I have been raised in a Christian home and grew up in church throughout my life. I heard about God from a young age and wanted to follow Him. I remember being shocked as a five-year-old that the God of the universe wanted to have a personal relationship with me. I decided to follow God in Sunday school when I was five.
Despite knowing that I enjoyed singing, I did not realize it was one of my spiritual gifts until two years ago. Through this time, I have grown closer to God through my singing. It is extraordinary because a Christian song will emerge into my head many times in my room, and I will start singing aloud. Even if I do not know the song well, the lyrics flow out of my mouth. It is an extraordinary time between God and me where everything else tunes out, and it is just me worshipping God. One of the best parts is the peace that comes during and after the singing. Realizing and using this spiritual gift has grown me in my relationship with God.
Without anyone realizing it, I was born with a broken back. Over the years, my spine slipped progressively out of place. By age 15, my spine was 95% off where it should be, but I was still walking. I was scheduled for surgery to align my spine correctly. On August 10th, 2020, my surgeon pulled my spine back into proper alignment with the aid of a rod and screws, so my back could fuse correctly. Lots of prayers helped me get through the surgery and recovery.
I started feeling better, and I began to run again. Soon after this, I started having significant back pain. I stopped running and talked to my dad (a spine surgeon) and the surgeon who did my surgery and recommended a specialized wound care nurse. My surgery wound refused to heal, despite having a fabulous wound care nurse utilizing her toolbox of tricks. After x-rays and conversing, they concluded that my screws had pushed through where they should be and were tearing at my skin. The good news was that my back was fused. They scheduled my revision surgery for February 23rd, 2021, and everything went well.
Through all of this, I had to have faith and trust that it was all happening for a reason. I have trusted God all my life, but it was not until recently that I started trusting God’s sovereignty in a new way and confidently believed He allowed all of this for a reason. God does not go to sleep or go on vacation. He is always there. We need to trust that He is there and that He cares for every one of us. This experience that is still going on has deepened my faith and has helped me trust that God has a reason for the season. I say it adds to my story. How boring would a story be without struggles and things to overcome. Everything happens for a reason. We need to trust that God has got it.
Even though I was in lots of pain and could barely walk sometimes, I would use those times in my room to worship God and give it all up to Him. Despite the intense pain, I tried hard to keep a smile on my face and be sweet to everyone. I believe that is super important because just because I was in pain did not mean I should bring pain onto others by being grumpy and mean. It also helped me to grow my character and helped me to develop new skills.
I learned that I need to worship God in the good and bad times. “Sometimes He Calms the Storm” by Scott Krippayne relates to my situation and many others. God will sometimes calm the storm, but other times He will let us go through it to strengthen us. As James 1:2-4 states, we should consider it pure joy to go through trials because it produces endurance. Furthermore, He wants to have a personal relationship with everyone. He wants us to worship and grow close to Him. Prayer, worship, and God being there brought me through the hard times.
I believe that God blessed us so that we can bless others. God has given me the gift of teaching, and I have been able to use this to tutor my siblings and coach basketball. In college, I will study to be an elementary school teacher.
God allowed me to do online school for two years during Covid, which allowed me to get ahead in school. I worked hard and ended up doing my junior year in 4 months. With that extra year, I knew I wanted to give it to God because early graduation was only possible through Him. I started looking into longer mission trips and found World Race. After researching the organization, I applied and was accepted. I will be heading out to four countries from the end of August 2022 until May 2023. God is so awesome in the way He works! He has also allowed me to get college credit while on the mission trip! This way, I will still be ahead in school going into college.
