Most of you know me as the oldest daughter (or 'eldest belle' as Mom says!) of Craig and Tara Sloan. We are in the great state of Georgia where Dad, Mom and my three younger sisters live in Dallas. Sister #2, Kelsea attends college in Kennesaw at KSU while I am in Franklin Springs at Emmanuel College, an IPHC affiliated Christian college.
I am excited to share with you what God is doing and has been doing in my life over the last few years. My college journey at EC has been full of adventure, growth, learning (of course!) and fun. Let me give you a peek:
As you can see EC has been a wonderful experience for me and the friends I have made there. God has opened doors and moved me out of my comfort zone is many ways! You can see here all of the opportunities I have been honored to be a part of. One of the most memorable and life changing has been my involvement with Elevate High School & College Ministry at Franklin Springs IPHC. You can sneak a peek of Elevate Worship right here.
It is amazing what God has been doing at EC and in the students' lives, mine included. Going to EC was exactly where God wanted me and to think that this year I almost didn't get to go back and complete my senior year! That's right, it almost didn't happen. The day before I was to return for RA training we received a call indicating that unless my account was completely paid in full I could not return to campus. My parents and I were in shock. EC has always worked with students to pay off their balances throughout the year however, due to recent developments that has the school in a financial crisis this was no longer the case.Faculty and program cuts and changes were made and the school had been forced to increase tuition and fees for everyone. Arrangements had to be made immediately. I was heartbroken and had a day of fear. "What if's" clouded my mind yet I refused to lose hope. Even when I was hearing from other students who were being turned away and had no hope of resolving their accounts I still kept believing and taking hold of God's Word.
"But you, Timothy, man of God: Run for your life from all this. Pursue a righteous life—a life of wonder, faith, love, steadiness, courtesy. Run hard and fast in the faith. Seize the eternal life, the life you were called to, the life you so fervently embraced in the presence of so many witnesses." (I Timothy 6:11-12)I knew God had sent me to Emmanuel and I was going to complete the journey He had been taking me on.
My parents worked diligently with me as we worked with those who were making determinations. What I owed was not astronomical but as a college student who had maxed out every grant, scholarship, and loan available- I was tapped out. My parents have been helping me as much as they could but they couldn't make up the difference either, not with four other students in the house heading back to school. We needed a miracle.
On Tuesday, three days after we had gotten the call the "decision makers" emailed with a decision to extend an agreement that would have my bill paid in full by mid December. Dad, Mom and I looked it over, prayed over it, signed it and faxed it back. God had answered my prayer to open the door to go back- now I just had to get that bill paid off! My student teaching would prevent me from taking on another job and though my part time pay as an RA this fall would help as well as my parents contributions there was still a significant amount that I needed to come up with in a short period. Instead of panicking again I immediately went back to prayer. God had opened one door already. I just needed direction on getting the through the next one.
As I prayed I felt led to extend the opportunity to our loved ones (family and friends) to contribute a donation toward helping me knock this out. This is not something I have seen done but I felt led to share my story, my EC journey and make my need known.
Would you consider making a donation- of any size- to invest in the call on my life as a teacher and worship minister? The soil you are sowing is is good and productive. My heart is to finish this journey and I am fighting hard to do so. I know that there is a great assignment God has for me to complete at EC this year. Will you help me get in position to complete it?
Your support, whether financial and/or in prayer is appreciated. I am excited about what God is doing in and through me as I complete my last year of college. Stay tuned for more updates, videos and photos and thank you for believing and declaring with me that my BEST days are ahead!
Love & Blessings,
Kaitlyn Sloan
