I didn’t grow up in church. I didn’t grow up in a religious family. I would go to church with my neighbor when I slept over at her house some weekends, but not because I wanted to. Later on, as I grew up, I always had a thought that maybe there was a God, but I was still not fully believing in this religion that most of my friends grew up in. Throughout middle and high school, I had friends who would try to get me to come to church or go to youth groups, but I didn’t budge. My best friend, Maddie, especially would try to get me to go, and thankfully, my “No thank you’s” didn’t change how persistent she was (and as you’ll see later, the Lord answered her prayers!). In high school, as my classmates started to drink and party, I felt a pull to be a part of that and be in the “cool” group. I got into drinking with my friends, smoking weed, gossiping, and doing all the other things a teenage girl wanted to do in high school. Later, I got into a relationship with someone who was a believer. At one point in our relationship, I wasn’t loyal to him, and we broke up. I tried so hard to get back together with him, and he told me that if I wanted to be with him again, I had to go to church. So, I said okay. At first, I was very timid because church was a foreign thing to me—God was a foreign thing to me! I eventually started to develop my relationship with the Lord, but I still craved the party scene. Fast forward to my freshman year at Indiana University: I had broken up with my high school boyfriend and was always looking for a party to go to with my friends. I was consumed by the “freshman year life” but still went to church on Sundays and occasionally read my Bible. But on January 28th, 2023, I got a call from my father saying that my parents were getting a divorce. I dropped to my knees and sobbed. This wasn’t supposed to happen to my family. As I dealt with this during the rest of my freshman year, it really hit me that I couldn’t do this alone. I couldn’t go through this life-changing, devastating time alone. I had my friends, but that wasn’t the support and love I needed. It was God’s. I realized that parties weren’t going to save me. Getting drunk or high wasn’t going to save me. Jesus was going to save me. I gave my life to Jesus Christ in April 2024, and it was the best decision of my life. Fast forward to August 2024, going into my sophomore year at IU. After my first shift working at a bagel shop in Bloomington, I had a dream of opening my own business. I dropped out of college and started working full-time, hoping to own my own shop one day. I was considering opening it in Nashville because that’s where my dad lived. I did market research for months, created a business plan—all of the good stuff. I soon realized that job was leaving me hopeless, drained, and lost. I wasn’t in an environment where I could grow as a person or in my work position. I knew I wanted to work for myself and develop a Christ-centered environment. Not long after having this realization, I met Evan. My life changed for the better. He led me to Christ by asking me questions that really made me think about who God is, what He’s like, and why He does the things He does. Being with Evan made me dig deeper into my relationship with Christ and learn more about Him beyond the surface-level things I used to read. Evan helped me realize my worth as a person and in Christ. He saw the potential in me that I didn’t know I had! Now, here we are, following our dreams of being our own bosses, not being scared to represent Christ, and making Him the first and foremost focus of our business. We want to share the gospel and make Him known. God was the light to my path. All of this happened for a reason. No matter how hard it was—the suffering, the pain—it was all for a bigger reason and picture that I wasn’t going to see in the moment. Some verses that I tended to look back to: - Isaiah 43:18-19: “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” - 1 Peter 5:10: “And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm, and steadfast.” - Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” This is my testimony, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
coming soon...
