In case you aren't aware, I have another bill for Saint Leo. This probably is not surprising news to you since probably to my readers and most people that know me know that losing my Bright Futures Scholarship my freshman year really made me have to work harder during the years that followed. When I say work harder, I really mean I've struggled financially in order to put myself through school. Yes, you read that right. Other than the 40,000 plus I now have accrued in student loans and the small scholarships for being a Florida resident, I've had to come up with $3500 on my own. Personally, I've never seen $3500 in the flesh (if you have want to be my friend lol). I was raised in a humble home. I was raised by working for your keep. My parents have never given me anything beside the basics freely. Some people may think that was harsh but I'm here to tell you and give a shoutout to my parents (mostly because my mom is reading this. Hey Mom and Dad, love you♥) that they really raised me right. I have a select group of friends that all were given cars at sixteen and had everything paid for. This is not what irks me. These same sixteen year old's did not have to have jobs and really have been handed the world on a silver platter. In my opinion, this is bad parenting. Granted, I didn't have a job at sixteen other than being a published author because that was all I had time for because I was enrolled in the IB program (I never got to be a teenager in the normal sense of the word. In other words, I've been in college since the age of 14.) but still, I wasn't given allowance unless I did my chores. There was no advance. You earned your week's pay by showing some form of responsibility.
Character is formed through difficulty. Some suffering is ok. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. I am living proof that this saying is true. I'm glad I've had to work to put myself through school and constantly lean on God for provision because it's really taught me that a salary is not the source. The Source of all provision is God and I'm glad I got to learn this at a young age because the lessons I've learned in my financial struggle will be ones I will carry with me the rest of my life.
Aside from this rather verbose reason of no surprise that I have a bill, let me just say that this time I am surprised. Mostly because for once I thought I was going to be all caught up with my balance and I would be issued a refund with the rest. Yet, instead, I have a bill for being a part-time student for half the semester (8 weeks) and it totals 3788.59.
I've made a GoFundMe page to help me pay some of it off. It has to be down to $500 by July 1st otherwise I can't register for Fall 2014 during which I have a total of 9 credits left. I was hoping to do my internship during the summer and only have my two remaining classes to do in the fall but that plan is shot to hell as of right now.
With this GoFundMe page, I've started doing some direct marketing with the link and asking people to retweet it (you know me, just doing my marketing thang). Some of the well-known people that follow me, some of my friends, and some Christian people I connect with on Twitter. What surprised me is that the worst offenders of my direct marketing ventures have been the Christians. I always assume that worldly people are selfish so when they ignore me, I don't let it get me down. Yet, I felt completely slapped in the face with a wet rag when I realized that there are too many lip service Christians out there. They tweet all the right things but when I ask them to tweet a simple link to help me finish school, you would think I asked them for the answer to world hunger. (The answer here is Jesus and may I also suggest a Zac Efron kissing booth).
If you are one of those people who has ignored me with a request to share my link and you are reading this right now, please understand that I have judged you as one of my fellow brother(s) or sister(s) in Christ. If you are to be like Jesus, you are to rush to be loving and helpful toward the poor and needy. I will never call myself poor because I currently still have a house and a bed to sleep on, food to eat inside that house, and money left over to be generous with, yet, I am in need currently. I pride myself on being someone who goes out of her way to help a stranger. I'm also someone who has gone above and beyond to help her friends achieve their dreams in what little way I can. I'm not saying this in order for you to think a certain way about me (good or bad) yet I'm saying that it is a crying shame that Christians let theology get in the way of simply doing what Jesus called the only true commandments: Love God with all your heart, mind, body, and soul. Then, Love your neighbor as yourself. (Maybe these people don't actually love themselves and felt threatened to cast the spotlight on to someone else who loves Jesus and is asking for financial support. There's a theory that really would take another whole blog to discuss.)
