Emily's Story

In her own words

I grew up in a Christian home, always going to church and hearing the Gospel. My family encouraged me to walk with the Lord. So when I accepted Christ as my Savior in the 6th grade I fully understood that Jesus died for my sins and loved me unconditionally. I knew that I couldn’t earn God’s grace but that I could trust Him to rescue me from my sins and give me eternal life if I believed in His Son.

But even knowing I belonged to God, I still struggled to give Him control of my life. In high school I started to drift away and I saw some relationships in my life suffer because I wasn’t walking with the Lord. I wanted to please the people in my life and I was scared to say no because I didn’t want to let people down. I also jumped into relationships that weren’t healthy or good for me. But during my senior year I started to see the Lord changing my heart and with that, my relationships with others began to improve and deepen. A big part of this change was my desire to be close with my Mom again, which hadn’t been true of our relationship during this time of me moving away from God.

On April 12, 2015, I finally realized how much I wanted to surrender control of my life to Christ and really begin walking with Him. I decided to be baptized and start fresh in my walk with the Lord. I wanted to have a real spiritual relationship with the One I could look up to and talk to. I wanted to be forgiven for the things I had done and move past them. While I still didn’t know what the Lord had planned for me, I began learning to trust Him in the unknown. Putting my faith in Christ gave me contentment in life, and that has only grown as I’ve learned to trust Him.

Ever since coming to Clemson University I have grown immensely in my faith. I have been listening to Him more and wanting to know and learn more about Him. Getting involved with Cru has been one of the best things I have done in college. The staff at Clemson and my fellow Cru-mates have really encouraged me to grow in my faith and to not be afraid to share it with others. I am being discipled and trained this semester in evangelism to prepare me to share my faith. Having friends that are well grounded in their faith can help keep you accountable and encourage you to grow and share your faith while having tons and tons of fun. At a conference over winter break I realized that God listens to every little thing in our heart and the need to rely on him in the midst of our struggles. I have trusted in Him for everything and have been encouraged daily to rely on God for everything in my life. God has recently taught me not to be timid and to share my faith and trust in Him with every step in life. Isaiah 12:2 says, “Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.” My walk with the Lord has had its ups and downs but I feel closer to Him than I ever have before.