I Love Aggies! How Much Proof Do You Need?
Posted by Laura on Aug 30, 2011 in Friends | 15 comments
(Featured Image: Luigi Diamante)
I’ll be brief today because you’re all too busy to read long blogs right now. If you need a little encouragement in your life…if you wonder if anyone else out there is trying to do the right thing and following God…take a look at the picture below. What do you think this is? A sold-out sporting event at a major college arena? Some amazing band’s tour pics?
from Breakaway Ministries - August 29, 2011 in Reed Arena, Texas A&M University
Actually, this is a picture from Breakaway Ministries’ first meeting for the 2011 fall semester at Texas A&M University. You’re looking at almost 10,000 college students who chose to fellowship with other Christians last night (the first night of the semester).
They could’ve been anywhere, these 10,000 young people, but they chose to be at Reed Arena encouraging each other in faith.
A little context—I graduated from a Christian university where daily chapel attendance was required and we never, NEVER, had students in these numbers who were consistently happy to be there. This thing happening at Texas A&M blows me away because of the sheer number of students who gladly search for non-existent parking and wait in long lines to enter and help each other find seats in an enormous arena and put the stress and anxiety of classwork on hold to WORSHIP GOD.
The cynics would ask, “Why are all the Aggies gladly drinking the kool-aid?” But I dare those cynics to attend one—just one—Breakaway event. These kids know what they’re doing. They know who they are. They know whom they serve and they’ve made an informed decision to be followers of a better way. By the thousands, they are coming together and taking a stand.
News is bad all over right now. The older generation complains about teens and young adults just like they always have. I don’t, though. Because I’m living in a town full of young adults who do things like Breakaway every week.
Aggies gathering for The Big Event community service project
And then there are the nearly 16,000 Aggies who organize the nation’s largest one-day, student-run service project every year called The Big Event. And it gets better.
My dear friends are starting a new organization, which is really just putting a name to the way they want to live, called Live Beyond. These Aggie guys are tapping into the boundless energy of college kids and challenging them to make choices that push for global changes. They’re asking their friends to take on odd jobs, pool extra cash, and buy water tanks for villages without fresh water in Africa. They aren’t doing this to pad their resumes or make sure they get a golden internship. They are doing this because of who they are at their core and they’re tired of bad news. They’re being the change that Ghandi talked about.
For those of you who are juniors and seniors in high school, looking for where to attend university, I encourage you to look for a place that offers you more than a degree. Look for a place that supports your growing faith. Look for a place where like-minded young adults are making a difference.
Texas A&M is incredible but it’s not alone in its values. (Although, girls, the guys here are just better looking than anywhere else and nowhere else will you find better manners.)
Be encouraged. You are not alone in this world. You are loved, cherished, and prayed for.
(Featured Image “Cross in Hands” by Luigi Diamanti – freedigitalphotos.net)
15 Comments
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Awesome! Thanks for the inspiration for the day!
My pleasure, truly! You and I have some inspiration in common…
Great thoughts for today!
Thanks, Milayna!
Linked from Amy’s blog. Great post about good things going on in our world. We need to hear about that. There is a godly faith and positive spirit among many of the people that we need to tap into today. Thanks for posting.
Warren
Family Fountain
Thanks so much, Warren! There is a great deal of good going on in this world. Wish we could tell all the stories, don’t you?
Oh Laura – you know this one is near and dear to my heart! I went to a Casting Crowns concert last year at Reed Arena and I was absolutely amazed by the number of college students there and their open and unabashed worship of their Lord. These kids are so excited – they just MIGHT change the world.
They just might, indeed. Hope I’m around to see it!
Laura, I love your blog and love your post about Breakaway. John and I have enjoyed attending several Breakaway meetings and have always comes away blessed. Thanks for encouraging our young people.
Laura, Thanks for reading! Glad you and John get to go to Breakaway often!
This is amazing. It really shows that not all Young Adults are like what they show on TV or in Magazines. I hope to have a faith like these guys and girls one day.
Sydney – You have a faith like these guys and girls! Just keep it up! It would be fun to have you in college here one day. Think about it…
Aw! Thank you Laura! You are too sweet! Hah, do they have a marine biology course?
I’ll think about it. 
Absolutely love it! Miss it just a little bit too!
It misses you, too. But it’ll be here when you return!