Mostly, this blog isn't to point fingers or to say how mad I am with this person or that person but it is to bring attention that if you call yourself a Christian, you need to act more like Christ. Don't think just because you post Christian messages on Twitter that you yourself are holier than thou. For instance, I myself post Christian tweets and I myself can admit that I don't always act like Christ. I'm not expecting perfection here. I'm only asking that if you want to represent Jesus, then your actions need to match your words at least 90% of the time.
Please if you are reading this blog right now, I ask that you share this link Make My Dreams Come True.
It takes two seconds of your time to post the link to your social media accounts. That's all I'm asking for.
Yes, I would love it even more if at least 5 out of every 10 people that share the link donate ten or twenty dollars but I'm not going to ask that of you. Giving needs to be from the heart and if your heart is not affected by my near graduation and my future career then that's fine, I understand. I'm not the only person in the world with financial problems. Yet, on that note, remember the widow in the book of Mark 12:41-44 who gave all she had and what Jesus said after watching her give her tithe: Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.” When you give no matter how much you have, it shows you trust God to give you back what you gave plus more. It shows genuine faith. That's why I find people who say, "Sorry I have bills to pay, I can't help you" as an excuse. You are supposed to give the first 10% of your income to God (ie through a church, a missions group, a ministry, etc). Malachi 3:10. After that, your money is yours to do with as you wish.
I just want people to be aware of my page because the more people that see it, the more chance I have of raising the money I need in order to finish my degree. Plus, beside the GoFundMe page, I am working on another appeal for additional financial aid. I feel like the last bill taught me so much of where to go and who to talk to. Some may call it street smarts; I call it God's favor.
Because of this bill, I have stopped going to class ( I missed 3 consecutive classes) and it has really caused me to fall into a bit of self-pity. Yet, I know just like last time that "I will believe God and see His glory."
I've decided, from this day forward, that I'm wasting time (and money) by being depressed regarding this. I have 31 days left on this campus (32 if you count the day I move out) and I've really got to make them count. So this is what I plan to do. I'm going to be like the Apostle Paul says in Philippians 4:11, I can be content in whatever state I am. (For those of you who aren't studying the Apostle Paul like I am or are unfamiliar with his life and writings, just know he wrote that statement and the subsequent letter from a jail cell.) He was knee deep in sewage and he declared that statement so I think I can equally (if not a little more so) be content despite this raging storm of financial difficulty.
If anyone (family, friends, or acquaintance) catches me being sad these last 31 or 32 days, please remind me of the Apostle Paul's statement and also tell me to listen to Lead Me To the Cross by Francesca Batistelli. I will think of Jesus and again be reacquainted with the Prince of Peace.
Before I leave you with a final thought, please let me apologize for this blog turning out looking like a religion paper ( I've been writing so many lately that it's just become habit to back everything I say with a suitable source.) Literally in the middle of this blog, I had to stop and re-read what I had written because I was going off on a whole other tangent regarding theology. The thought of me as a religious theologian just makes me want to barf. The word religion literally makes my pulse quicken that's how sick it makes me. I consider myself a deeply spiritual and faithful Christian. I am not religious.
Until next time remember, These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold...- 1 Peter 1:7, NLT♥
Love Times Infinity,
Chelsea
xoxo
God Bless!
~Just Keep Swimming~
P.S. If my mom is the only one that reads this at least I got this off my chest and Mom, you are so awesome! :)
Thank you to the select few that have shared the link. Feel free to share the link as much as you want but aim for at least once a week. My goal is that if you are annoying as possible about something, people suddenly just want to get rid of you so someone will just donate say, $500. Hey, God only knows. Here's to hoping. Again, thank you so so much.♥
My promotion on Twitter currently looks like this:
Thank you to the select few that have shared the link. Feel free to share the link as much as you want but aim for at least once a week. My goal is that if you are annoying as possible about something, people suddenly just want to get rid of you so someone will just donate say, $500. Hey, God only knows. Here's to hoping. Again, thank you so so much.♥
My promotion on Twitter currently looks like this:
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