(written on October 12th, 2015)

Right when I thought I had everything planned out, God threw me a curve ball.
Do you ever feel like Daniel being thrown into the lion’s den? Well, today I feel like him.

I was supposed to have all semester long to prepare for Capture, which is APU’s student TV broadcast news. I wasn’t supposed to be the main news anchor, until December and was planning on training all the way up until then. But today, I was informed that I have to start sooner than expected. Gulp! (edited 10-27-2015)

What a blessing right?! Truly, I am so thrilled to be anchoring in two weeks! But God are you sure I am ready now? The God I know is a humorous God. He loves to throw me into situations that really test my faith, and I Love Him for that. In the end, through lots of hard work, His plans always make me a stronger person. I can almost hear Him at times whispering in my ears, “So you say you’re a Christian? Well then, lets see if you have enough faith in Me…”

I am here to tell you that hey, this is life! Sometimes you have to jump into situations with two feet and land in a dark, damp cave…who knows there may even be hungry lions waiting to devour you down there. But luckily God will never leave you. I have learned from the past that God’s plans are always bigger and better than I could ever imagine for myself and He never throws me or anyone into something they cannot handle.

I don’t know if you’ve heard why I ever decided to pursue broadcast journalism, but here is the sort of short version…

Similar to many people I always wanted a job that would never be boring. Cubicles? I think not! I need to talk to people and hear people speak and tell their stories. I want to live a life where each day is different from the rest. The only job I could think of where I knew things would never get boring is a job in television. Thinking about speaking in front of millions of viewers chills my bones, but in a way that is thoroughly exhilarating! Kind of like how cliff divers feel, I would assume. It’s that uncontrollable sensation where you can’t fully rely on yourself to make it out alive.

Yes I get nervous talking…like all the time! I sometimes wonder if I’m making any sense when I do? Or if I sound smart enough? But tackling these fears and insecurities of mine is something I am called to do. I need to become a news anchor because it’s the only job where I would have to completely rely on my faith in Jesus to ever be successful and I won’t give up until that happens. With my love of predictability God throws me into one of the most unpredictable places… a newsroom. I believe that sometimes God puts you in an uncomfortable position to really show you all that you can do and how bright you can shine.

Today I learned that God is really good at throwing curve balls. In the end all you can do is go with the flow and have faith. Some Bible verses that have helped me build confidence are listed below:

Philippians 4:13 “I can do all this through Him who gives me strength.”

1 Corinthians 10:13 “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”

Joshua 3:7 “And the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses.’”

Matthew 17:20 “He replied, ‘Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.’”

2 Timothy 1:7 “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.”

Deuteronomy 31:6 “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

In case you were wondering how it all went… here is my first time anchoring the news! God was there with me every step of the way and once again He reminds me that I can do all things, even the things I am most insecure about.