Do you remember when it was that you first realized God was calling you into ministry?

More specifically, do you remember when it was that God was calling you to be a pastor to college students?

My guess is that God started to plant that seed deep within us long before we ever realized it.

We likely experienced different things — events, conversations, moments of clarity or divine appointment — that seemed odd or out of place at the time… but were actually pointing us toward the very thing that we now find ourselves doing.

Consider this excerpt from The Pastor by Eugene Peterson:

I was a pastor long before I knew I was a pastor; I just never had a name for it. Once the name arrived, all kinds of things, seemingly random experiences and memories, gradually began to take a form that was congruent with who I was becoming, like finding a glove that fit my hand perfectly — a calling, a fusion of all the pieces of my life, a vocation: Pastor.

But it took a while.

We now find ourselves in the important role of helping college students to identify the call of God on their lives. And while every one of them will be called to live out their faith in whatever occupation they might find themselves, some — a few — will be called to serve as pastor.