Picture 30,000 fans screaming and singing along to the song “Breakfast”
by the Newsboys. Fans are jumping up and down tossing boxes of Captain Crunch
cereal back and forth, thousands of lights are illuminating the night sky, and
speakers are pumping out the powerful lyrics sung by Peter Fuler. On this final
night of Sonshine Music Festival, Liberty
University recruiters
take the stage and pump up the crowd even more. They hand out an incredible
bass guitar to one ecstatic fan and a brand new Wii to a younger boy. It is
then that the crowd goes silent, because the biggest prize of all—a $16,000
scholarship to Liberty—is
about to be given away. There is a drum roll and the winner is announced.
Hundreds of feet away from the stage, a girl is standing by
the gates checking tickets. Her hands automatically begin to clap for the lucky
winner. She glances, confused, at her overly excited sister who is standing
next to her screaming and jumping up and down. The winner’s name finally
registers: it was her. It was me! Shock, joy, excitement, disbelief, and so
many more emotions overwhelm me. Realizing it was an academic scholarship, I
settled on an intellectual response to the situation—jumping up and down,
screaming alongside my sister. My suave
and stable response had an effect on the stream of people coming through the
gates. I had no idea who I was letting through the gate—anyone who jumped up
and down was good to go. There was only word that could describe that
moment—blessed (and, soon, a sore throat).
I was truly blessed four years ago when I went up to the Liberty University booth and received that
scholarship. I received a personal miracle from the Lord that night. Looking
back, it was not expressly about the money (although this college student is
still quite appreciative of the amount). At the time, it was more about God’s
clear and strong hand pointing me to a school across the country to where He
wanted to continue to work in my life in unimaginable and amazing ways. It was
an answer to a confused high school student’s prayer. At Liberty, I have received an incredible
education, the knowledge of who I am in Christ, and what it truly means to
follow my Lord and Savior.
As I now prepare to walk across that stage amid the
screaming cheers and yells from fans (okay, it’s my mom), I cannot help but
wish God would let me win another scholarship—one to tell me where He wants me
in the working world. However, I know God will provide in His perfect timing. I
would not trade the tears of frustration, the desperate prayers of direction,
and the growth I have gone through for any amount of money. I have never clung
tighter to Jesus than these past few months. The unknown of this world
terrifies me, but it also challenges and strengthens me, because I know that my
Redeemer lives and that He is at work. That is the only graduation gift I truly
need.
