"I’m a student first!"

Campus ministers have heard the excuse a thousand times as they challenge Christian college students to invest their lives in evangelism, disciplemaking, and service to others. It’s a line young collegiates have been fed by well-meaning parents and counselors, who want them to guard their study time and succeed in school.
But the danger can come in betraying the Christian’s deepest identity and the calling that far surpasses that of a student, and every other.

To prepare you for heading back to campus as a Christian, this new two-minute video helps the Christian collegiate reckon with the most fundamental question of each new semester.
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(Video) ​Matt Reagan is an elder at Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, and a veteran campus minister. He serves as campus director for Campus Outreach Minneapolis at the University of Minnesota.

​Article by David Mathis
​Source: http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/you-re-not-a-student-first

A couple of years ago, a young man approached me after church to ask if I would mentor him. He is a rising star in a massive company, many years ahead of where he expected to be in his mid-20s, already identified as one of his company’s future leaders.
He told me, “My success is way ahead of my systems. If I don’t learn how to cope with all the things I need to do at work and everywhere else in life, I’m going to crash and burn.”
We began to meet for lunch every few weeks to address issues of productivity. It was a joy to see him grow in his understanding of who God calls him to be as an employee, as a husband, as a father, as a churchman and as so much else besides. And as I’ve observed this young man and many others, I’ve realized just how central productivity is to our role in the kingdom of God. 

The High Calling of Productivity
For some, the word “productivity” generates excitement and curiosity, while for others, it generates fear and despair. Regardless, words carry associations, and we tend to associate productivity with the boardroom, with the office, with the busy CEO driving the company car. But it’s a word we need to redeem, because productivity — at least, productivity at its highest and best — is for all of us.
God calls us all to be productive. You can be a productive student, a productive employee, a productive stay-at-home mom or even a productive retiree. If this is all true, there is an important implication: You can be an unproductive student, employee, stay-at-home mom and, yes, an unproductive retiree.
So how can you know that you’re living a productive life? You can begin by ensuring you understand what God says about productivity.

1. Learn the Value of Good Works
Here’s how the Bible calls us to be productive: “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16, ESV).
Do you see it? God calls every one of us to do good for others and, in that way, to bring glory to Him. That is His description of productivity. What an amazing thing! You and I get to bring glory to God every day simply by doing things that benefit others.

2. Learn to Define Productivity Well
Our functional understanding of productivity is that it involves getting lots of stuff done, checking off lots of tasks and completing lots of projects. But productivity is better than that.
True productivity is about getting the right and best stuff done. It is about knowing what God calls you to do in all of life and doing thosethings. The reason many people are not more productive is that they have defined it all wrong. At its highest, productivity is a matter of effectively stewarding your gifts, talents, time, energy and enthusiasm for the good of others and the glory of God.

3. Learn to Be Productive in All of Life
Productivity extends beyond the one task that takes up the greatest part of your time. If you are a college student, it is good to be a productive college student, but you also need to be a productive friend and church member. After all, God calls you to do good to others in these areas, too.
If you are a full-time employee, it is good to be productive in your job, but you also need to be productive in your relationships with your family members and neighbors. Why? Because productivity is doing good for others. It is living in such a way that you serve them. But it goes even further — it is about carefully organizing and structuring your life so you can do more good for them instead of less.

4. Learn to Plan
Productivity rarely just happens. Instead, it requires planning. It requires deliberately structuring your day, week and life in such a way that you are aiming at this great goal of doing good for others.
It requires considering each one of your God-given areas of responsibility and asking if you are doing good for others there and howyou can do more good for others there. Five minutes in the morning and half an hour on a Friday afternoon can work wonders in effectively planning and providing structure for your life.

5. Learn to Use Tools
Planning is important, but so are tools — in every area of life we are dependent upon them. The chef can’t be much better than his pots and utensils; the doctor can’t be much better than his scalpel; and the painter can’t be much better than his brush.

Our digital world has brought us some incredible tools to increase and strengthen our productivity. For example, Todoist is powerful at managing tasks; Evernote is an amazing tool for storing information;Google Calendar is a wonderful place to store your events and appointments. Train yourself to use productivity tools like these and to use them well.

