I’ll be blunt. I did not want to spend three years in Waco.
As with many things in my life I saw my time at seminary as a stepping stone to
get to the next goal. In my case, overseas somewhere sharing the Gospel and
helping meet local needs whatever those might be. I trace this negativity back
to an A&M vs. Baylor football game with an Old Ag…apparently there is some
DEEP rivalry here…mostly one sided from the best I can tell…but let’s just say
it mirrors our attitude toward “T.U.” and just like most longhorns don’t really
give much thought to Aggies…neither do we toward Baylor, but they certainly
think about us. [I feel it is important to point out here that we won that game.
And although I myself did not purchase a “Sucks to B.U.” t-shirt…I still smirk
every time I see one as it hits that soft spot in my heart for clever digs.]
But I digress. This Old Ag gave me a forewarning of some,
shall we say, persecution as I arrived in Waco at the end of last summer. Every
swipe of my A&M debit card tied to every sidelong glance at my Aggie Ring
deeper ingrained my distaste for this place God called and provided for me to
be for three years. Add to that the illogical city planning that when coupled
with my ever deteriorating sense of direction left me lost in corners of the
city I’m not sure anyone else has traipsed. Then I found out 3 years isn’t even
a realistic amount of time to finish my MDiv…it is going to be more like 4.
One day when complaining about the weather (as I write this
I wonder how anyone puts up with me at all with all of this complaining and
negativity) my roommate said that she has a hard time complaining about the
weather because God created it and for some reason allows it to be whatever it
is.
So with this God-centered attitude ringing in my ears (which
at the time I was probably annoyed about, let’s be real) I set back out to
school or to try to find the grocery store or something. As I reached the crest
of the hill on Valley Mills between Waco Drive and IH35 I was suddenly
overwhelmed with the truth that God created Waco. God created the people that
call it home. God provided in incredible ways to give me the opportunity to
know God better in this place at this time. God loves Waco and I should too.
I’ve found lately that God likes to introduce a big idea to
me and then let it marinate for a bit as little, daily things transform that
idea into a belief and eventually into a lifestyle. Today as I drove through
Austin past all of the places and things I have loved my whole life I realized
that I love Waco. And it’s hard to articulate why. I just do. I love my school,
which to be honest I still just think of as Truett and not Baylor…but maybe
that will change one day. I love my church; I love the genuine community, the
honesty, the desire to serve God purely and cut out things that hinder that
pursuit. I love my friends and their stories and how God has intertwined them
into mine. I love the farmers’ market. I love the old buildings downtown, and
the ducks that refuse to eat the stale bread or over-salted WingStop fries that
I throw at them. I love my jobs; I love getting to be a part of something
bigger than myself at Waco Habitat and that God allows me to use my talents and
passions there, I love that I get to research the topic of missions even when I’m
not in any missions classes. This process of loving Waco has helped me love God
deeper, or maybe loving God deeper has helped me love Waco. I don’t know, maybe
it is both.
This time is not a stepping stone. There is no goal other
than learning to love God deeper every day as I learn how to love the things
God loves and has placed me amongst here and now.
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