I got involved with alcohol, in a life that I probably shouldn’t have been in, and relationships I shouldn’t have been in with men, even in emotionally dependent friendships with my girlfriends.
So, senior year rolls around and...
It’s really cool to see God’s hand, even where I went to college, because I wanted to go to UT Knoxville but I didn't get in, which is really weird because I had a really good GPA, and extra-curricular(s). We just did not know why I didn't get in. So mom was like, “You just need to apply to anywhere.” So I applied to UT Chattanooga, and I got accepted.
I got placed into a dorm with a couple of other girls. One of them was Christian. I was like, “Great, she's going to hate me because I like to go to parties.” So when we came to school, my other three roommates, not the one that was a Christian, went to a party and came back with some guys that we had met. Our roommate who is a Christian, her name is Natalie, she had a boyfriend named Brad, and he played soccer, and these guys we met played soccer. They were just talking, and Brad, Natalie’s boyfriend, said, “How do you know these girls?” They were like, “We met them at a party.” I was like, “Great, Natalie’s not going to want to be my friend because I go to parties, and she won’t want to mix that in her spiritual life.” So to mend that I was like, “Natalie, how about I go to Campus Crusade for Christ with you?” just to make her see that I cared about her, so she would, in turn, care about me.
The
next Thursday we are walking to the Campus Crusade for Christ meeting, and
she said, “What do you know about Jesus?” I was like...
“What do I know about Jesus?” “He died for our sins?”
The Campus Crusade for Christ meeting was really weird. There was worship, and I was crying, blubbering, and everything. I just didn’t know why. I guess it was just weird.
After that I met with the Director of Campus Crusade for Christ at UTC. He shared he gospel with me. He told me that Christ died for our sins, and He wants us to have a relationship with Him; but because of sin, and sin is anything that goes against God and His perfection, He died for those. It like bridges the gap between God and us, Christ does, and when we accept Him into our heart as our Savior we can have a relationship with God. At that point in time, I just wanted to go on living the way I was living. I liked to go drink. I liked to do things that didn’t honor God. So I didn’t give my life to Christ that night.
For some reason God kept me going to CRU (Campus Crusade for Christ) and involved in a Bible study. Honestly I have no idea why I kept going because I just felt really awkward around people that I thought I had nothing in common with. The Lord kept me there.
I remember a day, the day after my birthday, I was standing on my patio, and there was the Breast Cancer awareness walk going around campus. I could see God's love through people doing something selfless for other people
I was like, “I get it! I get the selflessness of Christ and why He died for us.”
I think that's when I gave my life to Christ. Of course I’ve kept growing since then. I still struggle with people pleasing but the Lord is really growing me in that lately, and I'm really excited to see where the Lord takes me the rest of my life, and He's growing my life for Him and my heart for Him.
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