That young man who asked me to be his mentor has applied many of these lessons to his life, and that’s part of the reason why he is succeeding — truly succeeding — for the kingdom of God. He learned the value of good works; he learned to define productivity well; he learned to emphasize the best kind of productivity; he learned to plan his life; and he learned to use excellent tools.
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That young man learned how to be a productive Christian in all of life, and God is calling you to do the same. 

by Tim Challies
Source: http://www.boundless.org/blog/5-things-millennials-need-to-learn-about-productivity-now/

Being mentored is a critical experience for aspiring leaders. Mentoring is not the same as discipling, pastoring, coaching, or counseling, although elements of each might be part of a mentoring relationship. According to Robert Clinton, a professor of leadership, mentoring is a relational experience in which one person empowers another by sharing God-given resources. The focus in these relationships is on increased capacity generated by the resources and the relationship shared.

Does mentoring sound like a complicated project to add to your already full schedule? If so, maybe that’s because you have bought into some unexamined myths.

Myth #1: Mentoring is a long commitment and will take a lot of time for my mentor and me over an extended season.

False. Good mentoring relationships start out with a commitment to connect regularly over a limited period of time. Meeting once a month for six months to learn a skill or grow in perspective can have a high impact.The best setup for a mentoring relationship is to identify a few clear goals for what you want to learn and make an agreement to meet regularly with a clearly stated end point. Mentors and mentees may decide to set up a new plan after the initial cycle.

Myth #2: I have to find a person as a mentor who is a perfect match with the potential to help me with every part of my life.

False. A mentor is someone who knows more than you do in a particular area and who is willing to invest a little bit of time to help you learn. Your mentor does not need to have the same personality or temperament, does not have to share all of your beliefs, and does not need to be an expert. Wise leaders often have more than one mentor at a time and have many over a lifetime. They don’t waste time looking for “perfect fits.”

Myth #3: My mentor needs to be older and wiser than me in most aspects of life.

False! A mentor could be a peer or even someone younger than you. Millennials are rocking the work world because they understand that they bring unique gifts to the table and they want to contribute early and often. Many are looking for mutual short-term mentoring relationships with elders and peers.  What do you have that you could exchange with a millennial mentor? Often there are ways to make mentoring relationships valuable for mentors and mentees. Peer mentoring (a short term mentoring relationship with a peer) is an increasingly popular practice.

One of my first mentoring relationships took place in a car on the way to and from meetings of a leadership team. I was a young leader on the team and often did not know how to react to the dynamics of the group. I observed a woman who was older than me who handled herself with remarkable calm and centeredness. When I started thinking about how I could participate more effectively, I decided to ask her to mentor me. We lived near each other, and I knew she was busy, so I asked her if I could ride with her and debrief from the meetings and learn from her on the way home. Over the next year of car rides, I learned a lot and most of it took very little extra time.
 
I have been mentored by moms, grandmothers, and people 20 years my junior. I have fruitfully mentored someone once a week, once a month, and once a semester. I have mentored others on leadership presence, running meetings, dealing with team dynamics, public speaking, career discernment, and more. Mentoring others has been one of the great delights of my life as a leader.
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Dive in! There is a lot to learn and so much to gain!

Source: http://collegiateministries.intervarsity.org/blog/debunking-myths-about-mentoring

Interested in being mentored or learning Christian mentorship? Click here to contact us.

“Can my faith survive college?”

Whether or not you’ve said this out loud, it’s a question a lot of future college freshmen are asking this month as they think about leaving home for the first time and stepping onto campus in a few short weeks. And there’s a good reason they’re asking—the university can be a tough place for your faith to survive.

In college, you’ll be out from under the protection of your parents and your youth group. Your belief in Jesus and what he says will be questioned, and maybe even mocked, by many different people—even some of your professors. All sorts of temptations will be right there in front of your face, and they’ll be considerably more intense than they were in high school. And you may experience loneliness and depression. Many college students do. In short, it’s going to be extremely difficult for your faith to survive your college years.

Not surviving. Thriving. 

