This is a great quote and I think that it is something that we should live our lives by. I do not mean to say that we should not talk about our faith, however, what I do mean is that our faith should be seen in our actions and how we live our lives first and foremost. If this is the case it may open up a conversation that would otherwise be something that is difficult for an introvert such as myself to have about my faith with another person.
I believe this to be similar to what Jesus is saying in Matthew 7:15-20. "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them."