Bridesmaids Yays!

I had the opportunity recently to ask a few of my friends and sisters in Christ if they would like to be my bridesmaids. I wrote to them each a card and during that process of writing, I was really reminded of my testimony. God has provided all the who, what, when, where, why, and hows that I needed to eventually come to faith. I was saved during my freshmen year in college after a Gospel night at my college ministry, Crossroads Campus Ministries, and I was challenged to grow in my faith in the years that followed at Berean Community Church.

I met Susan Lee, my maid of honor, through my CCM small group during my freshman year. Our time in small group was definitely entertaining simply because she had the deadliest natural facial expression ever which would make her intentional deathstares even more bone-crushing. My first impression of her was, "wow this girl is seriously out of her mind," but as time progressed, she became less of a ferocious dragon and more of a stuffed My Little Pony. As I got to spend more time with her in small group and individually, I started to learn about her deep genuine care for me as her sister. She is always eager to hear about what has been happening in my life so that she may be able to pray. I remember when Josh first met my mom's side of the family. Josh and I were nervous and I was even doubtful about how things would pan out. She encouraged and prayed for us as if she were one of us. This is her just an example of her most basic and general attitude towards me and I am truly thankful.

Jane Kang was also in the same CCM small group as Susan and I. She is the reason why we were named the clueless small group. There were many times in small group when she would have no idea what was going on in sg or what we were talking about, but it was through sg and CCM that I saw her love for serving others.  Because most of us in our sg and CCM class did not have cars, she would always be the one who would volunteer to be our chauffeur. We frequently saw each other freshmen year but as the years progressed, we started seeing each other less and less.  We always seem to run into each other in the most random places like parking lots, coffee beans, and jamba juices, but those spontaneous run ins always turned into times of encouraging fellowship.

When I first came into college, my close friends and I choose not to room together because we had heard rumors that it is hard to maintain friendships when close friends live together. We all signed up for random roommates and we all lived with people we never met. Rebekah Lee was a great blessing to me simply because God used her to keep me going to church initially. I know that if I did not have a friend who went to church with me, I would not go simply because I didn't want to go alone. It was through going to church with her that I was able to meet people who would eventually take me to CCM, where I first heard the Gospel and believed, and Berean, where I grew.  God obviously knew what I needed and provided for me a random, Christian roommate from norcal, who was used to bring me to a saving faith and growing Christ-likeness.

During my freshmen and sophomore year in college, the upperclassmen took the initiative to meet up with all the underclassmen to encourage discipling. Tammy Her asked to meet up with me a few times during those years which led to countless hours of talking in the car and eventually to discipling me this past summer and fall. I learned so much about her struggles and her desire to approach them in a Gospel centered way. The more I got to know her, the more challenged I was to also face my trials in the same way.

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It is evident that God has purposefully chosen and orchestrated the who, what, when, where, why, and hows in my life so that I may come to a saving faith in Him. He has so graciously done so because He loves and wants me to spend my life glorifying Him and my eternity with Him. This was enough for Him to send His only Son to live the perfect life that I could not and to die as my sacrifice that would cover all of my sins so that I can approach God. I am certain of this because God has raised Jesus from the dead and, in the same way, He will raise me to new life.