But if you’re interested in your faith doing more than just surviving—if, say, you’re looking for a place where your faith can thrive—then the college campus is the place for you.

I’m speaking from personal experience here. I entered my freshman year as a nominal Christian; I was a good kid, I’d read some of my Bible and periodically followed what it said, I went to church most Sundays. But I quickly realized that I wasn’t going to last long as that kind of Christian in college. So I made some decisions early on that allowed Jesus to transform me, renew my campus through me, and change how I looked at the world around me. And I’ve never been the same. In fact, the best thing I ever did for my faith journey was to make the journey to, and through, college.

So let me suggest three ways you can allow your faith to thrive, instead of just survive, in the university world.

1. Make it your own.

I started college with a faith I’d inherited from my parents. While I’m forever grateful for their example, I realized about a week into my freshman year that for my relationship with Jesus to last, I had to make it mine, not theirs.

Actually, taking ownership happens with a lot of things those first couple months—how you treat money, what you choose to put into your body, how you treat other people who are different than you. This is natural; you’re getting your first real taste of independence. But you’ll find that the decisions you make during this time will influence the way you make decisions for the rest of your life. So make sure, if you’re serious about your faith, that you decide early and often to make Jesus a priority in your life. Not because anyone told you to, but because you want to. 

2. Find a family.

The thing that will shape your college experience the most—more than your major, more than the part-time job you get to pay your tuition, more than the all-you-can-eat dorm cafeteria threatening to pack 15 pounds onto your pre-freshman frame—is who you hang out with. In many ways you reinvent yourself during your college years, and who you become has a lot to do with who you spend time with, who influences you, and who you influence.

My college career—and my life—was altered for the extreme good when I got involved with a group of guys in InterVarsity Christian Fellowship my freshman year. Seek out InterVarsity (or any other solid, Bible-believing, outward-focused Christian organization) as soon as you step foot on campus, or even before. You won’t regret finding a new family that will challenge and support you in your walk with Christ.

3. Press into the hard times and mature.

College is hard (have I said it enough yet?). You’ll feel that strongly and often during this coming year. You may be tempted to hide or retreat or quit; lots of people do. But the difficulty of college is precisely why I believe your faith can thrive there.

James 1:2-4 says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” Hiding, retreating, or quitting may be less difficult, but they’re also ways of cheating yourself out of the real work God wants to do in you these next two to four (or more!) years. He wants to teach you to persevere, to mature, to thrive. So press into the difficult times (with your personal faith and new family alongside), and get ready for your faith to enter levels it never has before.

Don’t wait.

With those tips in mind, determine in your heart right now, before you step onto your campus this fall, that you’ll allow Jesus to deepen your relationship with him in college. That decision will forever change your freshman year, and the rest of your life.

What are you most nervous about as you think about your first year at college? How do these three tips address those fears?

Source: https://intervarsity.org/blog/your-faith-can%E2%80%99t-survive-college

“Hi, new friend!” The woman’s words, coming over the phone, caught me off guard and nearly brought tears to my eyes. Don’t get me wrong. I have some great friends who would do just about anything for me. But I was touched by the possibility of a new friend — a woman who shares my journey of having a son with special needs.
The emergence of a new friend does not in any way minimize the faithful friends who contribute to my life in significant ways (I’ve written about them here and here.) But the older I’ve gotten, the less I’ve felt a need to foster new relationships. Maybe you know what I mean. Your steady friends feel like enough, and it seems like it takes too much energy to make new ones.

Consider a few benefits of making new friends:

A new friend can offer fresh perspective. Maybe you just moved, started a new job or are experiencing a significant change in your life or circumstances. A new friend can provide a fresh perspective as you journey into a new season. Proverbs 27:17 (ESV) says, “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.” There are times in life where God may provide you a new “sharpener” in the form of a new friend. The woman I mentioned at the beginning of this post is helping me navigate services for my son. Her personal experience (and being a few steps ahead on this journey) allows her to offer me unique, much-needed encouragement and support.

A new friend may turn out to be your best friend. This has happened to me several times in my life. My best female friend was once a new friend. Similarly, seven years ago, my husband, Kevin, was a new friend. When you make friends with someone new, you never know how close of a friend he or she may become. If you close yourself off to new friendships, you may miss out.

