Looking Back
As our sophomore year comes to an end, we realize we are different people than from the beginning year. Each of us have faced hardships, which we all have been able to learn from. The main things that we have taken away from this year, are what it means to be a Godly women,taking steps in our faith, and God’s grace.
Allison
During my sophomore year, I learned to take steps of faith. When school started I was presented with the idea to go on summer mission. I was totally against the idea and thought summer mission was meant for other people who are more outgoing and can talk to others easily, but I learned that God can use anyone and that he wants me. So I put in an application to go on summer mission to Puerto Rico. I did not think I was going to get in, but when I got the phone call saying I was accepted I was blown away. After getting accepted, I had to take my next step of faith with raising support for my mission.I remember it being a month and a half and I had nothing raised for my trip. I felt discouraged, but also I said "God if you want me to go on this trip, then you will bring in the support" and he did! Family members I haven't seen and my church all donated to me and it was so encouraging to see them happy and proud of me for stepping out and doing this. As I get ready to leave, I can't help, but feel so blessed that God gave me this chance and I may not totally feel ready and I know there will be hard times, but I know that God will be with me every step of the way.
Emily
For me, taking steps in my faith meant going public, and not being ashamed of my religion.
The very first day of my sophomore year, during a prayer walk, I prayed I would become more open about my faith to others. As the semester went on, I got caught up in the expectations of a college student, and lost sight of God. That first semester was hard, and I messed up. However, God still answered my prayers, and in the following semester, he gave me a fresh start. The very first Sunday of the Spring semester, I walked into church thinking it would be a normal Sunday, and walked out baptized. The sermon was titled “Going Public” and talked about how we should not be embarrassed of our faith. God is our Father, and we shouldn’t make him the Dad we are embarrassed to go in public with. By going public, you are sharing the love that you have experienced personally, with others, and there is no greater way to go public than through a public baptism, which is exactly what I did! Ever since then, I have taken even more steps of faith by sharing my love for the Lord with others. I did things I thought I would never have the guts to do; such as openly talking about my faith, and even sharing a slam poem about Christianity in front of my whole class! Doing these things was not always easy because I worried how others would judge me. However, I reminded myself that I would rather stand with God and be judged by the world, than stand with the world, and be judged by God. Because if God is for you, it doesn’t matter who is against you.
Ashly
For me, Sophomore year was a year of growing and strengthening my relationship with Christ. During Lent, my friends (Allison and Mahlet) and I created a group called The Queen Of Hearts. Allison and I were always asking God to give us signs for clarity during Sophomore year and felt that God had given us a sign to start this little group. When reflecting on our life, we noticed how frequently we said we wanted a Godly man, but then we realized, what if a Godly man is looking for a Godly woman? Are we doing a good job representing that? One thing turned to another and then we grasped onto the idea that this year for Lent we were actually going to take the time to grow in our faith. We would meet up weekly to talk about certain books/verses in the Bible (mainly Proverbs and The Book of Ruth) and learned what it meant to become a Godly woman. Some key points I learned about being a Godly woman, is that she must be disciplined whether it’s in her behavior or her walk with the Lord. The next important thing was she must realize that her strength comes from the Lord, and as a Godly woman you have to know you were made for a certain plan and purpose. Lastly, as a Godly woman, she should constantly strive to grow and not try to be the same person, this means she will need help from the Holy Spirit to lead her, guide her, and teach her. I learned many things from those weekly meetings, but these are just a few highlights from them.
Taylor
This year, I learned how God shows me grace through my sins. Guilt and grief over past sin has been a struggle. When I sinned, I felt ashamed. I would run away. I would hide. But this year I was able to understand that even when we think we are the worst person in the world, God still loves us and wants us to follow him. God wants us to come to him in our weakest moments not to punish us, but to save us and show us that we need him in our lives. I shouldn’t have been ashamed to go to him for anything because he is the one person that will never turn away from me.. He is the one I can go to and say. “I blew it. I want a do over. I failed. I’m sorry.” The moment I got honest with God and said, “I blew it. Forgive me.” I got grace. I got grace because God was looking for truth in me. First John tells us that when we confess our sin, God “is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” 1 John 1:9. This year was hard, but through the hard times I was able to truly understand God’s grace and the power of forgiveness.
