On Friday I have the privilege of again speaking to students at my Alma Mater, Mount Vernon Nazarene University. This is the forth time I have accepted the invitation since graduating in (*cough) 1992 (*cough). I have had to decline the invitation the past few years due to other commitments. Considering the kind of student that I was and the way I handled my college years, it is more “shock and awe” that I even get the invite. It also occured to me this morning that some of these students were born the year I graduated. Wow…

So what would you tell them? What would you stand in front of these students with their entire life in front of them and say?

Would you tell them of your success?

Would you tell them of your regret?

Would you go through your list like I did in THIS POST?

Would you try to be hip, cool, relevant and “one of them”?

Would you set the bar higher as if you had made some huge success of yourself?

These are just some of the questions that ran through my mind as I prepared for this day. The truth is that no sooner had I opened the invitation, then God spoke into my heart four simple words…

“Be Obedient, Be Available”.

These are the same words that a trusted friend spoke into my life when my family and I were facing a season of change. We were in the midst of a very confusing and stressful decision process and those four words meant so much to me. They still do. It was a time of laying our Isaac on the altar and trusting that God knew greater than we did. We learned so much through that journey. I don’t know that I’ll be able to bring it justice through my words, but it is my prayer that God can speak through me. He gave me the words. He gave us the journey. I just need to be obedient and available.

Your Turn: What would you tell them?

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