A new friend can brighten up your life. There’s something really fun and exciting about making new friends. Think of the last time you discovered a kindred spirit or someone you just clicked with. There’s a rush of excitement and even giddiness that can come with discovering camaraderie with someone new. As C.S. Lewis wrote in The Four Loves, “Friendship is born at that moment when one man says to another: ‘What! You too? I thought that no one but myself… ’” Leaving room in your life for new relationships opens up opportunities for joy and greater connection.

My encounter with a new friend made me realize how lazy I’ve been when it comes to developing new relationships. That brings me to my final point: Be a new friend. That woman who greeted me with, “Hi, new friend!” will probably never know how much her words meant to me. But she was ready to offer her friendship to someone who needed it.
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As the old song goes, “Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver, the other is gold.” As the song suggests, both types of friends are valuable. So be faithful to your existing friends, but leave space in your life for new ones. You never know how valuable those relationships may prove to be.

Source: ​http://www.boundless.org/blog/3-benefits-of-making-new-friends/

• Alarm Clock Most students just use their phones as alarm clocks. But for those who need some extra help waking up for that 8:30 class, the Clocky Alarm Clock which rolls of your night stand when it goes off, forcing you to get out of bed to catch it, might be a smart purchase.
• Amazon Prime Membership College students get a free year of Amazon Prime (free 2 day shipping). Great for all purchases, especially textbooks.
• Athletic Gear Especially if you plan on playing a sport.
• Backpack A water-proof or water-resistant backpack can be a lifesaver when you have to carry your laptop, textbooks, notebooks, and papers to class in the pouring rain.
• Batteries Bring a small supply of AA or AAA batteries for when you need them.
• Bed Risers These can be a cheap way to get valuable extra storage space under your bed. But don’t put your bed up too high or it’ll be a workout every time you want to get in bed.
• Bicycle Not all students need a bicycle to get around campus, but for those who do, there are all sorts of inexpensive options. CraigsList can be an excellent way to get a nice bike at a low cost. Some colleges will also run used bike sales at the beginning of the year. No need to break the bank on this purchase.
• Binders Binders are a great way to keep your lecture notes, assignments, and readings together during the semester. An organized binder will make studying for midterms and finals a breeze.
• Bins In dorm rooms, every square inch of space counts. Make the most of the space under your bed by storing less frequently used items like a first aid kit, extra toiletries, and off-season clothes in bins.
• Blender While not a necessity, a blender can make some delicious weekend drinks that will likely be popular amongst your peers.
• Board Games Cards, Apples to Apples , Monopoly, and any other classic board game can supplement a great Saturday night.
• Bottle Opener If you’re 21 or over!
• Broom and Dustpan It’s hard to value the importance of sweeping a linoleum floor until you get out of bed and feel dirt and grime form a layer over the soles of your feet. You don’t have to sweep ever night or every week, but you’ll be grateful to have one on hand.
• Brush For those who need to brush their hair.
• Bulletin Board Some colleges provide them so check with your school before you buy one yourself.
• Calculator Even if you plan on never taking a math or science class, it will probably come in handy.
• Camera For those who enjoy taking fancy pictures. For others, a phone will suffice.
• Color Catcher For if you’re too lazy to separate your clothes in the washer.
• Clorox Wipes You wouldn’t believe how grateful you’ll be for these. At least one gross mess is inevitable in any dorm room.
• Coat A warm winter coat is a great investment for anyone going to school with a true winter.
• Coffee Maker For those who have serious caffeine addictions that cannot be satisfied by the dining hall. Check with  your colleges to make sure you’re allowed to have them in your rooms.
• Cough Medicine Nobody wants to run out to the pharmacy when they’re feeling like they were run over by a truck. Be prepared and have a stash ready for when you need it.
• Comforter A warm down comforter can be your best friend in the winter.
• Command Strips Many colleges don’t allow students to hang things from their walls. Command strips take care of this problem by making hooks that stick to the walls and leave no mark when you remove them.
• Computer Mac vs. PC? I don’t have the answer. But these days some laptop is essential for nearly all college students.
• Conditioner For those of us with longer hair.
