Since second grade, I have attended school on the same campus, gone to Sabbath school at the same church, and taken all the Bible classes offered through my Adventist school. My mom is a K-2 teacher in the Rocky Mountain Conference, resulting in a life dominated by Adventist education. However, since I grew up in the church, it was hard to feel as if I truly owned my faith. I had teachers who would start classes off with a devotional and pray, but I never felt firm in my faith in God. This all changed my junior year of high school.
That summer, my life was turned upside down. My parents were getting a divorce and my faith in Jesus had hit the rocks. I was struggling mentally, socially, spiritually, and physically. In Adventist education, we are gifted with the opportunity to take challenging and even dual-credit classes, participate in sports teams, join music groups, and take on student leadership roles. These aspects of Adventist education are supposed to help students grow individually. But when I needed it most, it felt too overbearing. I had taken on too much responsibility, leading myself in a spiral of failure, doubt, and avoidance. I had grown farther and farther from God.
On Friday night during a leadership weekend at Campion Academy, I was struck with the feeling that I couldn’t come out of this alone. I knelt before God and prayed even though my heart wasn’t fully committed. He impressed upon me the memory of what my Bible teacher, Chaplain Lindsey Santana, had said about God: “When you don’t know what to do, open your Bible. God will tell you what you need to hear.”
I wanted to avoid what I needed to do in order to escape this rut. I tried my own way of thinking, thought out any other plan in my mind, but nothing came. The only thing that was firm, constant, and loyal was God and His promises. So, at rock bottom on a dark, starry night, I opened my Bible up at random to Psalm 71:5-6. “For you have been my hope, Sovereign Lord, my confidence since my youth. From birth I have relied on you; you brought me forth from my mother’s womb. I will ever praise you.” That night, I went home crying and praising with joy. I had the reassurance that even though this tsunami felt like it was destroying me, God would still be my lifeboat. Psalm 71 became my favorite chapter in the Bible, and for the rest of my junior year, I relied on it when I needed encouragement. At the end of the school year, I decided to apply as student chaplain for Campion, and I got the job.
All summer leading up to my senior year, I felt as if I wasn’t good enough to lead the school in the position of student chaplain. As I turned to Psalm 71:7-8, I realized that this is God’s plan and there is no fault in it. “I have become a sign to many; you are my strong refuge. My mouth is filled with your praise, declaring your splendor all day long.” My senior year has brought many different kinds of mountains and valleys. Each morning, I ask God to work through me, in order for every person I encounter to see Jesus.
Chaplain Santana has helped me grow in my faith by encouraging me with Bible verses and through her Sabbath school messages. She cheers me on and lifts me up spiritually. Whenever I’m in need of a pick me up snack, hug or a prayer, she is there for me.
I thank God each day for blessing me with Chaplain Santana and for the opportunity to attend Adventist education. As I move from Campion to college, and other opportunities this life has to offer, I will remember the lessons this place has taught me: to have courage and know that God has a plan for everything. But more than anything, I will remember that my faith can’t be inherited; it has to be chosen. For years I knew of God, but I didn’t know God. My faith and relationship with Him became real when I stopped trying to live this life on my own and began to rely on Him completely. The same God who guided me at rock bottom continues to guide me each day, and wherever life takes me, I will ever praise Him.
Evie Lange is 1st place winner of the 2025 OUTLOOK Student Writers Contest.
