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Hello readers (if there actually are any),
My name is Kiersten! I am picking back up on blogging! As you can see I dabbled in blogging when I was a *little bit younger (and by little I mean like 10+ years ago), but I really want my blog to mean something this time and to help chronicle my amazing walk through life with God. I am a 19 year old (I'll be turning 20 this year) Elementary Education student! I am really enjoying my major, especially since I switched it from Biochemistry to Elementary Education! I have about 2 and a half years to go of college and then I'll be out in the real world looking for an actual adult job, which is actually kinda scary to think about.
Well, if you're new here and wanted to know my origins, here they are. I was born and raised in Southern Indiana, in a little town that is smaller than my current subdivision. I attended Ball State University for my first year of college (I highly recommend that college for anyone searching) but then decided to move to Florida with my mom and step-dad when they decided to move in May 2016 to be closer to my step-sister, step-brother-in-law, and nephews. It's definitely been an adjustment moving from a place where everyone knew everyone to now living somewhere where not only do I not know anyone but neither do my parents.
Now, onto my journey with God. I was born and raised Catholic. I went to Sunday school every week and went to church almost every week also. When I moved to college I decided I wanted to try a different type of church. I had went to a bigger church with a live band and everything for a few months my senior year of high school and I LOVED it. I loved the feeling of the band and the feeling of really connecting with the songs that the band was singing. So, when I went off to college I decided I wanted to try something like that but I didn't make the effort until 2nd semester. I started going to this thing called CRU (I have no clue what it stands for) and I absolutely loved it! It wasn't like a normal church service. It was a bunch of college students worshiping Christ through songs and there was also a devotional/sermon each week. It was such a great thing to go to and I looked forward to it each week. Ok, so that was my quick overview of my first year of college and Christ.
When I moved down to Florida I had a really hard time with it, especially leaving all of my friends behind in Indiana. I started at my new college and had such a hard time making friends there. I thought that maybe, just maybe, I could go to a church, get involved there and be able to make some friends my age. In October I went to this church that someone I worked with told me about. It was a great church but it was soooo big! It had the live band like I wanted but I knew with how big it was that I wasn't going to be able to make the kind of connection and friendship with someone like I wanted to. I started going to Florida Power Yoga about 2-3 weeks ago. The lady who owns it is super sweet and I actually became friends with her on Facebook. While looking through her Facebook I noticed her church and how much she talked about it and how much love she had for it, so I decided to give it a try. I went to my first service there a week and a half ago. I absolutely loved it. It had a live band and everyone was so nice. While I was waiting for my instructor to get there I had countless people come up to me and introduce themselves to me and told me that if I ever needed anything to let them know. That made such a huge impression on me because they were coming up to someone that they don't even know and treating me as if they already knew me and wanted to get to know me more. I truly believe that God was speaking through them and that He was trying to tell me that I was in the right place and to stay there.
This church is a very small and new church. So new that they have the services in an elementary school cafeteria (how ironic considering I want to teach elementary). There about 50 people in the 9:30 service that I have been going to and they are so so amazing. The songs have blown me away the past two weeks and so does the pastor's sermon. This last week (1/15/2017) just absolutely blew me out of the water. It was my second week at the church and I was so looking forward to just worshiping God. I got there and took my seat waiting for church to start. When the first song came on I just knew it was going to be such a great service. I could truly feel God in that cafeteria that day. I could feel him telling me to let go of all my anxiety, let go of all my worries, let go of my home-sickness that I had experienced so badly when moving down here. I know that through those songs and during that sermon that He was telling me to trust in Him. To trust in the plan that He has for me! It was such a powerful day for me to actually feel God telling me that stuff. I was in tears by the end of the service and got in my car and just cried and prayed to God. That was the day I handed all my worries and my life over to God. It was the day that I felt so much peace that I had never felt before. It was honestly the best day of my life. After the service I went to breakfast with my instructor. It was so great getting to know her and her journey with God. It was amazing talking to her and just telling her about my life and where I come from. It was such an amazing day, and I could not be more thankful that God spoke to me that day because since then I know that my life is up to God. I can't change His plans for me and I just have to trust Him.
I'm so thankful I found not only that church but also my yoga instructor. She may be a lot older than me but I now know that she is someone I can confide in and that is also there to help me with my walk with God. I should probably end this post now because it has gotten pretty lengthy but I wanted to chronicle that day because it was so remarkable and such a HUGE turning point for me in my life. Have a great night y'all! I'll post again when I get some inspiration!
-Kiersten