evidenceisallaround

[evidenceisallaround]

Evidence: It’s All Around Us

Evidence is a creative project looking at how Jesus affects the lives of those who permit him to; a series of individuals share their attitudes about faith and provide a glimpse into how faith shapes their ‘normal’ life.

(4/24/18)

Name: Sam

Age: 20

Q: Finish the sentence: If I could be anybody besides myself I would be… Jesus. To me he’s the perfect being. I mean that’s something I can never be because only Jesus can be Jesus, but if I could be I would. From what I live and what I believe that should always be goal: to be like Jesus.

Q: When you die, what do you want to be remembered for? Can I say I don’t actually want to be remembered? I think there’s just a beauty in not being seen actually. But I struggle with that where I feel like I wanna be seen, but there’s a beauty in like if the world doesn't see me I know God sees me, and I’m fully content with that. So I don’t really want or need to be remembered by the world…It’s be nice I guess but I don’t have to be remembered.

Q: What’s a misconception that you’ve had about God while growing in your faith? I think a misconception I’ve had and I’m still dealing with is that He’s cold, where he sends suffering, he sends bad, which is actually not true. It may look like it sometimes but It’s not true, I think that’s like the biggest misconception. Biggest misconception was that He was white, people think He’s white like on Bibles you got this white dude with a beard holding a lamb and stuff.

Q: Do you see God more like a father or a friend? I think it changes, a lot. He’s everything, I don’t think He’s ever one thing. I think the reason why God is God and the reason why He’s such a good person to follow is because He can be a father when He wants to be a father, and He can be a friend when He wants to be a friend. He’s willing to be all of those things for us.

Q: What has it taken for you to grow closer to God in intimacy? Suffering, it has taken a lot of suffering and learning to love suffering. Not learning to love the essence of what suffering is but sometimes I need to suffer because God suffered, so I feel I suffer in order to get to know him better. Because I’m so stubborn as a human and because I’m so foolish, the only way sometimes that I can learn is to suffer. And it sucks sometimes, but it takes a lot of suffering for me in order to learn. The Bible says you should delight in suffering and you should always want to suffer, so I think I actually resonate with those verses very well. Like I don’t desire to suffer but I do, its very weird. I hate it but that’s the cost of following Jesus, its the best and its worth it.

Q: What’s one scripture or passage from the Bible that you hold very dearly? Ecclesiastes 3:1, It talks about how there’s a time for every season. Basically I love that verse because it tells me to have full trust and faith in Jesus in whatever position I am in my life, understanding that all seasons come from the same hand, and like if there’s something I want that pleases God there will be a season for that and I need to be patient. If there’s something that I don’t want to go through but it pleases God, there will be a season for that. I’ts just like trusting and having faith in God and letting go all of myself, like I can have feelings and opinions but in the end just letting the seasons come. So yeah whatever season of life I’m in or whatever season of life will come it’s all God.

Q: Where do you think you would be if you didn’t have your faith? I don’t know, I feel like I’d probably be homeless, I feel like I’d probably be in jail actually. Maybe I’d be in the hospital, it just wouldn’t look good. Actually scratch that, If I didn’t have faith I’d probably be dead right now. I was a very angry kid, I got into a lot of fights. My childhood wasn’t good, my relationship with my parents weren’t good and I was by myself most of the time. I was very lonely, I was a troubled kid and I was angry. Church is what gave me hope in the beginning, it wasn’t Jesus that gave me hope it was church and the people there that gave me hope, then eventually it became Jesus. If that wasn’t there, then there were times when I was very low and suicide was a thought and was attempted, and I believe that only Jesus has kept me alive, and that’s why I think I’d be dead if I didn't have faith.

Q: Where do you see the evidence of Jesus in your life? Kind of like what I already said, like me actually being alive is something that is evidence, like me sitting here is evidence of Jesus in my life. Just where I’m at right now, the friends I have, the blessings that I have, the love that I’ve received I’ve done nothing to gain those things, I’ve done nothing to deserve these things without Jesus. Without me loving Jesus and without him being in my life I wouldn't have the friends I have right now, I wouldn't be where I’m at right now. My whole life has been shaped by God and He’s shaped who I am right from the get go. So that’s how I see Him my life just by looking around me, looking around at my friends and seeing my friends and experiencing the things I experience, especially the love I that experience is the way I see God in my life.

Ecclesiastes 3:1

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven

[evidenceisallaround]

Evidence: It’s All Around Us

Evidence is a creative project looking at how Jesus affects the lives of those who permit him to; a series of individuals share their attitudes about faith and provide a glimpse into how faith shapes their ‘normal’ life.

