All faith journeys are unique, beautiful and tangible evidence of God’s greatness. Some people come to know Christ through seemingly unexplainable miracles or through extreme hardships. There is often a specific event or turning point in and individual’s life that brings them to a place where they come to accept Christ as their savior and begin their new life in Him.

Rather than coming to know Christ through one of these avenues, my faith journey took on more of a linear projection. I was blessed to have grown up in a wonderful home with two loving and supportive parents, and five amazing (and irritating) siblings. I grew up in a Christian household and was taught who God is at a young age. Throughout middle school and high school, I continued to learn about God and grow in my faith, as I went through the steps of being Confirmed and became involved in my church’s youth group. As I grew older, my faith grew proportionally stronger.

Over the years, I have been able to see God work wonders in my life and in the lives of those around me. In middle school, I saw the hope that God brings through an eight year old boy in a food kitchen, who told me that he could never hate anyone, for we are all children of God. While on a mission trip in Kentucky, I saw God’s goodness through the eyes of an 80 year old women who had lost nearly all of her material security, but still took the time to thank God for the wonderful years she had spent with her husband before he passed, for the blue sky, and for our company. It is experiences such as these that opened my eyes and continue to open my eyes to God’s glory.

Despite my Christian background and my rooted beliefs of who God is, there are still days in which I stumble in my walk with Jesus. When I first came to college, I experienced a period in which I became lost in my faith. For the first time in my life, I didn’t have the security and familiarity of home, and while many people thrived in the newfound freedom that college brings, I was drowning in it. I no longer knew where I belonged, and I began to doubt whether God had come with me to college. I went through the motions of making new friends, going to classes, and studying, but through it all, I felt something missing. Several months into the school year, one Thursday afternoon, a friend in my dorm asked if I wanted to go to Cru with her. I went along, knowing Cru to be a Christian organization, and I was amazed by what I experienced there. Being surrounded by such a welcoming and kind community of followers, I realized that God had never left me, as I had first thought. Rather, I had turned my back on Him. Since that first Cru event, I have learned what it means to truly surrender my life to Jesus. I have grown in my understanding of the gospel, and I have developed a new desire for others to experience God’s grace too.

Since coming to college, my faith has grown exponentially. This is not to say that there are not days where I still struggle in my faith. Days where I cave in to self doubts and criticisms. Days where I let envy and anger cloud my mind. However, it is through God’s grace and strength that I get through these days. I pray that I continue to grow in faith as I learn more about God and about the sacrifice that His son made for me. I pray that each and every day be a reminder that our God is good.