If anyone had told me during my senior year of high school that I would soon be attending Cedarville University, I would have rolled my eyes. I knew Cedarville was a school centered on Christ, but I did not think it was for me. As I look back, now, it’s true that Cedarville wasn’t for me — it was for Christ. After ending up in places and circumstances that I could have never imagined myself to be in, I’ve come to realize that God doesn’t align His will based on who I am; He guides me where He does because of His work through Christ in me. I am not my own.
Shortly after moving onto a college campus, only an hour–long drive from my house and in a familiar city, I second-guessed my decision. I had just been at Cedarville the weekend before, helping my brother get moved in during Getting Started Weekend. It had been a bittersweet weekend with family, and I remember feeling quite confident about my brother attending school there. As my family and I separated from my brother, we went to a parent Q & A session with the president of the university, Dr. White. As he sat up front talking and responding to questions, I realized that all I knew to be true about the biblical standard we are called to live by was expected of the students here. I agreed with what he said. I wanted to live that way.
Later, while home over the weekend from the college I had just moved into, I chatted at church with a local college professor. When I told her I was considering transferring to Cedarville for the spring semester, she encouraged me to apply for the current semester. That Sunday afternoon, I opened a Cedarville application for Fall 2022. I quickly requested recommendation letters. Within 72 hours of turning in my application, I received an acceptance email and headed to Cedarville’s campus — a week after classes had started. Although I came over a week after Getting Started weekend, I adjusted quickly to the Cedarville community through bro-sis brunch and participating in the University Orchestra.
While God graciously allowed me to adjust quickly to college classes and campus life, it would be a longer journey for me to reorient my sense of home in light of now being four hours away from my family. But through my time at Cedarville, God reshaped my idea of home.
However, I still met difficulties. When moving to and living in a different place, it takes time to discover a renewed sense of home. My freshman year, Sundays were some of the loneliest days I would experience on campus. It was an unfamiliar place — of course I was not going to feel at home right away. Even through feelings of loneliness, we can take comfort in God, but it requires our trust in Him.
As I started my second semester at Cedarville, I got involved at my church, volunteering in their Awana program. While I didn’t notice a sense of belonging at first, by the end of the semester, I had developed connections with the kids and their families. Cedarville University encourages their students to be plugged into a local church community, and I can attest that this is a central part of understanding where our home is. Houses, towns, and states we live in will change throughout our lives, but the house of God remains the same, even if his children gather in different cities and denominations around the globe. Christ is our true home. Being in community with our brothers and sisters in Christ while on this earth is the closest we can get to experiencing our future heavenly home which will never change nor grow old.
While it took time for me to develop a sense of home at Cedarville, attending a university away from my physical home has been a way God has graciously reshaped my conception of home, and He has given me a deeper desire for my heavenly home.
Psalm 27:14 reminds us, “Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!”
We wait for the Lord through many passing moments in this life. When I read verses like Psalm 27:14, I am reminded that I am waiting for something far more glorious than even the daily needs I face that my Lord attends for me.
This fall, I joined a life group at my church called Ladies of All Ages. Each Sunday I sit down with my sisters in Christ who have walked with Him longer than I have, and I am deeply encouraged in my faith by the endless requests and praises they offer to the Lord regardless of their hardships.
While Sundays used to be lonely days for me at Cedarville, through consistently investing in my church family, I no longer feel alone. Even when I do, I can trust in Christ, knowing I am not alone because He is with me always.
Buying lights for your dorm room, calling your parents, and texting siblings is one way to reminisce feelings of home while you’re at Cedarville, but I’ve found that being faithful to God in meeting with His church is how the believer can make home anywhere they are.
“Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.” –1 Thessalonians 5:23-24
Major and Year of Graduation: English, class of 2026.
Favorite Study Spot: My room!!!
Favorite Music Artist: Bach.
Favorite Quote: “It doesn’t hurt to be kind” (The Man Who Knew Too Much, 1955).
What do You Like to do in Your Free Time? I like to take walks with friends or try a new craft. I recently rebound my Bible!
Favorite Bible Verse: 2 Peter 3:13.
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Posted in: College Life, Experience, Student Life