You Belong Here (At UNC)

I expected to leave my first two classes feeling overwhelmed. 

Instead, I left feeling encouraged. 

 

One professor said:

 

“You belong here. 

You’re not here by chance. 

You can succeed. 

Very smart people looked at your application and saw you at the finish line. It’s not going to be easy. 

But you can do this. 

We want to challenge you. 

We don’t want to frustrate you.”

 

The other professor said:

 

“Right now, we’re in the space of the not knowing.

In three years, we’ll be in the knowing.

The time in between is in the learning.”

 

As someone who thrives on words of affirmation, 

I heard their words and took them to heart. 

They were exactly what I needed and they let me know that, 

Yes, this is going to be hard, but

Yes, I can do it. 

 

I’m teaching a small group study on the five love languages for three Sunday nights.

Last Sunday, we learned about the five love languages. 

This Sunday, we are going to learned about how Jesus lives out the languages in his life. 

And he did. 

He spoke words of affirmation. 

He spent quality time. 

He gave gifts. 

He performed acts of service.

And he offered physical touch. 

 

Therefore, when we do any of these,

We are following the example of Love himself. 

 

I don’t know the religious persuasion of my professors. 

I have no idea if they feel a call to live love. 

Yet for me, this week,

Their words of affirmation,

Though general they may have been, 

Were a little piece of love that I needed to hear. 

 

And for that, 

I am grateful. 

(Especially now that I’ve started my homework and my brain already hurts from quantitative analysis!)

 

Amen.