Hello! My name is Rachel and I am one of the writers for Campus Branch. I was just thinking the other day, "It's hard to be a woman of faith in this world!" Actually, I think that everyday and the only One who sees me through is Jesus himself! That leads me to what has been going on in my life.

After six years of college, (I was on the ten-year-plan and so I got out four years early!) I went overseas for two months, and moved back home the first of the fall. It has been such a difficult transition from college life to the working world. Although, I am STILL looking for a full-time job! Anyways, all I've known is school, so once that goal was accomplished, I felt like I had no direction or focus. On top of that most of my friends were getting married, and not that I'm ready for that--but you always want what you don't have (that's another story)!. So, here I was a 24-year-old single woman who wanted to follow God and His will, but not really knowing what that entailed. I've known for a time now that I'm going to go into full-time ministry in the future, but I have loans to pay off now. I also would like to go back overseas. It's hard not to be where your heart's desire is leading you! After all this, and with much hesitation, I asked God if there was anything I wasn't doing right, or things I should be rid of in my life. He showed me that my perspective needed to change. Instead of being focused on me and where I'm not at, or not doing, He wanted me to focus on Him and on what I can be doing today. I've noticed when I look at myself so much I end up feeling miserable, but when I'm focused on my Father, nothing else seems to matter. God is so good and so faithful! Even though I grew up in a Christian home and in church, my senior year of high school through my sophomore year in college, I swayed a bit. Sometimes it was more than a bit! I had to come to my own "crisis of belief," and determine if God was really real, and if I could trust Him with my heart and life. He made Himself so real to me, that from then on I began to realize that being a Christian isn't just believing, but living daily for Christ. I fail everyday, but thankfully God's grace is always there to pick me back up again. I know nothing else worth being more passionate about that Jesus! After all, God's passion for me lead Jesus to the Cross. Well, that all lead me to being a woman of God--what does that really mean anyways? I think it means a woman who knows her security in Christ alone, and she wants to strive each day to bring Him more glory. He sees us as precious in His sight, and not only are we God's daughters, but because of Jesus--heirs to the throne! We no longer have to worry about what tomorrow holds, decisions made in the past, or even get bogged down by the daily things of today. God wants to help us to have an eternal perspective, because this life here is only temporary, and what is seen is only temporary. So no matter what we go through, we can hold on to our Father who sees all, knows all, and still loves us so much! Thank you for reading! It is a privilege to share with you--I hope the Lord encourages your heart as He has mine. I am still not quite sure where I should be, but I trust now that God is leading me, and that He is faithful. It's all about Him, not me! Then Jesus said to His disciples, "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than the birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?" (Matthew 12:22-26)