• Condoms/Contraceptives If there is any possibility of being sexually active in college, you should make sure you have the supplies to protect yourself and your partner.
• Contacts etc. Buy contact solution in bulk before you get to school to save time and money.
• Cell Phone It’s virtually impossible for any adolescent to forget that.
• Cell Phone Charger This one can be the worst to forget.
• Cough Drops Again, a great thing to have on hand.
• Curtains While not a necessity they can add a decorative touch to a less inviting dorm room.
• Decorations They can make the difference between your room feeling comfortable and sterile.
• Deodorant You wouldn’t want to make a smelly first impression!
• Desk Lamp Check with your school to see if they are already provided.
• Desk Organizer Staplers, staples, paper clips, and thumbtacks can be very hard to come by in college. Keep a supply in your room so you won’t have to scramble.
• Dish Soap For washing plates and utensils when hand soap won’t suffice.
• Dressy Outfit Keep at least one on hand so you can be ready for a big event with only a moment’s notice.
• Dry-Erase Markers For that white board  you have on your door.
• Drying Rack This is more important than you’d think! Dryers (at least at Swarthmore) rarely work and are often occupied. A drying rack can save time, money, and the environment.
• Duct Tape A college student’s solution to everything. They’ve got stylish patterns too!
• Dustbuster Great for a carpeted dorm room.
• DVDs Though streaming is making these discs more and more obsolete.
• Erasers A school necessity.
• Fan A lifesaver for dorms without air conditioning. This one even has a thermostat.
• Favorite Books Only bring one or two. If you have a long list of favorites they’ll take up a lot of room and you won’t have time to even look at them during the semester.
• Feminine Products A year’s supply will save you from the hassle of having to keep running to the drug store.
• Files and File Holder Now that you’re in college you have to keep track of important documents like bank statements, some bills, passports, licenses, certificates, and more. Keep them safe and organized in files.
• First Aid Kit You can buy a prepackaged one or you can make your own. Either way it will save you (and your friends) more times than you can imagine.
• Foil To wrap up stolen dining hall food.
• Flash Cards Though the online variety is free and good for the environment.
• Flashlight For when the power goes out.
• Floor Lamp Good for bringing extra light into the room.
• Floss For the dentists’ favorites.
• Folders If you use them.
• Folding Chairs For if you go to a school with lots of tailgating.
• Food It’s critical to keep some non-perishable snacks like trail-mix, dried fruit, and cereal in your room in case of emergencies.
• Frisbee A necessity at a liberal arts college (okay well not really).
• Garbage Bags These make taking the trash out much less disgusting.
• Goggles If you want to swim laps in the pool.
• Gloves The long walks to class on chilly mornings can be painful otherwise. I recommend a waterproof and cloth pair the first of which is excellent for making snowballs to pelt at your roommate.
• Granola Bars They can be a great fast snack to have when you can’t make it to the dining hall.
• Hair Dryer Or you could save the earth and air dry!
• Hair Ties For those of us with long hair.
• Hairspray If you need it.
• Hammer Can be useful if your dorm furniture gives you trouble.
• Hangers You’ll always need more than you think.
• Headphones Critical to tuning out a roommate or enjoying late night TV on your laptop.Noise-cancelling headphones are ideal, albeit pricey.
• Highlighters Great for an easier time reviewing for finals.
• Hooks Trust me, if you hang your towel over your bed post, it will constantly fall on the floor. An over the door towel hook keeps your towels dry and clean.
• Ink If you have a printer in your room.
• Insurance Cards Very important in case of emergency!
• iPod For those workouts you’ll be sure to keep up with.
• Jewelry If you wear it.
• Jewelry Rack To save all those chains from tangling.
• Laptop Case You don’t spend hundreds (or thousands) of dollars on a computer only to let it break. Spend the extra $15 or $20 on a protective case.
• Laundry Basket The collapsible kind is ideal for a dorm room with limited space.
• Laundry Detergent Check to see if your dorm washers require regular or high efficiency detergent.
• Lip Balm Wouldn’t want to have chapped lips.
• Lint-Roller Or you could be lazy and use scotch tape.
• Make-Up For those who like to actually get ready before they leave the dorm.
• Mattress Pad College mattresses can be old and uncomfortable. A mattress pad can buy you a few more valuable hours of shut-eye.
• Medication Be sure to find a nearby pharmacy for convenient refills. Many colleges have arrangements that allow you to get your prescriptions delivered.
• Microwave It can be a godsend for those late night study sessions. But check with your college to see if they’re allowed. Many dorms will have microwaves already available for student use.
