Gonzalez takes different route in self discovery

by Norma Rodriquez, editorial assistant

Society has already mapped out a path for the typical student.

Graduate from high school, go to college or a university, graduate and start your career. Simple, unless you are one of many who can’t decide what it is that they would like to do for the rest of their life.

At South Plains College, it’s no different. There are many programs that are designed to help students find a career path that best suits them. To some, it’s very helpful, but to others, like 20-year old David Gonzalez, it makes it more challenging to settle on just one career. Some universities have said that most people who declare “undecided” usually perform well in more than one area, which makes it more confusing for someone like Gonzalez to settle on just one career.

Gonzalez has chosen to not follow the exact plan society has laid out for him. Instead, he has decided to listen to a higher calling for a map that is not just suitable for him, but suitable for what Gonzalez feels he is called for, Christian ministry.

Gonzalez says that he has faced a few struggles. He was born and raised in Lubbock. He has a strong Mexican heritage and is family oriented. In May 2007, Gonzalez graduated from Coronado High School and went on to attend South Plains College the following semester.

He explained that he attends SPC because it’s “cheaper to push the basics out of the way here than it would be at Tech.” To Gonzalez, education is an essential part of life. He understands the value of a higher education, but also realizes that there is a higher calling for him. A struggle that Gonzalez faces is setting his own wants aside from what he believes that God wants him to do.

“ I know the Lord is calling me to the ministry, but sometimes I still want to do my thing,” Gonzalez says. “I know that because I serve, the Lord will find favor in me.”

Naturally, Gonzalez is a productive person. If he’s not helping with the family business, “Gonzalez Custom Homes”, he’s out serving others. Helping out in the church is second nature to Gonzalez. To him, it’s more of a way of life.

For about two years, Gonzalez has attended church at Community Heights, located on Frankford Avenue next to The Reserve Apartments. Gonzalez says that he felt that he was called to the ministry during his senior year in high school at a church camp called “Campamento.”

Ever since then, he has found a way to stay involved. He’s helped in many different areas, such as youth ministries, but something that really caught his attention was media. Gonzalez explains that “back in the day, media consisted of putting transparencies with the lyrics on an overhead projector for the worship on Sunday mornings.  Now, it’s come a long way.”

Not only does Gonzalez serve at Community Heights, but he also takes the summer off from college classes, and dedicating the time it to more ministry work. This past summer, he worked at three Campamentos, and one singles camp that is coordinated under the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

After SPC, he plans on pursuing his education at Dallas Baptist University to learn more about what it is exactly it is that he is called to do.

Working for the BGCT is a goal for Gonzalez. He explained that because of the opportunity and experience that he’s been given, he has narrowed his career decisions down to mass communications, media, advertising, and graphic design.

Along with the many tasks that he takes on comes the stress and pressure of others and his own expectations. Gonzalez says that he “doesn’t fall easy” from his focus, but when he does, he remembers scripture that his mother would always read to him and his siblings when they were younger: “Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits- who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with the love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” Psalms 103: 1-5 (NIV).

“We would always go back to this verse when we, as a family, went through a struggle,” says Gonzalez. “This is my encouragement when I feel like I’m overwhelmed with things.”

Gonzalez is just a normal student. He juggles the same everyday duties as any other student. The thing that sets him apart from the crowd is that his primary goal is not to just finish college, but to go deeper and find what it is that God has created him to be, and how he can use his education to fulfill that.

“I think about my future, but I just leave it in God’s hands,” Gonzalez says. “I know he’ll provide. As long as I listen and be obedient, I know I’ll be fine.”

Photo By Chelsea Baham/Plainsman Press