Is there a College Path which will Prepare me and
Fit into what the Lord is Calling me to do?
I first heard of CollegePlus! (CP) during my Junior year of High School at the CHEF Homeschool conference in St. Louis, MO. Woody Robinson’s talks on Education the Founding Fathers Way and A Bachelor Degree by 18 instantly sparked my interest and I wanted to start the program. However, my parents wanted me to continue High School and, honoring them, I did. Hence, I struggled when the time came to choose a college. I wanted to do CP but my parents weren’t too hip on the idea. So what should I do? I did what I knew I needed to do: I prayed and submitted to God’s will. If He wanted me to go to CP He was going to have to move on my parents hearts to make it a reality. I wanted my parents blessing on my education, and not just do what my own wisdom told me to do. So I waited on the Lord . . .
Over the course of Senior year of High School, I was restless and discontented with the idea of going to a brick and mortar school. Moving away didn’t seem like the right fit for where God had called me in ministry and I had a deep desire to live in my hometown of Hillsboro or at least nearby. I also wanted a low cost to be the best steward of my resources. The timing of moving away to enter college made me nervous, and why should I trade the life I had some balance in for a party zone? In addition, I knew that I would have to leave my deep friendships, my beloved church, and my mentors to work, keep up with my studies, and build a new life. Thus, I sought the counsel of many and prayed without getting any peace. One of my counselors encouraged me to analyze the pros and cons of my options so I devised multiple scenarios of moving away: to a school hours away from my home, schools in St. Louis, and the local community college. I even considered driving back and forth 45 minutes each way to go to school and work afterward. Nevertheless all these possibilities made me come face to face with the inefficiency, high cost, physical drain, and lack of flexibility of a brick and mortar school.
Long story short, my parents came on board with me on CP as the school option this past April as we spent a day together talking about my plans for the summer. My prayers had been answered! I left that meeting with some peace and spent this past summer after graduating High School running my own lawn care, pressure washing, and odd job business, as well as, enrolling in the program I have dreamed of!
Now that I’ve started . . . .
I have been doing Life Purpose Planning; I have found that all my considerations, goals, and ministry calling are merging into one stream with many different streamlets. It is exciting to be able to continue my own business, internships, and ministry training on my schedule—shifting my study time around when needed—and being able to pursue my life dream of mentoring a generation of young men and begin to preach and teach the Word to the Church in America.
As a homeschooler, I love teaching myself and studying material instead of sitting in the classroom wasting precious time. I’m on my path to a Communications degree which I’m already putting to use writing books and building a ministry! Internships and practical experience are around the corner! The expectation of being a licensed minister in a few years and the possibility of pursing a Masters in Biblical Studies to teach Bible at the college level are on the horizon!
Only a few weeks into the program, I’m excitedly sharing CP with people. Just last week at a writing conference, I shared the CP program and my passion surrounding it with an education official as she listened in wonder and expressed an interest in helping the public schools she works with to incorporate some of it. And right after I enrolled, I shared with several friends and one got really, really passionate about being able to do what I was sharing.
If you are reading this and want flexibility and freedom to follow the unique path and purpose that you feel God is calling you to, prayerfully consider CollegePlus! You can get your degree done faster, for less money, and get a better education with all the internships and real life experience you can have in a couple of years.
God bless, and study hard!
Ryan Marks
Minister, Student, Writer, Entrepreneur
www.focusingonthemarkministries.com ==the summer of 2012
Taken from:
https://sites.google.com/site/adifferentapproachtocollege/articles/is-there-a-college-path-which-will-prepare-me-for-what-god-has-called-me-to-do
