A Day In The House Of God

Where do you spend your time? What influences are around you? We are judged by the company we keep. Why? Because the Bible says in 1 Cor. 15:33 that, "Bad company corrupts good character." Time and time again, I've witnessed this statement to be true. Think about it. How do the people you hang out with influence you? If you don't think they do, think again. What would you be like if you had a completely different set of friends? Say, the the group you think are losers or, the popular people or, the thespians? Would you still act and think the same? Would you hang out at the same places and do the same things that you do now? Most likely not.


Perhaps the most influential time in a person's life, where peer pressure is the greatest, is in high school. The Lord was gracious enough to bless me with an amazing group of friends who nurtured my relationship with Jesus and influenced me to make good life choices. As a matter of fact, some of them are my closest friends, even today and I am blessed to have them in my life.

As I was about to enter my Junior year in high school, my parents gave me the option of switching schools. I was attending a private, Christian school at the time and was given the choice of moving to a public high school instead. I realized that the public school offered a better education, various clubs to join, more competitve and rigorous classes and probably better opportunities to get into good colleges. So, I prayed intensely about my decision, knowing that it would affect the rest of my life. I knew, that if I left the Christian school, I would most likely not see my friends as much and could even lose contact with them because I'd make new friends. The determining factor, in my mind, soon became the question of whether or not I'd be able to stand for Christ in a public school.

There was a great possibility that I'd have no Christian friends to back me up, that I'd be surrounded by swearing, sex, drugs, and who knows what else on a daily basis. Was I ready to face that, to stand against that? Would I be a witness of Christ to those around me or would I give in to peer pressure and compromise the morals I'd held fast to for so long? As I prayed, I also went through the motions of changing schools. My parents notified both schools of the switch and I went with them to pick out my classes at the public school. All that was left was the final paperwork to complete the registration process.

The night before I went to sign the papers I sought the Lord again because up until that point, I hadn't received an answer from Him. Then, as I was reading the Bible, one section stood out to me. This was one of those moments where the words actually pop out of the page, light up and stare you in the face. I mean, what God spoke to me was clear as day. The passage was 2 Peter 1:3-11. The title of section was "Making One's Calling and Election Sure." Would that catch your attention?! Coincidence? I think not. Not the night before I was going to sign papers that would possibly change the course of my life. Not when I had just seconds before asked God how I could know if I could live for Him in the midst of all the peer pressures of a public high school. No coincidence there. The Lord heard my prayer and answered at exactly the right time.

As I read through that passage, I realized that I did not, at that point in my life, possess the qualities mentioned to stand for Christ or be a witness for Him. I would indeed fall and compromise. So the answer was clear and I went to my mom that night and let her know that I had changed my mind and would in fact stay in my Christian school. Although I didn't have the kind of academic opportunities I would have had in public school, the Lord still blessed me with the ability to go to a great private University in Texas. I graduated with a B.A. in Telecommunications (film/tv) and was able to land a job in that field. I am soon on my way to pursuing a Master's Degree in digital design. God has been faithful to me throughout the years and continually blesses me in every way.