Sorority recruitment & Jesus. Yep, I found a connection

Our daughter just finished going through RUSH. Bid day was this past Sunday.  It was the largest recruitment class in the history of the university.

It's an exhausting process. The Greek system was meant for Carrington. One solid week of meet and greet, cuts, go back for more meet and greet, a process of elimination.  Our daughter wanted one of the top two sororities on campus or nothing. Period. One sorority housed many of her boarding school friends. The other is her legacy. 

My oldest daughter, myself, and her cousins really wanted her to go legacy. Her roommate, also a legacy of the same sorority, wanted the same top two sororities.

In a surprising turn of events Carrington was cut from one of her top two. Her boarding school friends sorority. Even our oldest daughters high school best friend texted, a huge no-no as she was recruitment chair for a newer sorority, saying she couldn't believe Carrington "the token redhead" was dropped.

Carrington had several choices. In a bold move she and her roommate decided to suicide bid. Essentially they said "no" to every single house in hopes that their top choice would pick them. It was a gamble. They would get it or get absolutely nothing.

Can I just say that the 24 hours between pref night and bid day, 12:30 the following day, were excruciatingly painful for my husband and me? Not because we were invested. We both knew she would be fine. We both had been through the Greek process and knew it worked. It was exhausting because our independent, never calls us, leader of the pack, blew up our phones! The "what if" texts went on into the early hours of dawn. 

She had heard through the grapevine that she was possibly dropped because of what she had done in high school. One of the voting sisters, who didn't know her, had heard about it and cut her. Carrington was mortified, hurt, and disappointed. She is seldom rejected. This was a hard life lesson for her. We live in Eastern NC where choices follow you. If you live here you get it.

I started thinking about our relationship to Christ and the recruitment process. Believe it or not there are many similarities. We are wooed and pursued by both the enemy and The Lord. Both seem enticing. They both want all of us. {But} how  do we choose? 

The enemy recruits us with promises of worldly goods and false hopes of happiness based on these possessions. We are enticed. No doubt. Life is just better when it's full of every material possession there is to offer. He recruits us in the carpool line where we compare ourselves and our vehicles to others. He recruits us in our kids schools. We may find ourselves pushing our kids or comparing them to others. He recruits us in the work force. We need to be at the top no matter what. No matter if we miss our kids childhood. We must be at the top to fund the image and  the lifestyle that the enemy says will make us happy.

Jesus is a gentleman. He is not cunning, deceptive or boisterous. He softly whispers "I have you. You are OK. I love you. Come walk with Me." Many of us don't totally believe it. Quite honestly, it's easier to be beholding to our worldly circumstance. Amen? Jesus wants all of us. {And} it is a gamble. Do we walk away from the bondage of the enemy and all of the pretty packaging? Or do we drop it all and pick up a cross instead? 

That cross represents so much more than a crucifixion. When we say "Yes, Lord, I'm all in!" we cling to that cross. We hold tightly to that cross because it is the only thing holding us up. {And} when we realize that cross we are carrying is all we need? Well, He resurrects us! At the top of that cross we get a magnificent view of the valley below. It all seems small and insignificant. At the top of the cross we see Jesus. We are that much closer to the heavens. The view is breath taking!

So who will you choose?

My daughter and her roommates strategy worked. They are joyfully in the house of their choice. She told her sister yesterday "I know God probably doesn't approve of Greek Life. I really think this was a God thing. I was reminded of my past mistakes. I know I have to walk a straight path. My Saint Mary's friends will always be in my life. This is a new chapter with new friends. Plus we get to share the family legacy!"

My heart smiles at the work He is doing in her young heart. Sometimes what we get is not what we think we needed.

Today is another day of recruitment in the world. What legacy will you choose? 

"Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled
again with a yoke of bondage."-Galatians 5:1