After my friend Hanna and I finished talking about our life goals, school and created a faith line, it was time for me to put my faith into action. So I applied for the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) online to see how much assistance I could receive financially. When I was finished with that, upon prayer and deep consideration, I applied to college. Ready to face the unknown with God, I worked hard to diligently follow His lead, even though there were complications along the way.

The first one appeared when I applied for the FAFSA through an agency that wanted to charge me. At that time, I didn't know that it should've been free. So I reversed the charges, canceled their services, and had to start all over again through the right application found on www.fafsa.ed.gov. The following day I received an email congratulating me for a grant that covered a portion of my tuition fees—my net was starting to fill thanks to God’s diving blessing!

Then I visited my college, after numerous unanswered and unreturned phone calls for guidance over what steps I needed to take next. The financial advisor was helpful and I accepted my Pell Grant, and a reasonable sized student loan. But then came a second challenge to my faith! Some of my forms were not filled out correctly and I was being charged out-of-state tuition, almost tripling the cost. I continued to make more unanswered, but persistent phone calls and emails until my residency was finally changed and I was switched over to an in-state tuition fee.

Soon after, a third test of faith came, but this one was more personal. My grant did cover a large portion of my in-state tuition fees. So now I still had a large loan that could essentially be used for anything I wanted. In my financial situation, that felt like security. But it was false security.

I asked God for guidance and wisdom, and He answered me with exactly what I needed to hear through a friend and former ABC classmate, David Jones. When I expressed to him my confusion over this shadowy blessing, David very plainly said to me, “that money isn’t yours. Proverbs tells us that we are a ‘slave to the lender’. As soon as you get that extra money, send it back. Trust in God for the rest.” And that is precisely what I am going to do.

I’ve been given challenges, but my faith is still on the line. I am still waiting upon Him to entirely provide the financial means for college. My job is to continue to act in firm belief on His direction in my life because afaith line isn’t a wish list. God’s standards, His guidance and wisdom will always apply to living a life that is pleasing to Him. That means there will be tough decisions to make, but we never have to let go of the confidence we can have in our God who wants to give us the absolute best. 

To get the background of my story and this week's blog, please clicking on the link below.

Here's to Casting Your Net on the Other Side - Part 1