Why Wait?

I am currently about to start my senior year of high school. This is a memorable year for many reasons but it is also a year spent of planning. Almost stuck in "the waiting". I have found myself thinking and even telling people that I can't wait to get to college and get my life started. I can't wait to join MBSF or any other Christian group I'm led to, get involved in a huge youth group, and just get on fire for the Lord. I plan on becoming more bold in my faith, start bible studies with friends, and have a better prayer life.
It occurred to me other day while planning all of this, I hadn't prepared for THIS school year and how I could be a witness and be on fire for God. I overlooked the year because I've already fit in to who I am and who everyone expects me to be. I'm comfortable. It finally hit me. Why wait? There's no one telling me I can't start praying not just over my far off future but also this upcoming school year. There's no reason I can't be more bold, start encouraging friends and engaging in God's word together NOW. God doesn't call us to take action a year from now. He wants us to serve, starting the second we are called. Whether we are in "the waiting" or not God still has a plan and purpose for us all, each and every day.
 It may seem like our lives are at a standstill but God can and will still move in us and through us if we allow Him to. God is often making us wait to build our patience and put us through situations that will allow us to grow and prepare us for the future we are so looking forward to. God isn't making us wait to torture us.
This "waiting" period does not mean waiting to be a shining light and a bold witness, and that's what I turned my waiting into. In getting so excited about how I want to serve the Lord in college and how He is going to use me, I allowed myself to think that this year I could just sit back and dream about all these big plans. This is the most selfish and ridiculous thought that I could have. How could I think I am just going to sit back and be comfortable for a year and when I'm ready and starting over, then I will be on fire and expect God just to jump in and take control again. I know God can, and I am praying He does, provide all these openings and blessings in college but He also wants me NOW. I still have a WHOLE year to leave a testimony. I have a school full of lost souls that need Jesus and after this year, I may not ever have the chance to be a light to them. I have teammates that need to see me giving honor and glory to God on and off the field/court, that need God's love, and need to see an example of sportsmanship (which I also struggle with because of my competitive personality). When God gathered His disciples He didn't say, "Follow Me and I will make ye fishers of men, next year when you're most ready." He called them immediately.
God makes us wait and sometimes the wait can seem unbearable. But as we wait we shouldn't be so blinded by our plans to serve Him through the wait. With all this being said, God has really opened my eyes to the here and now. There are so many ways I can serve Him and show His love each day. I pray now that God not only consumes me when I get to college but becomes my focus during my last year of high school, too. This is my last year to maybe impact someone's life and while I wait for all the amazing things God has planned for me, I will do my best to serve Him and be a light this upcoming year.
This is also my first post on my first ever blog. What inspired me to do this? I had planned on starting a blog when I began college, but as harped on previously, God doesn't want us to just wait to serve Him, and He led me to this and provided the perfect way to start my first blog.