Let me back up a bit and start from when I can consciously remember God pursuing my heart. When I left to complete my Bachelor's degree in 2009, I had a roommate my first semester in college who kept asking me to attend her college ministry on campus. They had small groups called cells, a lighter study called Crosschats which basically tied current events to God's truth and other things outside of the typical Sunday service. The first thing I can remember attending is their Halloween Party, which was fun. I decided to come, albeit sporadically, to their Crosschats, where I met a friend Catherine, whom I would later serve with in ministry. But before that, there was a turning point.
Around November, they started asking me to come on this long weekend retreat they coined "family vacation." I'm not sure about you, but for someone whose parents did not raise them in a Christian home, I had zero desire to share a room and eat with people I'd only known a few months. Plus, I would hear about God for three whole days, and an eight hour bus ride. But, both my roommates were going, and it was at the beach. (In January...when it's freezing.) Needless to say, I went...and it changed my life.
The very last night, our campus minister from Tampa gave a keynote to 400 or so college kids from around he U.S. on what it meant to find Joy in the Journey. Now, I'll be honest, I remember basically nothing about that keynote except that title, and the bits about his own story as a child, which wasn't glamorous. By the end, I'd come to realize that not only was there greater joy to be found in Jesus, but that it was free. And this room full of hundreds of college kids was choosing to live differently. I desperately needed and wanted that. I was part of a co-ed fraternity during this time. Although I loved my friends and brothers and I'm a proud alumni, it didn't meet the longing for more inside of my heart.
So when we got home, that following week I studied with the minister's wife a bit more (I had reluctantly started in December before retreat), and was baptized on a Thursday night in an ICE COLD (not an exaggeration) baptistry. Side note: wearing jeans is NOT recommended. They are heavy and nearly impossible to remove once soaking wet. I would be remiss to mention that the same night, my elementary school best friend/roommate who I'd reconnected with in college after going to separate high schools, was also baptized that night. I now have a spiritual twin, and we will share in that for the rest of our lives.
After that, I served in that ministry as an intern with the church and the Vice President and eventual President of the on-campus extension, Christians In Action Tampa. I sang with our worship team, hosted small groups at our apartment with my "twin," and studied with other girls who eventually became believers, too. I went on to start (but never completed) my Master in Ministry degree through Harding University, and was part of a campus ministry mission that planted a college ministry in Springfield, MO with that friend I mentioned earlier, Catherine. I eventually made my way back to Central Florida, a place I consider home. I got plugged in with an amazing, life giving church unlike anything I have ever experienced before. We are growing in number, planting new campuses as part of Vision Orlando and embracing the more God has for our Real Life family. They are excellent at letting people know God is crazy about them. I'm honored God would lead me to serve, love, and connect with such an incredible community of people.
It's been almost seven years since I was buried with Christ and raised to this new life. I've had a lot of mountaintop moments and a whole lot more times when I was in the darkest valley with no clear way out. But, God has never forsaken me and for every closed door, every wrong turn and every time that I miss His calling on my life, He finds a way to circle back around and bless the broken road.
He is still molding me, changing me and calling me to the people, things and desires that please Him and draw me closer to the heart of Christ. Every day isn't always perfect, but the journey of missteps is well worth the future that I know is coming.
Xx
1 Corinthians 13:13 - These three remain, faith, hope and love, but the greatest of these is love.
2 Corinthians 3:3 - You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
Ephesians 6:19-20 - Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains...
