As the daylight lengthens and our attention spans shorten, we know the end of the school year is drawing near. We all hear the call of springtime, that inner voice that tells us to shed those winter pounds, to get outside and breathe fresh air, to listen to the long-absent bird songs and to feel the warmth of the sun on our skin. We all are guilty of listening to that call of spring, procrastinating against the schoolwork that beckons with a seemingly weaker and weaker cry against the cacophonous calling of spring.

Some of us are thinking seriously about what comes next in life. With graduation impending for our seniors, what is next? Graduate school? Work? A relocation, perhaps? When we come to this crossroad in life, we often are tempted to turn to the call of the spring and procrastinate against weighing our options too heavily. It’s this time of year that I’m most reminded of Samuel’s call in 1 Samuel 3:1-14. From verse 4, “Then the Lord called, ‘Samuel! Samuel!’ and he said, ‘Here I am!’” Most know the story. Samuel mistakes the Lord’s calling for his mentor, Eli. After the third time, Eli recognizes the call as one from God, and encourages Samuel to answer God, saying, “Speak, your servant is listening.”

Now most of us are not as fortunate as Samuel to hear the Lord’s calling so clearly. For many of us, God’s Calling for us comes in whispers and slight nudges. If we fill our lives with the busy outdoor activities, and yes, even schoolwork, that springtime brings, how will we hear those gentle whisperings? I think it is important this time of year, perhaps more so than any other time in the year, to take time away from the busyness of life and be in quiet communion with God. We need time in daily prayer so that we can be asking what is God’s purpose for me? Where, O Lord, are you calling me?” Perhaps God has big plans for you, volunteering at a summer church camp for a week. Perhaps God has plans for you to work overseas in a third-world country in famine relief for a couple years. Perhaps God is calling you home to your own church to lead a youth group or young adult ministry. The fact is, we’ll never know God’s purpose for us if we don’t take the time to ask and then listen. As finals approach, I will pray for this campus community to have the discipline to make time for studies, play and discernment of God’s will in our lives such that we may each be saying, “Speak, your servant is listening.”

As a pastor and friend once shared with me, “There are two books who define who I am, and neither of them is the Bible.”

He was referring to his pocket calendar and his checkbook. “Where I spend my time and my money is a true reflection of who I am.”

I’ll use the same name that Gregg and Evan Spiridellis (of www.jibjab.com fame) use to protect the guilty: ‘Big Box Mart.’ Here is a company that many of us flock to so we can save money on our everyday needs, from Q-tips to Mountain Dew. But at what cost? Do we give any thought to whether or not ‘Big Box Mart’ pays their employees a fair and decent wage? Does ‘Big Box Mart’ offer affordable health care benefits? Does ‘Big Box Mart’ support local manufacturing, or are they exporting jobs to underpaid, overworked people under deplorable working conditions?

Let’s leave ‘Big Box Mart’ alone and use another example. Where does the coffee I purchase come from? Do the farmers get paid a living wage? Is the reseller a local business who pays good wages, or a multinational behemoth who pays minimum wage and intentionally puts independent coffee shops out of business?

As Christians, I believe these are the tough questions we need to be asking and answering. The student leaders here were recently looking for a new fundraiser that would support their Christian ideals. They have chosen to sell Fair Trade Coffee. Fair Trade is a label that assures a consumer that local farmers get paid enough money for their coffee to cover production costs and allow them to support their families. Many coffee farmers around the world get paid pennies on the dollar, forcing them into a downward spiral of debt and poverty. Fair Trade projects also promote growing coffee organically so that environmentally speaking, the farmers’ trade is more sustainable.

Are your beliefs reflected by where you spend your time and money? Are the pennies you save worth the cost in human pain and suffering? I urge you to prayerfully consider how you spend the time and money that God has blessed you with. In the words of Paul, “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” Colossians 3:17.