That was one of the hardest years of my life. We had just moved to Indiana Academy, and I did not want to be here because I thought that my relationship with God and with my other friends would be lost. Even though I didn’t have a very close relationship with God, I was learning and growing. I ended up being completely wrong, and you helped me realize that.
At that time, I was also struggling with my relationship with my dad, and I couldn’t see how God could be any different from my earthly father. Many people had told me God is different, but I didn’t want to listen because I didn’t know God. That year, I was in your faculty family, and I really looked up to you both, as sort of a father figure in Mr. Byrd, and a mother figure in Mrs. Byrd. You both helped me understand a lot of new things about God. You told me that He loved me, He would never leave me, and He would never hurt me. It was still hard, and, at first, I just heard it as the same things I had heard my whole life.
I had fallen deep into depression, and I was tired of trying and pretending for everyone. Then, I finally started to listen. I remember many times when you both helped me through processing everything that had happened, and that helped me start to understand things and open up a little bit more. I opened my heart and mind to new opportunities and strategies for worship. Through your loving support and patience, I began to understand who God truly was, and that He could heal me.
Up to this time, I had tried to fill the hole I felt from my relationship with my father with a bunch of other things, but I constantly just felt worse. However, you helped me to grow in faith and trust, and lean into God and His healing, because He is the only one who can truly heal our hearts. So again, thank you for telling me; even though, at first, I didn’t want to listen.
Sincerely,
Jayla Slade, Indiana Academy, Senior
