“Psalms 34:18, ‘The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.’
That Bible verse was how the Lord was really able to bring me back to him and how I’m able to experience the joy that I experience every day.
I have always been driven by my faith. It’s the key part of my life. It’s what keeps me going every day, and it’s something I can always lean on. But, my faith started to become much more personal when my dad passed away.
At the start of dealing with his passing, I just compartmentalized everything. I wasn’t ready to deal with it. I really questioned my faith and my relationship with the Lord, and I was just kind of lost. I still continued to pray and soon my relationship with the Lord became something that changed my entire life. When days are really hard and I’m missing my dad, I just know that my dad is so much closer now through Him.
Now, I give myself grace to get through each day and take each day as it is. I’ve been continually blessed by having people who love, support and are always there for me.
Through experiencing grief, I was still able to find joy and hope. Whereas a lot of people carry that pain and try to fill that with something else. For me, that was my dedication to my faith.
I’m really trying to focus on being present and in the moment, along with just being grateful, because being alive is truly such a blessing. Each day, I strive to be someone’s highlight of their day.
I’m grateful that I’ve been able to use my own personal grief as a platform to spread more awareness, because you will never really know what it is like to go through a loss until you do. I’m on the mental health awareness and grief advisory board for the Experience Camps at the Georgia location, which I volunteer at and through helping others I work through my grief each day.
In my first year in high school, I was struggling to find my identity. I depended on other people and how other people perceived me instead of figuring out who I actually was.
Sophomore year, I tried out for the cheer team again after I was on it freshman year, and I didn’t make it. That marked the turning point of my life. For me, that was what I think the Lord used to truly make me focus on my faith. Because of that rejection, I was able to volunteer at my CityRise Church and be more involved with church activities because of not doing cheer.
Through my experiences, I’m able to be a better friend, and be empathetic towards other people. I want to be there for other people in a way that I wish I had.
The small impacts add up even though people don’t see them. I keep care packages for the homeless in my car and when I give them out I share the gospel with them and remind them they’re loved.
There’s so many times in my life where I’ve been like, ‘Wow, I’m so glad I kept going and kept persevering,’ because I wouldn’t be able to experience all of this. So whenever I look back, I’m able to have that same hope for me to keep going.
I’m really excited to go to Baylor University to make friendships that will help push me in my faith. I want to stay true to myself and not depend on others’ perspective of me or how I’m perceived. I want to stay true to things that I’ve learned and experienced in high school and continue to grow.
I’ve been recently saying that time is going to keep passing anyways, so do what you want to do each day. Now, I’ve started to take advantage of every day with my faith .
Without living through my faith, I wouldn’t be where I am right now. I’m not able to be joyful just on my own. I get that from the Lord — it’s a gift that he’s given to me, and one that I am able to share with others.
My whole mindset has changed. I’m able to see how small things can completely transform your life.”
