Note from QUEST/YAM Director Ryan Faison:
It is my honor to have my brother, Travis J. Simons, Director of THE BRICKHOUSE at The Potter's House in Dallas, TX share with the college students and young adults of QUEST/YAM. Check out this two-part series today (Monday, September 12th) and tomorrow (Tuesday, September 13th). Thanks Travis!
Entry #16: The Power of Distractions
This time in your life is not suppose to be easy. This time is filled with challenges. Even if you are incredibly passionate and gifted, you don't know what you're really made of or have the capacity to do fulfill unless you‘re challenged. This time is suppose to challenge you and stretch you. If its not changing you or stretch you then its not a CHALLENGE. You would be surprised of how many people don’t embrace their challenges but rather skate in the circle of “mediocrity“, “just enough to get by”, “cram my way in”, “stay up all night and still don’t retain the information”, or simply say, “This is TOO HARD! But this is not you, it can't be you!
As a student, you’re experiencing a kind of metamorphosis that is uniquely transforming you professionally, relationally, academically, spiritually, and personally. This period of time of your life can be oxymoronic, it can be one of the greatest fulfilling, joyful, fun times yet coupled with some of the most darkest, saddest, and agitating days ever imaginable. However, while you're experiencing the dubious conniptions of college life I want to encourage you not to lose heart. You were not led on this academic journey by accident, but rather to gain a greater understanding of yourself, and the excellence of gifts and talents that were privately packaged in your DNA by your Creator.
The biggest challenge of 99.9% of college students is “Distractions”.
Distractions usually appear at the most inconvenient times. (You know that phone call that you’ve waited for all week long? However, Thursday night after properly prioritizing it to yield fruitful silence as you prep for Friday’s test…abruptly your phone starts to vibrate. Simultaneously, numerous text messages appear one after the other as though someone is trying to sabotage your efforts. Why now? You waited until this time to call, to text? Yes, your friend waits until now to share with you the hot fresh gossip making its way around the campus. Then, the conversation leads to you logging back into your Facebook page after you’ve told yourself that you were done with Facebook for the night. But, you innocently need your memory jarred of the person that your friend is providing such intimate details about. Then, two hours into your conversation, you realize that it’s 2:30AM. You’ve been logged onto Facebook for an hour. You’re multitasking your distractions. Chatting with 5 different people on Facebook, text messaging, and still on the call with your friend. Oh yes distractions! But after the thrill of multi-tasking your distractions, your brain and will have been left helpless and void of the information that would cause you to be successful on tomorrow’s test. Oh yes, DISTRACTIONS. Oh yes DISTRACTIONS!
Distractions do not ask for permission to come into your life, but yet they demand your attention. They make you vulnerable to their plan and entice your thoughts. And many times distractions come from people that you love or deeply care for, which makes yielding to the distraction so easy. Distractions have great discernment skills…Yes, those skills are only utilized for what it wants but never for what you want. Distractions can be domineering yet yielding little respect for who you are and your time. In the eyes of distractions, you have no time. Your time has submitted itself to its authority. Distractions crave your now! The authority of your distractions come to fixates the illusion as though its presence (plan, situation)can’t wait until later. It manipulates you by making you think that its friendless, forsaken, and abandoned.
Distractions crave the power of focus. Distractions purposely wear down your focus until you are utterly discombobulated and helpless. Distractions cunningly shift the power of your focus needed for your studies into the attention needed to fuel its presence. That’s why it is utterly impossible to relief yourself of your distractions because it has rent you powerless; fluttering your judgment and discretion.
Blog Entry by:
Travis J.Simons, MDiv., Young Adult Director
The Potter's House of Dallas , TX
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twitter:@travisjsimons
Travis J. Simons is the director of Christian Education and leader of The Potter’s House Young Adult ministry called “The BrickHouse.” Simons is a great communicator with life and charisma. Simons also equips young adults with the knowledge needed to declare, communicate, and demonstrate Biblical principles.
Prior to joining The Potter’s House, Simons held several leadership positions under the tutelage of Bishop Joby Brady and Pastor Sheryl Brady of The River Church in Durham, N.C. While there, he served as associate pastor, youth pastor, college and career pastor and outreach minister. He also provided liturgical, advisory and protocol support for Bishop Joby Brady.
Travis Simons believes that he was purposed and prepared to break barriers and to build bridges across racial, denominational and education boundaries. In 2009, Simons earned a Master of Divinity degree (M.Div.) from Duke Divinity School and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Religion and Philosophy from Claflin University in Orangeburg, S.C. in 2005. Simons, his wife Nina and daughter Sydney Marie Simons reside in Dallas, TX.
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