I’m finally graduating!

After two years at The Company—after countless assignments, hours spent hunched over a keyboard typing, a couple of tears, and a lot of laughter—I’m saying goodbye to my time here as a student.

Naturally, as seasons change, I’ve begun to reflect on the past two years. Who I was two years ago and who I am now seem like completely different people. They even look different, too.

During my time in the program, I’ve learned so much about writing, life, and Jesus. But I want to share the best thing I’ve learned since coming out here, and that’s this.

Say yes to Jesus.

No matter how scary, no matter how tough. No matter if you know how you’re going to do it or not. Say yes to him. Say yes to whatever he has called you to do. And then, once you say yes and you take that leap…you’ll have to say yes every single day to stay with it. In the small moments that seem insignificant. In the moments that strike more fear in your heart than you ever thought possible. Those moments in the gas station when God tells you to go talk to a stranger or to pray for someone in the mall. Say yes to Jesus.

How to Say Yes

I had three months to prepare to move from Nevada to Ohio, three months to say goodbye, and three months to decide what I was going to bring and what I was going to leave. There weren’t many moments in those three months of waiting when I wanted to back out of my “yes,” but those moments did happen.

I remember getting in the car after hugging each of my siblings goodbye and realizing I was going to miss their teenage years. For two years, I’d be off in Ohio, and they would be back home, growing up without me. I wouldn’t be there when they learned to drive; I wouldn’t be there for their proms or their formals. I wouldn’t be there for their first boyfriends and first breakups. Whatever was going to happen in the next two years, I would hear about it over the phone instead of in person.

The car door shut, my heart dropped, and tears started to flow down my cheeks. I looked at my dad as we drove out of the driveway and down the street.

“Wait—” I said. “I haven’t thought this all the way through, can we think for a second before you drop me off at the airport?”

“Nope!” He said. “I already paid your tuition. You’re doing this.”

There will be things that you have to give up. Every single “Yes” you give is saying “No” to something else.

But I would rather say “No” to something else—even something as important as my family—than to say “No” to what God has called me to.

The last two years were hard. I cried—like a lot. But I laughed more. I grew closer to the person God designed me to be. I shed off things of this world, denounced lies that the enemy had spoken over me for years, and I’ve accomplished so much!

If I’d said “No” to this major life move that God had for me, I would never have experienced his wonderful plans. I’d never have gotten to meet any of the people out here, joined a new church, wrestled pigs, been to the Asbury Revival. So much good has come out of it.

And I’m not finished. This isn’t an end to my story or the start of something new. I’m going to keep doing what I’ve been doing since coming out to Ohio, which is writing for Jesus.

God has some amazing things planned for my life…and he has amazing things planned for your life, too.

All you have to do is say yes 😊

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