Change of Seasons

              The season changed just recently from hot summer to cool fall, bringing with it a change of clothes, going from shorts to shawls and from tank tops to trench coats.  Babies grow up, trees lose their leaves, and the President only has two terms; change happens.  Seemingly while I have had my back turned, I have changed, affected by college despite my belief that I grew up already.  Only a month has gone by, and already I feel more independent, act less self-conscience, and fill out my clothes much better.  After seventy seasonal changes, this fall brings the biggest change of my eight-teen year old life as of yet.

                At first it was difficult to tell what that change was, eluding my attempts to grasp what about my personality was different.  Examining the possibilities, I found that independence was top of the list for new changes this fall, followed by less self-consciousness and a thicker frame.  Yet, despite the forty-five minute drive separating my parents and me, I realized that independence changes mainly circumstances and not my personality.  Moreover, my loss of self-consciousness stemmed from meeting other weird college students, finding camaraderie in abundance, and filling out resulted from café food.  So, what change registered with my subconscious?  With some prayerful consideration and scripture reading, God revealed the answer.

                As a matter of fact, only God could show me the change; the change was my relationship with Him, blossoming into the full flower of personal faith.  Up until this fall, my faith linked directly to my families faith, and although my heart and head knew my savior, I did not own my faith, not knowing whether it belonged to me as my personal property or as communal property within my family.  At college I found out for sure that I am my savior’s and He is mine.

                This concept of ownership leads to my independence, low self-consciousness, and possibly to my better physique.  I firmly believe that if I get nothing more than independence of faith out of college, than all my collegiate endeavors will have been worthwhile.   The quote from Steven Wright that, “Change is inevitable, except from vending machines,” rings home for many of life’s experiences.  It especially remains true for college.