Megan’s Story…

We met Megan about this time last year on Spring Break in Panama City Beach, FL.  We hung out with her and her crew 3 days in a row and have maintained relationships with a lot of them throughout this past year.  They were a cool bunch with great hearts and we are fortunate to have had the opportunity to build friendships with them.  Megan has had some revelations since then and her life has taken some incredible turns.  She wrote me the other day to share this story:

“Last year before spring break, I was living the college partying lifestyle. I had grown up in a Christian home, but as soon as I moved away to go to school all of the morals I had known suddenly disappeared. I didn’t care about anything and even though deep down I knew it was all wrong, I still continued to live that way and began to push God out of my thoughts and life in order to avoid feeling guilty for my actions. I was using my new found lifestyle to fill all of the emptiness in my life and to run from my problems instead of facing them.

I met the We Minus Me crew when my friends and I went to PCB last March. Even with our partying ways, they immediately showed us love and compassion right from the start. They never once judged us and they showed God’s love in many ways such as talking with us, showing kindness and care, hanging out with us and being positive influences. They showed me that even though God didn’t approve of the things I was doing, that he still loved me unconditionally and even though I pushed him away, he never left my side through it all. I will never forget my experiences with them and it has had an impact on me since. It made me look at how different my life had become, and how I didn’t want to be that person anymore. I wouldn’t admit it at the time, but I knew that I needed God to fill the emptiness I had in my life instead of the alcohol.

During this past year, Brenda became my We Minus Me mentor and has helped me out tremendously by always being there, sending me Bible verses, and encouraging me. It means the world to me and I am so grateful that Brenda and Russ have been in my life, even with the distance.

It took many months and a few more difficult times in my life, but I slowly started to put my trust back in God, and stopped my partying ways. My parents decided to move to Georgia for my dad’s job, and I moved back home from college in order to go with them for a new start. My mom and I had to stay back in Indiana for the next eight months waiting for the house to sell, while my dad was already living in Georgia. Through a lot of prayers and a miracle, our house finally sold during Christmas time.

It was an extremely difficult year for my family being apart, and even though it took me a very long time to realize this, I learned that God has a plan for each of us even when I don’t see it at the time. I now see that having to stay back was the best thing for me because I grew both spiritually and emotionally, and learned to appreciate the things in my life that I took for granted. Even though I still have a long way to go in my faith and life, I am proud of how far I have come and the progress I have made so far.”

It has been amazing to watch God work in Megan’s life and we are so blessed to have been part of her journey!