Christ has been with me my entire life, but He has existed in different ways. I grew up going to a Catholic church in my hometown of Eden Prairie, Minnesota with my family every Sunday. Even when I didn’t want to go, my parents stressed the importance of faith in a person’s life. They said God always comes first, family comes second, and friends come third. I grew up believing this, but it was a passive belief that proved to not be enough when I became challenged by my friends.

I love my friends. They are great people, and I have had unforgettable experiences with them. We share many things in common, including a love of sports, love of science, and a similar sense of humor. One thing that separates me from my friends is my love of Christ. Many of the people that I have made close relationships with here at UW-Madison do not follow Christ and are either atheist or agnostic. When I realized this, I immediately felt like an outsider. This realization didn’t make me feel bad about myself, but it certainly made me feel different from the rest of my friends. This feeling of being an outsider also brought a series of doubts. I started to ask myself if Christ was even real. Did Jesus dying on the cross really save me? Is Heaven a real place? How can I be sure? These doubts were eventually diminished by a man named John Lennox.

John Lennox is a Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford. When he is not teaching, however, he travels the world talking and debating for the truth that Christ provides. Seeing a scientist make a logical case for the existence of Christ made a huge difference in the way I see the world. I now look outside and I hear the birds chirping and I hear the people talking and I see the squirrels chasing each other up a tree. It’s amazing how God created all these things to live in harmony with each other. Yes, I believe in Creation. Yes, I also believe in Evolution. There is certainly a way for them to coexist together. I chose Genetics as my major because I believe that our genes are the first draft of a blueprint from God. Also, I believe genes are a puzzle from God, and my goal in life is to help solve some of that puzzle. Christianity and Science are not mutually exclusive at all.

After personal reflection, prayer, and learning some of these things from John Lennox, I was able to have personal and insightful conversations with my atheist friends. These conversations would go on for hours and hours, and although we didn’t always agree, they helped me grow in my faith exponentially. Every day I gain a greater appreciation for God’s creations, and I can’t wait to solve more of this puzzle of life while glorifying Him through it all.