Today, I got to re-live my first move-in day. I moved across campus to a different residence hall so that I could take my May-Term class. It took me back to my original move-in day, August 27th, 2023. A day filled with anxiety, excitement, and a little bit of just plain nervousness, which is typical for most college freshmen on move-in day. Before moving to college, I knew one person. I didn’t even know her that well either, she goes to my home church (but one of the other campuses), and I had met her once before at a summer camp but never really got to know her other than that. I had talked to one of my suitemates a few times but never once spoke with my roommate, so there was a lot of anxiety about that too. After all, I wasn’t used to sharing a room with anyone, I’ve always had my own room back at home. With me being as socially awkward as I am, I was a little nervous about making friends and what that would look like. I prayed and prayed hard about it, but still, at the end of the day, I found myself trusting myself instead of putting my trust in God where it should have been. The most fascinating part about that to me, though, was the INCREDIBLE grace I received. Even though I didn’t fully put my trust in him at that moment, he STILL worked in ways that words can’t even begin to describe. Not only did he provide me with friends, but he provided me with friends that would later become my family. In my recent blog post titled “Stress, Anxiety, and all that other junk,”, I told the story about the night that I got vulnerable and met people who would later become my family. It’s just above this one if you’d like to read the whole story. Anyway, all the time that I didn’t know what would happen, God did. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”. God knew the plan all along; it just took me a little while to see it. To say that he’s prospered me and given me hope would be a major understatement.
It’s crazy to me to see the way God has put the pieces of my messy life together like one big puzzle. Was this semester a hundred and ten percent perfect by any means? As you can tell from my last blog post, absolutely not, but what it was, more than anything, was fulfilling. One of the major pieces of that puzzle was finding a Church Home and an incredible Church community to be a part of. During the first semester of college, and even during the month of January, I visited several churches in the Marion area. There are over 50 churches just in Grant County alone, so I didn’t ever have any problem finding a church to attend in this area. I attended several churches but never found one I truly felt at home in. In November, when I was hurting, I met one of my closest friends (This incredible person knows who they are). Due to me meeting that friend, he invited me to his church, which I fell in love with and is now my home church here in Marion (Harvest Bible Chapel). Due to attending the church, I found an incredible discipleship group to be a part of. The people in that group have become some of my closest friends. Due to finding my discipleship group, I’ve grown deeper in my faith, and what it truly means to live in community with one another. They have really helped my faith become even more authentic. So, it’s been cool to me to see the ways God has continued to put the pieces together.
For those of you that don’t know, I’m a Type A personality. What this means is that I’m a planner, organizer, and detailer. I like to KNOW all the W’s (who, what, when, where, why, how). Part of my Anxiety comes from this; it comes from not knowing details. One of the things I’ve come to realize, though, during this semester, is that a part of faith comes from not knowing the details but trusting the one who does. Though it can be hard to let go, sometimes we just need to take a deep breath and trust God; the best moments happen when we do so, so we should do so more often, and I think that’s a lesson I’m going to take with me for the rest of my life.
It’s hard to believe this school year is over already. Still, as it says in Ecclesiastes, “For everything, there is a season,” and although this season is sadly over, I can’t help but smile as I reflect on everything God has done, and I can rest in the fact that he is good all the time, and all the time, he is good. Onto the next adventure!