For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.
Hebrews 3:4
Four years of college behind them. At least 16 years of school finally done. Alumni are leaving the known world of teachers, grades, class schedules and all nighters. Friends and fellowship will no longer be a walk across campus or down the hall.
Suddenly alumni find themselves in their first job, at times with no one their own age. There are HR manuals to read, new programs to figure out, and office politics to navigate.
Often it’s a new location where they are juggling an apartment, roommate and learning the lay of the land. They need to find a church, make new friends, and figure out what to do with a full weekend, and no studying to be done!
How did they end up here? Is this where God wants them? Can God really work in their life through a pile of papers, the boss who just doesn’t communicate or the loneliness they are regularly confronted with?
This initial change can come as a shock to alumni as they start their career. BUT this is also an exciting time. They will begin to see God work in new ways on their behalf as they enter the real world.
As the Holy Spirit encourages them through His word, helps them grow through new challenges at the office, and as they work hard in this new role, they will see God is active. He is real. He is for them.
The role of mentors isn’t to dictate this growth (that is the work of the Holy Spirit). They are simply here to come alongside and encourage alumni, so they don’t forget—this season is new, it’s different, but it’s an incredible gift from God that will grow and shape alumni in definitive ways.
As we enter the spring, and soon-to-be alumni prepare for this new opportunity, please keep them in your prayers.
- They would anticipate this next season, and trust God—that He is good, He is leading them, and He will be with them.
- Wisdom as alumni decide between job offers or patience as they await word on positions they’ve applied for.
- They would walk by the Spirit, and grow in hearing the Lord’s call for them as they leave behind college, and begin their career.
The challenges they face may be new, but for alumni, it is also an incredible season of seeing God work in new ways, and finding Him faithful. Always.