Blog

“I don’t want partners because they’re not going to do the things I want to do. I realized at the core of that is sin ... It’s lighter when you’re doing things in community versus doing things by yourself.

I’ve met Jesus in many places throughout my life.

At church camp when I was 10 years old. At youth group worship nights. In the loft of my home church where we did Sunday school and in the worn pews of the chapel.

But I didn’t truly know Jesus—truly understand his character or how to have an intimate relationship with him—until I met him at the University of South Florida (USF).

You probably haven’t thought about the things I have seen. The connections made. The smiles, the surprises, that look someone gets in their eyes when they feel seen and wanted for maybe the very first time.

Oh, dear students, how key I am to the mission you are on! I am a tether, a lifeline between you and a fresh face, a homesick individual awash in a sea of endless possibilities and ever-present absences. I am hope itself.

“Hey is everything okay at Abundant Life?! My dad just told me there was an active shooter...”

That was the first text I saw when I went on my lunch break on December 16, 2024, and it was followed by many others. People I hadn’t talked to in months, even years, bombarded me with questions. Many of them were the same: Were my siblings okay? The worst part was that I didn’t know.