Last year, after a series of bad choices, student Sarah Hartman made a decision to walk away from a lifestyle of partying, drinking and harmful relationships, and instead to follow God. She joined the InterVarsity chapter at the University of California-Davis, where she began learning more about God through a Bible study. She grew from a quiet participant to an enthusiastic student leader. This year, as a sophomore, she blogs about her journey from choosing God to asking other students what they will choose.
A Day of Remembering
The musician Jimmy Needham sang, “My before and after, I cannot help but sing / I’ll sing praises to my King / No one is too far for You to save a heart.” Today was a day of remembering and smiling due to the differences between the morning I had a year ago and the morning I had today. My heart was saved a year ago.
Last year, when I was a freshman in college, I got up early to take a shower and dress. I’m talking nails done, hair done, everything. Why was I getting all dressed up? For Sorority Rush Week. I began biking over to join a group of girls that I had met at orientation.
But I never made it.
God had something to say. I had a gnawing feeling in my gut, the same feeling I always get when I know I am doing something that I shouldn’t be doing. It was the same feeling I had a few months earlier when I was in the room of the boy that my best friend was dating, when God was telling me to get out. I ignored Him. I made a conscious choice to stay in that room with that boy. I’ve regretted it ever since.
When I was riding my bike and I had that feeling, I made an abrupt stop. I looked up at the sky, the sun, the trees, and felt the wind on my face. I was reminded of the verse in Psalms, “Be still and know that I am God.” I was still and I knew.
I made another conscious choice, but this time God was involved in the decision making. I ripped up my check for joining Rush week and rode over to a park where I spent the day talking to God and thinking about the coming year. That one choice spurred my path to join a Christian community, InterVarsity, and the best year of my life as I grew closer to God.
Fast Forward to This Year
I got up early, didn’t take a shower, threw my hair up, and ignored my nails. The cool thing about God is that you can be yourself, so I still wore a cute sundress. This morning, I was heading over to the InterVarsity table on campus to invite people to our large group meetings and my Bible study.
For New Student Outreach, my chapter set up an interactive art display called “Choices.” We invited students walking by to write on their hands a career, goal, or anything they desired for their lives as a way to initiate conversation and ask if God was involved in their decisions. Last year, I would have put lawyer or political correspondent for NBC on my hand.
This year I put in capital letters: TEACHER.
So I have a question for my class—you readers. Do you involve God in your choices? And a follow up question: Who are you?
I always hated when teachers would ask personal questions, but never give their answer to their question. Therefore, as the teacher in this piece, here is my answer to both questions: I strive to involve God in all my choices—for a choice without God leads to a fall in some aspect of my life and a choice with God brings joy. I am a child of God who desires to be used to serve, help and heal with the goal to show the love of God in a world that is broken.
Your turn.
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