Have you ever felt stuck? Or maybe even overwhelmed by so much that you feel like you are immobile and you don’t know what to do next? I don’t know about you, but that has been the definition of my life in the past few weeks. A couple weeks ago, I started my junior year of college. Wow, let me tell you, people are right when they say that junior year is the hardest year yet. I find myself sitting in each class completely overwhelmed with all of the projects and assignments that are due. But a couple of days ago, I got a call. This call completely changed my perspective on my feelings of being overwhelmed. So, let me tell you a story.
As some of you might know, Crown of Life is a business that is centered around giving back to a mission called Ysleta Lutheran Mission in El Paso, Texas. Since starting this business, I have been in contact with the director of the mission. After hearing of our plans, the director told me that he wanted to give me a call. As my phone rang that day, I’m not going to lie, I was a little nervous. Nervous that he wouldn’t accept our plans. Nervous that everything would fall through. Just nervous.
During that call, the director of the mission shared that we were essentially a small answer to their prayers. Recently, Ysleta has been going through a severe financial crisis. Their church is falling apart, they can only give minimal support to the church across the border, and their mission stands at a point where they can only have a total of 4 people on staff. What was strange to me is that as he was telling me all of this, he ended with “we have to continue to pray and remember who we serve. We serve so that others may hear the Word of God, and to us, that is priceless.”
After that call, I came to realize how silly I look. How can I be THIS overwhelmed by school? Why haven’t I put my strength in God? As I continued to think, I decided to take a look back at the foundation of why James and I started Crown of Life. In the first chapter, James tells us to “count it all joy”. Count all your trials (homework, deadlines, projects, etc.) and hardships as joy and remain steadfast in the Lord through all of it. Those who do so will receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who love him. As easy as that may sound, that is a hard task. Our line, Persevere, hopes to serve as a reminder to do just that. To hold fast to the truth and stay focused on what really matters.
With that, thank you for supporting Crown of Life and journeying with us through this new adventure. While it may not be easy, we are looking forward to the opportunity to grow and learn together both in our relationship with each other and our relationships with God.
We hope you enjoy our first line, PERSEVERE and keep your eye out for the next one!! Until then, COUNT IT ALL JOY!
God’s Blessings,
Kiah Bakken