To Whom it May Concern:
On January 1, 2009, the world lost a wonderful young man, and I lost one of my best friends, Will. His funeral was held at the Cathedral of the Ozarks on January 5. JBU’s spring semester started a few weeks later. At home, where I lived with my parents and four younger siblings, there were a lot of changes. My father began to commute to a town in south Arkansas and only came home on the weekends. My mother, who had worked only part time outside the home for the majority of my life, began working 40+ hours a week in Fort Smith. As the oldest child, I took on a lot of responsibilities caring for my two littlest sisters, taxing them back and forth between school, extra-curricular activities, and home, preparing dinner most nights of the week, and helping with homework. At school, I was enrolled in five classes, and barely passed three, with low C’s. It was as if I just didn’t care about school any more--I rarely attended class, never went to chapel, and sunk into a deep depression. I lost contact with friends, except for the few that had been closest to Will, and spent the majority of my time at home. I felt that God, if He indeed existed, had abandoned me. Before getting my grades back for the semester’s end, I had already decided to “take some time off.”
The last year and a half has been a period of unique growth, spiritual and intellectual, for me. I spent six months working at a tanning salon and then began working at a local florist as well. Will’s sister, my best friend, decided to move to Germany to live with her mom for a few months and I was lucky enough to join her in October of this year. There, I worked at a gas station on a military base and traipsed around the city of Stuttgart for two fabulous months! While I was vagabonding though, I realized that I didn’t want to spend my life working low-paying jobs in order to just squeak by financially.
I know now that education is one of the only means of moving ahead in this world. I’ve also realized that education is more than just showing up: it means hard work and dedication, and I am (finally!) ready to fully apply my potential as an A student. My goal is to earn my Bachelor’s Degree in English and then attend a Master’s Degree program to obtain a Master’s of Education. I would like to move back to Germany, or wherever God sees fit to send me, and teach high school English on a military base overseas.
Spiritually, I have come to a place where I recognize there can be no alternative to believing in God. Without His guiding hand on every endeavor in my life, my efforts are futile. He has taken me though the angry storm of disbelief and delivered me to the calm shores of His Divine Love. I think Oscar Wilde said it best, “Skepticism is the beginning of belief.” Because of my former uncertainty, my relationship with God has become much stronger now that I am certain beyond a fraction of a doubt that God created me, He died for me, and He has “plans for hope and a future” for me as He promises in Jeremiah 29:11.
I am so excited about coming back to John Brown University. I am ready to dedicate myself fully to my studies and look forward to the intellectual and spiritual growth that I know will take place in such a God-honoring atmosphere!
Sincerely,
Morgan “Molly” Abbey
Morgan “Molly” Abbey
