Life, not-quite-near-death experiences, and choices

The way I see it, I had two choices when I began this new semester.
I could do things the way I had always done them, or I could take my life experiences and learn from them.

Let me back things up just a bit.

Just over two weeks ago, I was in a car accident.
I'll spare the specific details, but the car I was driving ended up with badly dented-in passenger side and stopped less than a yard from hitting a tree head-on.
I sincerely thank God for car brakes that work.

I found myself at the E.R. a little bit later in a lot of pain, having (as I later found out) badly knocked my spine and pelvis out of alignment.

I remember lying on a hospital bed in super-attractive hospital gowns having a tearful conversation with my mom about how I could have died. She took that opportunity to point out that God had watched out for me and wanted me alive.

I'm choosing to believe that I'm here for a reason. Growing up, I always heard that God had a purpose for my life. When I got older, I began to believe that for myself. Though I'm still figuring out the details of how I'm going to spend my life, I know it is not for nothing.

As I am writing this, I have ice packs perched on my back and my neck to help with the pain I'm still fighting. But I am blessed. I am blessed because I can breathe, walk, and write this post. I am blessed because I'm alive.

Back to the part about choices... How does a person who realizes they're blessed to be alive act? Do they continually moan about some pain-in-the-neck (literal or figurative)? Not sure about that one yet. However, I do know this: They live like they know that their life is not necessarily theirs. It's like life is an awesome but super-fragile gift that can be knocked off the proverbial shelf at any moment.

Life is an exquisite gift that was given to every one of us. Still, viewing it that way is a choice. I can choose to live like I have something worth living for or live just to survive another year (or 80) on this Earth. I can be passionate or passionless. I can love or hate whatever comes my way.

The point is that we all have a choice to make.

So... What's yours going to be?

"What I did this summer"

The stereotypical back-to-school question a student receives is this: What did you do this summer?

As I am attending the first classes of my senior year at Lee University, I’m fully expecting to be asked that question at least 900 more times than I already have.

The answer to said question brings to mind both happy and frustrating experiences at the same time.

Here’s a quick list of what I did in case you’re wondering:

• Went on a university trip to Germany and Austria for two weeks
• Took my first law class ever—Media Law
• Got involved with a new small group Bible study led by a couple of friends through their church
• Enjoyed some free time doing everything from reading to researching grad schools
• Spent copious amounts of time job hunting in a country where 9.1 percent of us are unemployed
• Had lots of pleasant (and quite unpleasant) things happen along the way
• Learned the value of patience in various areas of my life

There’s this cheesy commercial on TV right now with pieces of cereal dressed in party hats and the like exclaiming “Happy School Year!” as a group of children is going back to school. As groan-inducing as it was, the ad got me thinking. Starting a new school year DOES have a lot in common with starting a new calendar year.

The biggest similarity? The feeling of being faced with a chance for new beginnings. Every new semester is a chance to begin again. For that matter, so is every day. The Bible says God makes everything new. The things that have happened in the past shape the way you view the world. However, it doesn’t have to shape who you are.

I’m claiming this semester as a new beginning because I don’t want to be discouraged by past failures or cocky because of past successes. Something tells me it’s time to move on. “Happy school year” indeed. :-)