After reading Chapter 12, reflect on change. You have changed since you came to JBU: this is inevitable, because you are adapting to new experiences, and are on a new journey. Reflect on yourself and describe how you have changed within the past month.
Who am I? I am a Christian, striving to live my entire life for the glory of Christ. I am an 18 year old little girl. I am a college student, a daughter, a sister, and a friend. I am either bossy or responsible, depending on if it is my siblings or my parents who are describing me. I am compassionate and kind, always looking for ways to include others and make them feel loved. But I am also more than that.
Over the past month, I have most changed by knowing more thoroughly who I am. I have always been an independent person and completely confident of my importance and value in Christ. However, my identity has also been placed deeply in my family and my interactions with them. Now that I no longer am living with my dad, I am not late all the time. Because I no longer live with my sister, I am not the spokesperson for the two of us, but now only for myself. My brother is not around so I no longer have to be the voice of reason that keeps the both of us living to see another day. I have grown up because now I have to shop for myself, organize myself, and take care of bills and the mix-ups that come with them.
Most of all, however, I am intentionally opening my eyes up the difficult questions of life. Instead of acknowledging them, thinking ‘Oh, that’s confusing,’ and simply filing it away deep within my brain, am pausing more to consider and ponder them. I would like to think that, even in this short period of time, I have become more thoughtful and more analytical of hard questions that don’t necessarily have one right answer. I am growing.
According to Miller, we can’t live without stories, and we all follow after some story or another. What is/are some stories that have shaped your journey?
As a Christian, the story that has most molded my life is obviously that of my relationship with Christ. I acknowledged that I was a sinner and couldn’t get to heaven without Jesus’ salvation at a young age—so young that my only memory of it is because my mom has told me about it. Nonetheless, it was a real and permanent decision for me.
I went to church all my life, but really started growing and searching for Christ on my own once I entered seventh grade. At eleven I was baptized and spent the next two years continuing to broaden my knowledge of Him. When I was thirteen, my family moved down south, way south, to Ecuador. That was probably the best thing that could have happened to deepen my relationship with the Lord. He really gave me a heart for the people and, because I couldn’t speak Spanish and therefore didn’t learn much from the church services, had to begin to rely on my own quiet time with God to grow. Living in a country that is so needy for Christ’s salvation, opened my eyes to how privileged I am to have it, how valuable my knowledge is, and how desperately others around the world need to be told.
Returning to the US for senior year taught me that, even in the good ol’ U.S. of A. there people who haven’t heard and people who are very lost. It demonstrated to me that the mission field truly is wherever God has placed me. Now, at John Brown, my walk continues to grow as I make important decisions, about faith and about life, even more for myself than when I was with my family. God is working here in me to shape me into who I am supposed to be for the continuance of my journey wherever He leads. How exciting!
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