I never really thought about public speaking. It’s one of those things that I just had written off in my life, because there are so many gifted speakers in my little community! Last spring break, I got the opportunity to speak on my favorite thing ever, the book Changes that Heal. It was a game changer for me in college, and getting to share it with the 30 or so students on spring break was SO exciting. It was overwhelming to prepare for, but it went really well, and I really enjoyed getting to teach on a larger scale. Ever since then it’s felt a little more realistic to speak at the main meeting…which is even more large scale, with about 120 students there on average.

This is my fourth year on staff with Cru and it’s the first semester I’ve ever even considered speaking. And it came up so much quicker than I thought it would! I always thought I would speak on something that I felt like an expert on…and instead God led me to speak on something I’m learning right now….how legalism and judgement are stealing my freedom.

The planning process was so interesting because it was all inspired by one of the talks from Fall Retreat…since then the idea of freedom vs legalism has been so heavy on my heart. Between books I was reading and talks from the Pursuit conference and conversations with friends, everything was pointing to speaking on this topic. So when it finally came time to share, yes, I was crazy nervous, but I was also SO excited, because I KNEW that this was something God wanted me to share.

It was scary to think about sharing…because the very nature of legalism is that I want to look good on the outside, and I don’t want people to see my flaws. But in the end, it was worth it! Afterwards, it was a little sad to hear how much people could relate to that feeling of burden, perfection, people-pleasing, and loss of freedom….but it was amazing to hear that people didn’t feel alone anymore!

I learned so much from this experience! It encouraged me to know that God can use me in this way, and He can bring glory to Himself in any way He sees fit. I can be weak and broken and stumble over my words…and still God can turn it into something beautiful.