I vividly remember walking into CCM for the first time to sign up for the SEARCH V retreat. I admit that I was nervous and resorted to pacing outside of the very large glass windows, wondering if I was welcome into the community. I finally mustered up the courage to walk through the door, because I knew that it was the first step to growing closer with Jesus. Before long, I was an active member in the Liturgical Choir and Orchestra, participating in Small Groups, went on numerous retreats, and served as a Student Leader for two wonderful years.
I am grateful that CCM offered me a faith community of people my age, and opportunities to grow my faith. However, I am most grateful for the way CCM shaped my relationship with Christ—I learned that He is not only my savior, but also my friend, teacher, and biggest source of comfort. He also has a weird sense of humor that helps to make life interesting!
After finishing my B.S. in Biology Education in 2016, I came back to DePaul and received my M.S. in Biology in 2019. I am now a Ph.D. student in Biology at Virginia Tech, happily married, and have two cats. My faith life certainly looks different than it did in college because I now have to “walk through the threshold” almost on a daily basis. In other words, I must choose Christ every day to maintain my relationship with Him, because the community and opportunities I had to help foster that are no longer a given and are hard to come by.
One motto I currently live by is that I never run out of time to do something; it’s that I didn’t make time to do something. So now, I consistently make time to talk and be with Him throughout my day to maintain that relationship. For instance, I say thank you for my bagel and the sunshine at breakfast, and we catch up again right before dinner to talk about the challenges and successes of the day. I make time to go to church every Sunday (though it has been virtual this past year) and find ways to incorporate faith in my everyday conversations—both with those who know Him, and those who are unfamiliar with His glory. While I am working on finding a faith community, my relationship with Christ will always continue to grow as long as I reach up to Him every day, knowing that He is reaching down to me in the very same way.
