By Francesca Santelli
One thing I love to do is work on projects. When I was offered a spot working on the online Lent Retreat this year with my good friends Lauren and Solana, I couldn’t help but feel overjoyed that I was getting involved in my first major project at CCM. We started off by brainstorming in Joshua’s office. After sitting down a few times, we chose songs, videos, and devotionals that inspired each of us on our daily walk with Christ. We decided to make this retreat online through Facebook because we know that college life can get super busy, and that could become a burden to students that live off-campus as well. By doing the retreat online, we are able to engage with everyone whenever we need, and it is much easier for the retreat members to reach out to us whenever they would like to! For me, this task was not only fun but also made me reflect alone in my room and think of my own journey with Christ. I thought about what has helped me grow closer to him over the years.
Some of my favorite posts we put together have been the interactive posts that Solana past posted. These posts said things like “how is everyone doing with their Lenten promises? Comment with an emoji or GIF describing your lent so far.” I also really enjoy watching the YouTube videos we include attached to each post. One of my favorites was the YouTube video by Sadie Robertson titled “A message to my fellow college-age friends.” In this video, Sadie talks about the ups, downs, and overall challenges that college students face when they choose to follow the path that God wants them to follow. She talks about how to stay on that path while being in school. My favorite quote from the video is when she says “what passion does is passion fuels you, it gives you the fuel to press past your fear in order to fulfill the purpose that God has called you to.” This quote is not only inspirational to face my fears that come along with college, but it has helped motivate me during this Lenten season to face my fears head-on to grow in my relationship with Christ.
This lent has helped me grow by being able to know when it is okay to focus on myself, and know when it is okay to say no to things that I would normally go along with. This season in my life as a first-year college student has definitely been a challenge when it comes to living out my faith proudly, but in my heart and soul, I know that Jesus has my back and will forever shine his light on me. I will always find my way back to the path that he has created for me.
This Lenten season came to a close quite quickly, but just because this time is over does not mean that you cannot continuously reach out to God, and pursue a greater relationship with him. I encourage all of you to take up your cross with your daily burdens, no matter what they may be. Invite Jesus in your walk through life, no matter where you are on your faith journey.
