Whitney’s Story

I’m 22, I’m a nursing student, I live in Athens, I have 2 sisters, 2 parents, a dog, and I’m engaged. I grew up in a Christian home, but I never understood what it meant to have a relationship with Christ, I thought going to church, praying and reading your Bible was the extent of knowing God.

10th and 11th grade was a rough time for me, and it was entirely my fault, my only friends were not good friends at all, and I chose the wrong path by hanging out with the wrong kind of guys and doing things that I knew were wrong.  Maybe because I was always the innocent one and I was tired of that reputation or maybe because I liked the attention or maybe because I already felt guilty so I didn’t see the point in changing.  My relationship with my parents was going down hill too and they knew the things I was up to.

Senior year I tried to be different, and was in a 1 year or so relationship, but God wasn’t in it either. We broke up around graduation because I wanted to have a relationship with God. Well, it was a lot harder than I thought and I messed up off and on.

Freshman year at UGA, I was around amazing Christian friends, got plugged in to different college ministries and felt my love for God growing.  I met an amazing man who I aspired to be like because of His strong faith and spiritual intelligence. We were good friends, than started dating and fell in love. I knew he was the strong one in our relationship and we kept everything slow, but I put too much on his shoulders and we ended up going too far with our relationship, but we made boundaries and tried strongly not to break them, which we failed at times.We have been together for 3 years, and became engaged 5 months ago.

I joined small group in August (4 months ago) through Jordan Cooper, who is in my nursing school class. I felt like I needed something more than Sunday church services and wanted a group of girls in which I could share my heart and have to help me follow Christ closer.  My small group has been more than I could have ever wanted, I could seriously cry just thinking about what they have done in my life. I have never been in a small group where we share our hearts, not just the Bible.  Justin, my fiance and I have remained pure this semester- although it’s extremely difficult it’s so much easier when you have accountability. I have loved learning everyone’s story and how similar we all are as women.  I have recognized wounds and fears that I never knew I had and I have learned how to stop worrying and fearing and just trust God whole-heartedly. I’m excited for next semester, I know we will all grow even more.

-Whitney