One Moment Changes Everything.

       It's scary to think about  this, but one moment does have the possibility to change everything. Take my senior year of high school for example. When I was choosing the college I would attend, I pretty much chose ULL on a whim. I know that's pretty ridiculous because the college you attend is one of the most important decisions of your life. I was completely set on Nicholls and did not even think about going anywhere else. One night I just got aggravated with so many things going on that I told myself I needed to get away. It was then that I made the decision to apply for ULL and no other college. I don't even know why I chose ULL to be honest, but I did, and the night I filled out that online application for UL, I had no idea of the journey I was about to embark on.
       I decided to audition for the UL marching band because I really loved band in high school and I figured I could definitely use the scholarship. Because I was in band, I was one of the few people who had to check in early in the dorms. I moved in all my stuff, started band camp, and anxiously awaited the moment I would meet my new roommate. The roommate that Housing had told me was going to be rooming with me had contacted me saying that she already moved in. School started and there was still no roommate in sight. At first I was super excited about not having a roommate, but I didn't realize how much this would soon take it's toll on me.
      My classes were going great and I was doing really well in them but deep inside there was an emotion that had taken control of me: loneliness. I felt so alone because all of my good friends, the ones who help me through everything and that I can always count on were back home. Not only that, I did not feel like I belonged here because of the fact that I kinda chose UL out of the blue. I remember being in my dorm at night praying to God that he would allow me to return back home because I truly believed that I didn't belong here. I even started to  put the blame on God because I could not believe he would allow me to come here and leave everything and everyone that I knew. Back home I was involved in youth ministry and I had made so many friends that I wanted to keep in touch with and I felt that I had threw all of that away. I remembered calling my friend  at night sometimes because I just could not take the pain anymore. This lasted my entire first semester, but I told myself that I would return in the Spring and just make it through the year, then I could just transfer to Nicholls later. I had it all planned out, or at least I thought I did.
       The second semester started and one day I walked into my dorm lobby and saw a group of people sitting down. I had heard about these groups called Lifegroups but I had no idea what they were about and I was kind of reluctant to go. I had met one of the leaders previously and when I walked in to that lobby the leader that I knew looks at me and says "Hey Tiffany, Do you wanna come to Lifegroup?" My original plan was to go up to my dorm and get on facebook, but something told me to sit on that couch and check out this LifeGroup. It was that night that I became plugged in to a legit group, a place where I could go and people knew my name and cared about me, an organization whose sole purpose is to bring people to Jesus. That group is Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship. I could write so much just on Chi Alpha but I'll save that for a later time. I started to attend Chi Alpha's weekly service called TNL. Well one Wednesday night before I attended a TNL the poem "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost randomly pops into my head. I kinda laughed it off and said "That's completely random." Well the next night at TNL, Eric Treuil just so happen to include that poem in his sermon. Something in my brain clicked and I connected the poem with what I was going through. If I had gone to Nicholls with all my friends I would have just been a follower, and I would have been taken the path that was most taken. Because I had chosen UL, I WAS on the road less taken. It was that very instant, that very second, that I realized that Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship was THE reason I was at UL. All that time I had been asking God to give me a reason why I was here, to show me what I was supposed to be doing. Chi Alpha was that reason. Chi Alpha was my purpose for being here. Ever since I've made that realization, my life has taken a complete 180 degree turn. I'm closer to God than I've ever been in my entire life, and I met amazing people who I now consider my best friends, and I cannot picture my life without them. God wanted me to come to ULL to not only discover myself, but to continue growing in my faith, and to find true friends who help make my life better each and every day.
       What would have happened if I hadn't decided to go to UL? What would have happened if the Lifegroup leader who asked me to go to Lifegroup had just sat there? What if I had told her no and just gone up and gotten on facebook? What if I just happened to miss that TNL that night when I discovered that I belonged here? Thinking about these questions scare me because it would have only taken one second to have a completely different outcome. I do not even want to know where I would be without the grace of God. I thank God everyday that he allowed everything to fall into place for me and I thank him for the person I have become because of him. Without certain events and people he placed in my life at exactly the right time, I would be a totally differnt person. That's why I truly stand on the belief that One Moment Changes Everything!