(4/17/18)

Name: Iyanna

Age: 19

Q: How do you cope with stress? Okay the first step is to slow down and just breathe because when I’m stressed it affects my health. Like I’m not sleeping because I’m up thinking about how much I have to do, and even when I’m trying to do something I’m not really doing it because I’m thinking about other things. So the first step is to breathe and then focus on what needs to be done, and then I have to ask God to just help me. I’ll literally be like ‘God I can’t do it alone like I need your help’. So after I do those two things I start prioritizing what needs to go first. So I start making a list in my planner and I start planning out my time, not only like prioritizing what’s the most important but also what should go when, like a timetable. The last step is just to do it, without distraction. So like right now I’ve cut off Instagram and I’m not watching Netflix because I’ll be like ‘I’m only watching 20 minutes of The Flash’ and then 2 episodes later I’m like ‘where did the time go?’. Also, eating healthy and getting enough sleep are very crucial because if you’re tired or hungry you’re not going to get anything done.

Q: What’s something that can encourage you no matter what? Love, and family, and success; let me elaborate. I like to think that I’m the product of my Grandmother’s prayers, have you ever heard that saying? I seriously like to think that. The way I’m programmed is like I know I’m going to be successful, I know that God has my life planned out for me, and that God has big plans because he told me, and my mother and my father and everybody else. So we all know that God’s going to do great things with me, its just the journey that I have to get through to get there. He basically says ‘oh I got this here for you’ and so its up to me to get there. So what encourages me that I have a trophy waiting for me at the finish line. I just have to finish the race. With love and family, they really help me and calm me and they guide me in the way that I’m supposed to go.

Q: How has your faith helped you during your low moments? Last semester when I was going through some stuff with my roommates and questioning my cultural identity, and deciding whether theater is really for me and all these other stuff; I was just very lost and confused. One thing I just kept telling myself was ‘I have to be great’ because all the stuff that I’m going through can’t just be for nothing. Like all the stuff that the devil is throwing at me, its not just because I’m going to become an awful person in the future. He’s throwing that stuff to deter me from my path to greatness. So its like God tells me I’m going to be great and I have faith in God and I trust and believe in what He says, so I know I’m going to be great because all of the trails and tribulations that I go through have to be for a reason. Whether its for testimonials for somebody else, or whether its like my success story ten years down the road; I don’t particularly know, but I know that something great is going to come out of this.

Q: What do you think makes it hard for you to love people sometimes? Definitely having trust and faith in them that they won’t hurt me. Its very hard to just give someone your all and have them not reciprocate. I’m one of those people that if you tell me you’re going to do something, I’m going to hold you to that. And so when you don’t do it, it makes me weary of not only you but other people as well. So I think that’s one of the hard things that makes it hard to love people, when you know there’s a chance that they might not love you back.  

Q: Who is someone in your life that taught you something about the way you should live? Definitely my Mom. A couple years ago my Mom was diagnosed with Breast Cancer, and not once did I hear her complain about God putting her through it or saying that she’s lost faith in God because of what she’s going through. And that just really taught me like who am I after I get one bad grade to be like ‘why God why’d you do this to me?!’ or like after I didn’t get a part being like ‘why God?’, when someone is struggling life or death with a situation and still has faith that He’s going to bring her through, and that she’s going to be a testimony and a beacon for somebody else that’s going through the same thing.

Q: What’s one scripture or passage from the Bible that you hold very dearly? This is really hard! I love Jesus’ last words [see reference at end of post], “forgive them Lord for they know not what they do.”  I feel like its so true, especially being an African American female. We get discouraged so much by the discrimination that’s against us like every single day. Not only by people that are not our race but also be people that are our race that look down on us. I’m like forgive them Lord for discriminating against us or saying these hateful things or like just inflicting their own prejudice among us, I’m just like forgive them Lord because they don’t know what they’re doing. They’ve been taught these things from a very young age and they’ve really not been exposed to anything else for the most part. I just think about our Grandmothers and Grandfathers that have protested for us to have these rights, and we’re basically spat in the face. We’re treated very poorly, have little to no rights, and I’m like how did they do it? I like to imagine that this is what my Grandmother would say to people that told her she didn’t deserve the right to vote or the right to sit down and eat because of the color of her skin: forgive them Lord for they know not what they’re doing.

