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[WW] Change of Plans · The Wesley Word

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Wesley Wear.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_01: Hey everyone.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_01: I think I know most of y'all, but if we haven't met yet, my name is Julia, also known as Stinky, which is a nickname given to me by our old ACM.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_01: And when he nicknamed when he nicknamed me that, he told me that his hope was that when I'm a senior giving my perspective, everyone would be ready for Stinky's perspective, not Julia's.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_01: But I don't know if he accomplished that, but the nickname did manage to stick for four years.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_01: So I think we can give him some credit there.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_01: I'm a senior graduating in May, but that's really sad, so we're not gonna talk about it.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_01: And next year I will be going to Presbyterian College for PA school, which I'm super excited about.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_01: And thanks guys.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_01: Today I just wanted to talk to y'all about a few things I've learned since coming to college and how that has kind of shaped my journey and my time at Clemson.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_01: So this starts before I even got to Clemson as someone who was bound and determined to go anywhere but Clemson.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_01: I grew up in a Clemson family and I felt like Clemson was kind of where I was supposed to go.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_01: But being stubborn and in like high school, I was determined to pave my own way and make a decision because I wanted to, not because it was what everyone else wanted me to do.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_01: And then that came crashing down when I got waitlisted by my top choice school, and then was also coming to the realization that if I was going to go to PT school after graduation, which was the plan at the time, I would need to save the debt while I still could.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_01: Now, here I am at Clemson and not going to PT school.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_01: So I think my plans changed along the way, but that's okay.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_01: Now, the second time things changed when I decided not to go to PT school was my sophomore year.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_01: I had a great freshman year.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_01: I was like super happy that I ended up here, realizing that everything was okay.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_01: And then suddenly it wasn't again when I started working in a PT clinic and realized that I hated it there, and that was something that I couldn't see myself doing.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_01: I dreaded going in there.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, well, now what do I do?
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_01: From the time I was four years old until this point, when anyone asked me what I was gonna do, I was confident that it was physical therapy, and now it wasn't.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_01: So it's kind of like a well, what do I do now?
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_01: And that's when I really started to get more plugged into Wesley.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_01: I started to make some really strong connections that I was leaning on and calling my mom every single day to talk to her about it because I really had no idea what was going on.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_01: But I find that this verse really sums up and brings a lot of comfort to those kinds of times.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_01: And Proverbs 19, 21 says, Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it's the purpose of the Lord that will stand.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_01: And this kind of sums up exactly what I was going through, where I had all of these plans and everything that I thought was where my life was supposed to go, all planned out from probably age 15, honestly.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, I'm gonna do this, and then I'm gonna do this, and now here I am, and none of that is the case.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_01: So it just can bring comfort to, I'm sure we've all experienced a time where something that we are super looking forward to or that we were sure was where we were supposed to go, or where we thought we were supposed to go, didn't come true.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_01: But God knows our hearts and God has things in store for us more than we could even imagine.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_01: So I know it's easy for me to stand up here as someone who has a grad school to go to and feels happy about their path and tell you this, but I really wish that someone would have told me this my freshman year, my sophomore year, when everything was kind of unraveling in my eyes.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_01: And I think it's important to understand that even when we think our plans are failing, that's not always the case.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_01: It kind of you have to stumble before you learn to walk, and it takes time to get where you're really meant to be.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_01: God knows our hearts, and college is full of doubt and uncertainty, but faith in the people around us are what can keep us going through these hard times and get us through when we don't know where exactly is next.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_01: So I think it's important to enjoy where you are and not always be worrying about what's coming next.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_01: And what I have found along the way is just like taking a deep breath and pausing and realizing how lucky we are and how happy we were, like in the now, is the way to get through all of this uncertainty and all of this scary doubt that comes with college.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_01: Matthew 6, 25 through 34 is the words of Jesus Himself, and it tells us, therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_01: Is not life more than food and the body more than clothes?
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_01: Look at the birds of the air.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_01: They do not sow or reap or sow away in barns, yet your heavenly father feeds them.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_01: Are you not much more valuable than they?
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_01: Can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_01: And why do you worry about clothes?
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_01: See how the flowers of the fields grow?
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_01: They do not labor or spin.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yet I tell you that even Solomon, in all his splendor, was dressed like one of these.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_01: If that is how God closes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, you have little faith?
