Divine Appointments

Being in a church is a huge part of my life, and so coming to Clemson I was a little upset about not being able to go to my church from back home but at the same time I was so excited about being able to find a new church and have a new pastor! The first week I tried DCF and I immediately fell in love with it. The church is so different from my church back at home which I think is what I was looking for because I realized that I am not the same person that I used to be. This week at DCF we talked about trials that God puts us through and it was hard for me to listen because God is putting me through a trial right now. Recently I have been feeling such frustration in my life. I have been so caught up in my "Christian bubble" that I haven't notice those who were striving for a friendship outside of that bubble. Everyday in Schilleter (which is our dining hall) we go to the back section and it is basically all FCA or YoungLife people and while it was awesome at first being able to sit with 30 of my friends it has now turn into something that I don't enjoy as much. I hate how we can all be so comfortable just sitting there and not forming personal relationships with one another because there are literally 20 conversations going on at once around you. As soon as I realized that God was putting me in this for me to learn a lesson, I immediately opened my eyes to what he was trying to show me. He was showing me that I am missing hundreds of lost people that are sitting around me that I could begin a friendship with. So not telling anyone I started fighting this battle alone and it was truly miserable, I hated sitting with all the people and no one really knew why. I was a lot quieter when we were in the big group which was so something I am not usually like. So I finally told a few people and then my small group and it was such a relief. I found out that I wasn't the only one but I was just the one that was feeling it the most. My small group leader told me that she has been dealing with this for a long time and she had told us about it before and so that's why I knew I could tell her. Her advice was to have such an overflowing passion of God that it flows onto those around me. I was like okay I can so do that! Then I was reading my book for Quest "Out of the Salt Shaker" and I was convicted once again because really I hadn't changed anything throughout my days to make it look different. "How could I be the salt of the earth if I can't ever get out of the saltshaker?" That was the question I was asking myself for a week. I was praying for God to give me BOLDNESS and I wanted him to stretch me and put me in situations that I wasn't comfortable with but I knew that those people would be put in my life as DIVINE APPOINTMENTS.

"We loved you so much that we were delighted to share not only the

gospel of God but our lives as well."

-1 Thessalonians 2:8

So after praying this for about a week, I went to a mission trip meeting last night for my upcoming trip to Chicago with FCA over spring break! We found out what our ministry was for the week and my group is none other than Street Evangelism.... My first reaction was "you have got to be kidding me" but then I realized this is exactly what I have been praying for. God is going to give me the BOLDNESS to go out to the streets of Chicago and form meaningful relationships with people who are striving for love in some way or another. I also realized that this was the answer to my trial that God had been putting me through. He was putting me through the trial so that I would be prepared and excited to be doing street evangelism. If he hadn't put me through the trial of being frustrated with my "bubble" then I can assure you I would have seriously been dreading going on the mission trip and I would have had the worst attitude in the world! It is one of the most incredible things how God provides in so many ways! I can't wait to be in Chicago in 19 days and having conversations with people that I would never expect to be having because I know that they will be put in my life as DIVINE APPOINTMENTS.

Full Obedience to HIM

Being a freshman, I have been trying to decide where I want to get involved on the campus, whether it was through FCA or through YoungLife. I thought YoungLife at the beginning of the year, but then I shut out God and decided that I didn't want such a huge time commitment as YoungLife was and shut that door. Over Christmas break, I was constantly praying for God to tell me what he wanted me to do with my life! Over Christmas break it was very clear that God wanted me to open the door back to YoungLife. I also knew that he wanted me to be involved with the middle school kids which is called WyldLife. My senior year of high school, I decided to start a 6th grade girls lunch. Once a month after church, we would get together and go eat lunch downtown and just form wonderful relationships! I came to Clemson, truly missing every single one of those precious girls. I knew right then thinking about them, that if I decided to do YoungLife I would do WyldLife because I could have such a strong impact of the lives of middle school girls. I came back to school and went to the first week of training and it was beyond incredible the excitement and thrill that I had after that night! I knew that it was exactly where I belonged and that nothing was going to change that. A week after break, we went to Sharptop Cove and I got to serve as a cook for the Tri-County region YoungLife and that experience was beyond incredible! That weekend seems like just yesterday but it was over a month ago that we got to serve hundreds of high schoolers. We now only have 3 weeks left until interviews and I am beyond excited to know that this is what God has called me to do with my life! God has been doing some crazy things in my life, the past couple of months and he has been pulling me out of my comfort zone in ways I could have never possibly imagined! Through this whole experience I have been challenged to give FULL obedience over to Him and to just have an overflowing amount of passion and love for Him so that I can share it with everyone that is around me! I know that by doing that, everything in my life will go just the way that He planned which is possibly one of the most reassuring things that anyone could ever tell me!

My friend Maddie and I cooking baked beans at Sharptop! (Something I will NEVER do again!!)

All About Me!

Hey y'all! My name is Mary Margaret and I am a freshman at Clemson University! My hometown is Greenville, SC. I am majoring in Elementary Education and couldn't imagine it any other way! I have a strong passion for working with kids and an even stronger passion for Christ! So far being at Clemson has been one incredible journey and I know that it is just beginning! 

"Do not worry about anything but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."

-Philippians 4:6