This I believe

This year at LC all incoming freshman have to write an essay called "This I believe". I thought I was beyond my essay writing days but I was wrong! For our Cooperative Campus Ministry retreat this year we too had to write the This I believe essay. Of course I put it off until the last minute because that is what I do but I wanted to share what came out of my heart that night as the day was an emotional roller coaster with the loss of an athlete and the news of an engagement (good :)). Here is my This I believe which we had to read out loud to the group. Enjoy!

This I believe: nothing happens in our lives can be called random or accidental. While many events and situations happen that we didn’t expect or didn’t plan for I believe that God has a plan for all of them. Often these events that are not planned for are where we learn the most in our lives. When we plan we are researched, ready, and confident. When we are not ready (which in most cases we are ready because God has prepared us but we don’t realize it yet) we can’t rely on ourselves to know what to do… we must seek help from Him for guidance and eventually success. It is only in this weakness that we can truly grow, learn to trust, and become solely dependent on Him in our lives.

One incidence I have learned this life lesson in recently is truly my involvement in FCA and overall my presence in CCM. I came to LC fresh out of graduate school, not quite saved but close, and thought I had it all together. I knew I wanted to be involved in a Christian group when I arrived in Lynchburg but I had no idea what God had in store for me here. Placing this group in my lap and truly forcing, challenging me to pick it up and run with it, and therefore taking me way out of my comfort zone, has been an eye opening and heart warming experience. I have had to learn, grow, ask for help, answer some pretty tough questions, and then repeat each part over again every semester. This role has taught me it’s not numbers and results that matter but effort and the lives you touch whether it is one or twenty. The value of life experiences is more than the quantity of life experiences. It was neither random nor accidental that I showed up at LC at the same time that Fellowship of Christian Athletes was being started it was planned and purposeful.