(Photo courtesy of Melissa Valle)

My journey with Jesus started off when I was 15. God brought me back to him in the same way a shepherd would handle an escaping sheep. By bending the sheep’s leg, it would be forced to rely on the shepherd. I had run amok, believing that I didn’t need any help from my shepherd. But when God put those trials in my life, I finally knew whom I needed most. I was the girl who never saw her own worth. Now, I see the eternal light that is Christ Jesus and I see myself as a daughter of the King.

When I was six years old, my family and I moved from LA County to Orange County. I was writing before I could even formulate sentences! I would write zigzagged lines and scribbles and then recite a story by “reading” the mess I made on paper. For a long time, however, I feared judgment and put writing on the side for two years. The grades that I’ve received on my essays in class have also brought down my passion. But I felt the Lord tugging on me and telling me to put my words down on paper again. I couldn’t ignore him any longer so I started writing again! I am a student at Biola University, and I am minoring in Biblical Studies and majoring in Elementary Education. All in all, however, what I seek to learn the most is how to be like Christ.

I am blessed to be a part of such an amazing movement! I am glad I get to use this gift God has given me to help young women further their relationships with him, help them be the light of the world, and give glory back to him in all things.