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_01: So do not worry, saying, What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear?
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_01: For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly father knows that you need them, but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_01: Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_01: Each day has enough trouble of its own.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_01: And this passage to me just tells you that some things aren't worth worrying about, right?
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_01: Like, there's so many decisions around college, like, what club should I join?
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_01: Is this major okay?
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_01: Should I change my major?
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_01: Should I add a minor?
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_01: Should I do this?
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_01: Should I do that?
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_01: But when we're wrapped up in the worry of every single little detail, we lose sight of where we are now and how much we're loved by the people around us and by God, and really how lucky we are to be where we are now.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_01: I especially like the last verse of this passage, which says, therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_01: Each day has enough trouble of its own.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_01: And this is coming from someone who has a countdown on her phone at all times for whatever I'm most excited about coming up.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_01: And like I said, who had my life planned out at 15 and still kind of do have a ton of plans.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_01: But I think each day has enough worry of its own, but each day also has so much joy of its own that we lose out on when we're just focused on what's next and things that might not matter in the grand scheme of things.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_01: And Jesus also says in this worrying won't add a single hour to your life.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_01: Worrying isn't gonna help you, it's just gonna distract you from how amazing things are around you and how lucky you are to be here.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_01: Every day, wait, I already said that, sorry guys.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_01: And I know again, this is way easier than said than done.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_01: And as someone who has been through all of this already and is standing up here, it's easy for me to talk about it, and sometimes it's harder to actually practice it.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_01: But enjoying where you are versus where you're going is a super hard thing to do, right?
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_01: Because college is a huge crossroads.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_01: We're all thinking about what we're gonna do after, whether it's a job, whether it's grad school, whether it's like an internship, whatever it is, it's hard to not get wrapped up in that.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_01: But leaning on the people around you and loving them is what I have found the best way to get through all of this craziness and uncertainty.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_01: Lean on your community and love on your people.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_01: Find the things and the people that fill you up and invest in them.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_01: Like with your faith, focus on like spending intentional time with God.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_01: Sorry guys, lost my words there.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_01: But spending intentional time with God and finding little times in your day that you can put into your faith and keeping you grounded in what really the purpose is of life.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_01: So, one thing that I love to do is when I'm driving by myself, at every single stoplight, you just, every like red light you're stopped at, say a prayer until the light turns green.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_01: And then the next time the light turns red and you're stopped there, do it again.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_01: That's something I learned in high school, but and I incorporate that in different ways now.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_01: But that's an easy way to get started in finding that time in your day when it feels like you don't have any.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_01: And then also pour into the people you love and spend time with them.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_01: Enjoy your community.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_01: Community is something that is so important that we often take for granted.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_01: Invite an old friend to get a coffee or go on a gig a walk with one of your best friends looking at Bella.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_01: And invite someone to sit with you at dinner.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_01: Just invest in your community because that's the people that will be there for you when you feel like your life is falling apart.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_01: And this is coming from me, who I grew up in a pretty like close-knit church community.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_01: And then as I got to middle school, early high school, I realized that it wasn't even a community for me anymore.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_01: It was pretty toxic.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't feel loved or valued by the people there, and that was really hard coming growing up through there.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_01: But it pushed me to find a new community.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_01: And I met friends at school and they invited me to go to the Yarry Youth Group, and then that youth group is where I really found out what a true Christ-like community was of people that are there for you to support you no matter what.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_01: And I knew that was something I needed to find in college, which I have found in Wesley, and I could not be more grateful for.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_01: But community is something that is so important and it helps you enjoy the small things, it helps keep you grounded and be the rock to stand on when it feels like everything around you is washed away.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_01: But I say all this because 10 years from now, when we're all gone from Clemson and we're looking back on our college days, we're not gonna think, man, I really wish I would have joined that club.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_01: Or, man, like if I got into the Honor Society, everything would have been great.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_01: Like that would have solved all my problems.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_01: You're gonna look back and you're gonna see how incredible your time was here and how lucky you were to know all the people around you and to be a part of such a great community, and you're gonna be grateful for your time spent there.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: The Wesley Word is a production of the Clemson Wesley Foundation.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: For more information about Clemson Wesley, check out our website or follow us on Facebook and Instagram.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, get out there and love your neighbor.