Q: Where do you think you would be without your faith? I really don’t know truth be told. Do you know that Kirk Franklin song when the choir goes [singing] “It could’ve been me! Without your love well tell me where would I be! Yeah Yeah Yeah could’ve been me!”. It mentions having no clothes or shoes or nothing to eat, and that could’ve been me without God’s love and grace. To give you a definite answer on where would I be I really don’t know, but I can tell you that it would not be here.

Q: Where do you see the evidence of Jesus in your life? Everywhere I’m looking right now! I love the color green and I think God loves it too, look at all this green! Like just the life flourishing. Especially throughout Intervarsity I just see how His faith and His love and His sacrifice for our sins has just brought people of many different backgrounds together that would have nothing else in common but our love for God, you know?

Luke 23:34

And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments.

[evidenceisallaround]

Evidence: It’s All Around Us

Evidence is a creative project looking at how Jesus affects the lives of those who permit him to; a series of individuals share their attitudes about faith and provide a glimpse into how faith shapes their ‘normal’ life.

(4/3/18)

Name: Christian

Age: 21

Q: Who’s someone you know that you respect a lot? Someone famous? I respect my Dad and my Brother a lot because they’re good men of God and they’re good leaders, they work very hard, and they put others before themselves. A famous person that I really respect is Bono the lead singer from U2. He’s a really good rock star and a great musician. He’s really old and he’s still rocking, and he also is a philanthropist. He gives a lot of his money and time, and he really cares about the world and people of the world…he’s also a religious guy, so I respect him a lot.

Q: What’s something that motivates you? What motivates me? I think respect from people around me…like when people think that I’m cool; more so than money I’d say. If I had a job that people thought was cool and I made a little bit of money I’d be happier than if I had a job that was boring and I had a lot of money.

Q: Was there someone integral in your life that influenced your faith? My sister influenced my life in a big way, but really my entire family influenced my life in a big way. My sister passed away when I was 15, she was 26. She just really loved God and she was very religious. She loved everybody, and more than just like following God she just had the joy of the Lord, she was just very joyful and thankful for everyday that she was on this Earth, and she was just very thankful to God and you could just tell that she loved Him. I decided not to long after she passed away that’s really how I wanna live my life.

Q: What do you think your sister would say to you right now? That’s a tough one…she’d definitely be proud that I go here [College], she’d be like this place is awesome. She’d be really happy to see how good I’m doing and how happy I am. She had the same major that I do so she’d give me some advice on that. But religiously…I don’t know. It’s kind of hard because if she was still alive things would be a lot different. But definitely something good.

Q: What has been challenging being open with your faith? I think I’ve really gotten used to it. I’m pretty self confident, but I definitely tell when people kind of make a joke about it. It doesn't really hurt me that much but it’s definitely challenging. Also I guess just trying to stay away from sin is kind of hard to.

Q: What’s one scripture or passage from the Bible that you hold very dearly? Philippians 4:13 [see reference at the end of post] I guess…It makes me confident. I find my confidence in Jesus, so I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I know it’s taken out of context and stuff but that’s just always kind of been my favorite, I know its basic but I just believe God doesn't want us to have a spirit of fear, he just wants us to have a spirit of confidence. And not to always be like ‘everything’s gonna work out for me alright’ but I think that you should be confident in God that He’s in control.

Q: Where do you think you would be without your faith? Probably some place really rough, especially after my sister passed away. I would have just gone downhill. But because I had my faith, and also my family had their faith, was a big reason that we kind of stayed together and I didn't go downhill; getting into drugs or sleeping around, or alcohol at all…surprisingly. So yeah I don’t know if I’d be in a dark place but I’d be a lot more selfish. I wouldn't be the person who I’ve become for sure.

Q: Where do you see the evidence of Jesus in your life? Lots of times I see the evidence of Jesus in just the beauty around me, of like beautiful days and where I am at this beautiful campus and stuff. But almost daily something just happens where I feel like God puts someone, especially with like Intervarsity, or something in my place that just give me a sign like God’s trying to show me where to go or He’s just like ‘hey I’m here’. He does that often when I’m like talking to people or when I’m like having problems other people come up to me and say something and it just changes my perspective on stuff. Also just the way that me and family were able to grieve was a big way that showed me God’s love and stuff like that. Also just love. So when someone comes up to me and says something I see it like love from God and love from them…so basically love is how I see God in my regular day.  

Philippians 4:13

I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

[evidenceisallaround]

Evidence: It’s All Around Us

Evidence is a creative project looking at how Jesus affects the lives of those who permit him to; a series of individuals share their attitudes about faith and provide a glimpse into how faith shapes their ‘normal’ life.

