This weekend I had the pleasure of returning to my university for their homecoming week! Part of the celebration was recognizing three “Distinguished Alumni” given to selected post graduates from the last 50 years that Warner University has been established. I had the immense honor of being one of those recipients. 

I had a blast and couldn’t believe I was being honored alongside two such esteemed businessmen and leaders. Let me tell you, their reputations are as large as their statures, so take a look and you may understand the awe and disbelief I was feeling.

The day was like a dream as people came up to congratulate me everywhere I turned. The Warner staff made sure to know my name and help accommodate all of my desires, and members of the board wanted to hear my thoughts and ask me questions. Me! 

Students and faculty knew my face and recognized me as the recipient of the Young Alumni Award and I was delighted when they approached me to say hello. 

On the way home, I let a few tears slip down my cheeks, and whispered “thanks Jesus”. 

It was just a little over four years ago that I graduated from Warner with my degree in psychology. The few people who had managed to fight their way into my inner circle truly knew me and loved me. And I loved them.

However, for the majority of people at Warner, I was a stranger. A girl who worked in the bookstore, too afraid to make conversation with anyone. My experiences at Warner were made with my head down and my headphones in. Lunch was taken in my car, doors closed to the world and the people in it. Every day I arrived on campus, feeling insignificant and alone, doing my best to put on a pretty smile and a pretense of self-confidence until I could return home and truly feel free to be myself, not worrying if others would reject the “me” that I was. 

And on THIS day as i returned to my alma mater, I couldn’t help but revel in the reality that I have been....

completely 

made 

NEW.

Suddenly, I WANTED to talk to everyone I saw. 

I WANTED to connect with the other alumni, the board and the Warner staff. 

I didn’t care what people said about me or thought about me, if they found me weird or silly. I WANTED to love them and to tell them Jesus loves them whether they liked it or not!

Seeking out the people I remembered, I took time out of my day to track them down in their offices and tell them how happy I was to see them. 

I sat in the front row of the lectures being given, letting their wisdom and knowledge sink in, eagerly absorbing all they had to offer and asking for contact information afterwards (you know in case I ever make it to Nigeria ;). 

Walking those old, familiar hallways I felt my new purpose shining through, confident in the knowledge that this life is not my own to live. 

The joy of the Lord pushed my every step. 

How is it that a girl who never took a risk or moved outside her comfort zone, would leave everything she knew and travel the world for two years? 

How is it possible for someone who never spoke her thoughts, to become so bold with her words and the truth of Jesus that she can’t seem to pass a microphone without using it to blast the Good News?

Or that someone who only cared about herself, her image and getting what she wanted would devote her life to serving people, teaching them about the freedom that Christ offers?

How can it be, that a girl who almost no one in her graduating class knew or remembers, would come back to accept the prestigious honor of Distinguished Alumni? 

HOW?! 

That’s easy...

Jesus. 

In this picture of my acceptance, you can see displayed above my head "To God Be The Glory". I want to be a testament to the transformation that is done when you truly give your heart to Christ. He has made me into a new creation, and I am eternally grateful.

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation..." 2 Corinthians 5:17-18