• Minifridge Perfect for keeping a little milk or your Chinese takeout. Minifridges can range from your bare-bones variety to those with completely separate freezers. Work with your roommate to decide who will bring it.
• Mirror Many dorm rooms already have them, but if you don’t a cheap full-length mirror can save you from having to make constant trips to the bathroom.
• Mouthwash If you use it.
• Mugs For bringing coffee or tea to that 8:30 class.
• Multi-Vitamins Good for those who aren’t keeping the most balanced diet in the dining hall.
• Musical Instrument If you plan on playing one in college.
• Nail Clippers, Nail File Just be sure not to leave the clippings around your room. That’s a sure way to get any roommate annoyed.
• Nail Polish If you use it.
• Notebooks If you prefer to write instead of type.
• Pain Reliever Again, this will definitely come in handy.
• Pants Unless you have some sort of moral opposition.
• Paper Towels More and more colleges aren’t providing them in bathrooms to be eco-friendly. Keeping a small supply in your room can help with little messes and spills.
• Passport Many colleges require students with on campus jobs to provide their passport. Keep this in a safe place!
• Pencils Mechanical or traditional.
• Pencil Sharpener A little handheld one will do.
• Pens You don’t want to always have to steal from your roommate.
• Pictures Hang them on your walls. They’ll be sure to brighten your day when you’re feeling down.
• Pillows The comfy ones can make studying a little more bearable.
• Popcorn A great late night study snack.
• Post-Its Great for all the different things you have to keep track of in school.
• Posters Everyone’s got to have at least one ridiculous band poster hanging up.
• Pitcher Brita pitchers can make water fountain water a little more tolerable for persnickety students.
• Power Strip This is critical! Most dorm rooms have a very limited supply of outlets and even they are often in the least convenient places.
• Printer Some schools will charge per page. A printer could save you money depending on where you go to school.
• Quarters For if your college doesn’t let you use a card to pay. Bring at least $30 in quarters for the semester.
• Q-Tips They have multiple uses.
• Raincoat Fashionable ones do exist (but they might break the bank)!
• Ramen Noodles You must fulfill the college student stereotype! Ichiban is my favorite variety.
• Razor With extra razors or blades for during the year.
• Religious Texts If you’re not comfortable using the internet versions.
• Robe For that awkward walk from the shower to your room.
• Rug Helps brighten a dorm room and keep dirt out.
• Safe To lock up important documents and valuables.
• Scissors Not just for arts and crafts.
• Screwdriver Good for taking care of dorm furniture issues.
• Sewing Kit For fixing that button.
• Shampoo Again, having a backup supply will save you time.
• Sharpies For those t-shirt parties.
• Sheets Get at least two sets. Be sure to check what size your mattress calls for.
• Shirts T-shirts, button down shirts, long sleeves, short sleeves, tank tops, tube tops, and anything else.
• Shoes Sneakers, flip flops, dress shoes, and rain boots. These are the basic necessities. More pairs are obviously an option.
• Shoe Rack You don’t want to trip and fall flat on your face in the middle of the night.
• Shorts Unless there is a religious opposition.
• Shower Caddy One with holes in the bottom will prevent gross mold growth.
• Shower Shoes (AKA Flip Flops) You can catch all sorts of diseases in the shower.
• Sled Though not a necessity (and a huge space occupier), a sled will make you extra popular on snow days.
• Snow Boots They can be really stylish and save your feet in the snowy weather.
• Soap Because who wants to smell?
• Socks Bring a lot because the washer will inevitably eat many of them.
• Sunglasses Again, these have multiple uses.
• Sunscreen Protect yourself from Melanoma!
• Swiffer A miracle for cleaning your disgusting linoleum floor.
• Swim Suit For swimming or a good game of beach volleyball.
• Tape You’ll use it (and everyone else will steal it).
• Teabags, Tea Infuser, Etc. If you’d like to be a hipster.
• Thermometer For when you’re too sick to trudge across campus to the health center.
• Three-Hole Punch I swear these are impossible to come by on college campuses.
• Toothbrush Self-explanatory.
• Toothpaste Also self-explanatory (hopefully).
• Towels Monogramming can make them more difficult to steal.
• Trash Can Can For fire safety reasons, a metal trash can is a good purchase.
• Tweezers For anywhere…
• Umbrella Pick up dates on rainy days.
• Underwear This is not optional.
• Wallet Don’t lose it.
• Washcloth Again, to prevent smelling.
• Water Bottles Reusable ones to be eco friendly.
• Webcam For Skyping your friends from high school. They can cost as little as a few dollars or up to several hundred.
• White Board For your door. Write hilarious messages to win bonus points.
• White Out Liquid or tape.