(3/20/18)

Name: Kris

Age: 19

Q: What’s something that makes you laugh a lot? It’s really bad if I say it though…people and their foolishness! Like if you know you’re being stupid or doing something [stupid] I’m just gonna call you out. Like why are you doing that to yourself? Yeah so just people who make fools of themselves. What makes me happy? Seeing puppies on campus here - they’re just a little ball of sunshine minding its own business.

Q: What’s something that makes you cry? Hearing when my friends are in a certain situation or hearing about their past or what they’ve gone through. I feel like it just makes me sad for them, like that I can imagine what they’re going through.

Q: Was there a first significant encounter you had with Jesus?   There is! I’ll give you like a backstory of my family life: I’m an only child and my Mom is catholic, my Dad like had the title of it but didn’t really practice it as much. That’s when I really understood my surroundings and what was going on of like - my parents are fighting that isn’t a normal thing on a daily basis. Neighbors would come over and check if we’re alright. My mom told me that I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone about all the fighting and the physical and emotional abuse towards my Mom. So it was like I’d be by myself in my room and I’d be like I don’t know what to do - like I would want to go out and help her and save her but at the same time I was a kid I was like 7. During that time I was like I don’t know what to do with myself because I was scared and that was when I had no one else - so I turned to God during that time because I had no siblings and I wasn’t supposed to talk to anyone, even family members. I would turn to God during this moment and say something like “If you get them to stop fighting I’ll be a good girl” - I would try to reason with him. I remember I would always pray three Hail Mary’s and an Our Father. When no one else was around me I knew that God in that moment was protecting me and also I knew he was helping my Mom in a way that I knew I couldn’t.

Q: Do you think you had to forgive or reconcile with your parents for the way they raised you? I know looking at my parent’s relationship I didn’t know what love was - I think I had a broken definition of what true love between a man and a woman was. I always ask my Mom like why would you go back or why would we stay and she told me that she always just prayed for him and I just didn’t understand that. I don’t see it as forgiving but I see it more as asking forgiveness for my Mom for all that she’s gone through, because I feel like since she endured all that emotional and physical abuse from my Dad. In a way I feel like she stayed to give me a father figure in my life to have a complete family - and just to endure all of that just for me it’s like I’m sorry you had to go through all that and I knew that was for me and for me that was sad and heartbreaking because I knew she deserved better. Like I would always say I want you to be happy you don’t deserve this. And when it come to my Dad - I would say he’s a once-in-a-blue-moon kind of dad - I understand the situation and I forgive him for what he did but it’s something I won’t forget for sure. I know in my heart I have forgiveness for him because I don’t have hate in my heart for him because he’s my Dad. Knowing the forgiveness in my heart I have this peace with it that I don’t have to go him with.

Q: What’s one scripture or passage from the Bible that you hold very dearly? So this one is from 1 Peter 3:4 [see reference at the end of post]. When I think about that it’s just like sometimes I think with our society we place so much attention to the outer appearance of someone and in the very end I don’t want to be known for my beautiful appearance. I’d rather be known for my spirit and soul and what I did for other people and my good works, and the beauty of that rather than my hair or for what I wear. And that’s just a reminder that God sees that too. It’s not just like the physical things that God is seeing but it’s like how your soul has affected people and what it’s doing for not just His kingdom but His kingdom here.

Q: Where do you think you would be if you didn’t have your faith? I think faith most of all is putting the control that you think you have over some situations in your life to an unknown source - that’s God - and unknown meaning you don’t know what’s gonna happen, that’s the scary part. But its giving that control up where its like you may think you have a way your life should be but God has already written it even before you’re born and he knows where your life is going to be, and it’s one better than you could ever imagine for yourself, so like why would you not want to give that up to God when he knows its gonna be a better blessing and a better situation. I think without my faith I would be making a lot of wrong decisions to be honest; I don’t think I would be the person I am today because I think with faith it’s shaped me to really understand how God works in my life of how you don;t have to go through this alone - by having faith in him he;s going to send much more blessings your way rather than manipulating your situation or taking control.

Q: Where do you see the evidence of Jesus in your life? I’ll be in certain situations where I’m like Lord I don’t know what’s going on, but just little acts while having an open mind and an open heart to any situation that God’s trying to call me to. I’ll see little things within my life whether someone has said something - whether it be in a song or words or whether it be small reminders you barely see; there are like small blessings in disguise. Faith has been a big thing for me recently so I’ll see like a scripture of bible verse and I’ll read it, then I’ll see it repeatedly again or someone would say it. I feel like in that way it’s like God reminding me - like you didn’t get that first sign I’m gonna send another!

1 Peter 3:4

Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.