Summer Chapel with the Advancement Office

Everyone knows the feeling of a looming deadline or goal, said Jordyn Carlson.
“Sometimes we can get caught up in it; we all know how stressful it can be,” she told members of the Kuyper community gathered June 17 in the second-floor atrium for summer chapel.

Carlson, Kuyper’s Special Events and Alumni Relations Coordinator, compared that feeling to running a race. She shared lessons from her own athletic past, including her time in Girls on the Run, a program that builds healthy skills through physical activity, and an obstacle course called the Rhino Challenge she completed in middle school.

In both cases, she said, she wasn’t sure she could finish. During one race, she even had to carry her sister across the finish line after an asthma attack.
“We both just wanted to get there. It didn’t matter how pretty our performance looked, we just wanted to finish,” she recalled, laughing.

Our spiritual lives are similar, she continued, referencing Hebrews 12:1–2, which encourages believers to let go of distractions and run with endurance. As we chase goals and meet deadlines, there’s always a deeper purpose at work within us.

“Here at Kuyper, our race is Kingdom work,” she said. “Whether you’re teaching in a classroom, guiding a student, managing operations, working around campus or stewarding resources, each step is a part of something bigger.”

Finishing the race of faith, she emphasized, isn’t about perfection. It’s about faithfulness. It’s not about pushing through with our own strength but focusing on Jesus, who sustains us.

Carlson closed with a question before leading the group in song:
“How are we measuring success, by performance, or by purpose?”