Article Source: The Collegiate Blog
http://www.thecollegiateblog.org/ultimate-dorm-packing-list/

We are moving quickly into a day when life is real only as it's captured on social media. A milestone is not momentous unless a picture is posted on Instagram, a life circumstance is not fully experienced until it is discussed on Facebook, and an event isn't fun or meaningful unless it has a cute hashtag. We read 140-character philosophies or follow links to blog posts and articles, but how often do we—do I—evaluate what is said rather than consider how it might actually apply to the deep recesses of my heart?

I recognized how much life is moving onto social media when, on a recent morning, I read about the Good Samaritan and my first thought was, "I wonder if a modern-day Good Samaritan would help the beaten-up guy if the beaten-up guy wasn't on Twitter and, therefore, couldn't tweet about the good deed of the Good Samaritan? Would he only do it for the retweet?" 

Which led me to consider what Jesus might say about social media. Like most things, social media is a fairly neutral medium, but it's a medium that reveals our hearts so accurately. Social media has been a considerable gift to me in that it's helped me stay connected with friends, follow great writers and hopefully encourage others through my blog. But it's also been a source of discontentment, pride, comparison and envy; it's revealed my heart. Above all, it's shown me how difficult it is to remember that life is what happens off of the screen, not on it. 
What might Jesus say to us specifically about how we relate to social media? Perhaps this:

1. But when you do a charitable deed, do not let the hand you hold your smartphone with know what your other hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.

2. But when you text, let your "yes" be "yes" and your "no," "no."

3. No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and social media.

4. Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your blog, what you will write about or who will read it. Is not life more than the comments you receive on your blog? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

5. Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you on Facebook, do also to them.

6. A good Twitter feed cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad feed bear good fruit. Therefore, by their feeds you will know them.

7. I say to you that for every idle word men may tweet, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.

8. These people draw near to Me with their Pinterest quotes and honor Me with their Instagram pictures, but their heart is far from Me.

9. If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains millions of followers, and loses his own soul?

10. Whoever desires to be great among you, let him use his online presence to be your servant.

11. O Jerusalem! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under wings, but you were not willing because you were distracted by your phone!

12. The thief does not come except to steal joy by drawing you to live life only online and kill you with comparison. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. 

He for sure says this: "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light" (Matthew 11:29-30).

God uses the Internet, no doubt, but the Internet can also be a wearying place for the heart. It doesn't always place an easy yoke and a light burden upon us. So perhaps it would be good for today to be still instead of swiping, read wisdom in Scripture instead of typing on little screens, listen to the Spirit rather than finding another blog to follow. We don't need another DIY treasure, we need Christ, "in whom is hidden all treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Colossians 2:3). 

Today, I challenge you to still yourself before Him, resist distraction and dive deep into that treasure. Give your heart a break from what can quietly weary you, and go to the One who can truly recharge you.

That's where I'll be today. I hope you'll join me.

Credits & Source: http://bit.ly/1v766QD

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