Stretched by the love of Jesus

I have been at Mount Vernon for a little over 2 months now and am shocked at who I am now and who I am becoming. It is interesting to look at who I was when I arrived at college and who I am now. When I first came I did not feel as though that I needed that much growth, I had thought everything was OK. I came to Mount Vernon knowing only a select few people but none of whom, I was very close with at the time. I was forced to meet new people, taken out of my comfort zone. I am a very extroverted person, but God showed me something inside myself that was ugly. Back home, I would almost pride myself in the way I loved people. A number of reasons for this, I was in my comfort zone, I knew all the same people so I was never really stretched, and also Jesus had allot to do with that. I noticed a bit of jealousy towards people back home but that was about the extent of it. I came to the Mount and faced with new people. Some pretty awesome people, but also some people that just get to me. People that annoy me and just find a way to get to me. The way I would talk to these people, I would try to show love, but often times I was doing my best not to say anything that would hurt them. I would do my best not to silently judge them in my head. I would try and pray in my head, but it seems all I could think about was their negative attributes. God was showing me something in my quiet times with Him. Point blank, I am not perfect and I do not have it all together who am I? I realized that God looks past all the flaws in me, the imperfections, the junk, the things that annoy Him, my personality corks, and looks on me with love. Looking at my heart and who I am, and who I am becoming. As my mentor told me "Maybe God is stretching you." Placing people in my life where I just can't love on my own strength but I myself have to be reminded, and renewed daily with the love of Jesus. Jesus, was showing me to look past the bad in people, and look at the good, love them by looking past the outside and looking inward. If Jesus, has any significance and ruling in my life, I will offer that same love, grace, and mercy that was shown to me. Since God's revealing of this to me and facing this head on with the strength and transforming love, grace, and mercy of Jesus, I have been able to do this. I have been able to love and to look to the heart and show them the love of Jesus. My prayer is that God continues his transforming work of grace, mercy, love in my life, so that I may give that same love, grace, mercy to the people I come into contact with everyday. That everyone I come into contact with sense, feel, and see Jesus at work in my life. This journey is merely only beginning, I am excited for what God has in store for me.