What is faith? Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” and the Bible calls Abraham “The father of Faith” (Galatians 3:7). But it’s important to remember that  Abraham was not simply born with faith, he became the father of faith by walking a long and challenging journey with God. God cares for us and more than anything, He wants a relationship with us. 

Today I want to share about one of the biggest transitions in my life, my very own journey of faith. 

First of all, you should know that I’m not a brave person at all. A couple of my friends from California even told me, “Youning, you are the person that I would least expect to move away to NYC.” But it seems anything is possible if we fix our eyes on God and trust in Him with all of our hearts. 

Six years ago, I was living in LA and it was a very comfortable life. I had a steady job and lived close to my family and friends from church. I was honored to be a part of my church serving as a small group leader, and was also a part of the worship team and children's ministry. I was satisfied serving the Lord with my family and sisters in christ. Church was like my second home and whenever I was off from work, you could probably find me at some church event or hanging out with family or brothers and sisters in Christ.

Work was a different story though. I felt purposeless at my work. I mean I loved my co-workers, health insurance benefits, and the working environment was super comfortable. An added bonus was that the office was only a ten minute drive from my house so I didn’t even need to get on the freeway to get to work! Our company even held fun events like costume Friday. One time the costume Friday theme was  “superheros” so I was surrounded by people fully suited as Iron Man, spider man, superwomen... you name it! I seriously felt like my company was the safest place to be that day. 

But deep in my heart, it all felt strangely empty. 

I began to ask myself if I’m able to see myself working here, as comfortable as it was, for the rest of my life? Honestly, I felt terrified just thinking about it. I believed that God didn’t design me for this kind of life, that I was made for more. I wanted to do something that would combine my God-given talents with my passion for Jesus! Even though I don’t know what I want to do YET, I believed that God had created me for a specific purpose and I will be able to make a living by it. 

So, I made a simple prayer and asked, “Dear God, I know when you created me you gave me unique talents and had something in mind for me. I don’t want to just make a comfortable living, I want to serve you at the same time. Can you please show me what you have in mind for me?”

I started researching design majors at the Art Center school and then a thought just came to my mind, why not go for jewelry design? I remembered I’d always enjoyed handcrafting stuff when I was little and I would create my own pattern out of crystal beads and I enjoyed those creative design moments so much. Long story short, when I started doing more research on jewelry design, there were two options: one was FIDM which is a private art school located in LA and the other was FIT, a public art school located in NYC. 

I asked my small group to pray that God will tell me which school I should go to, but I also had in the back of my mind that I would most likely I will choose FIDM so I can stay in LA and continue serving in the church I loved. Despite the initial ideas that I had, God gave me three signs through His word and circumstances that gave me the courage to take the leap of faith to move across the country, leaving behind my comfortable job, my friends, and even my beloved church, to attend FIT in New York.

The First Sign

When I was preparing my portfolio to apply for the jewelry design program at FIT, I was debating whether I should buy all the new art supplies in order to prepare my new portfolio. I was nervous and felt it would be a waste to spend all this money for art supplies if I didn’t get into the school. Then suddenly a church friend told me she decided to move back to her country and she wanted to give me ALL of her art supplies. She loves art so she took so many art classes in school, and not only that, she even introduced me to her friend from art class to teach me how to properly use all of those supplies! God is so amazing! I really needed the practical help of learning how to correctly use all of the different art supplies and God sent me the help I needed. 

The Second Sign

I wanted to go visit FIT before I decided which school I should go to but I’ve actually NEVER taken any domestic flights within the USA so when I checked the price for the flight, I was surprised that the cost was much more than I had initially thought. I started to wonder if I could afford to visit FIT. That’s when I suddenly remembered that I had an airline credit card that I hadn’t used in years and it still had some points on it! I found the credit card and the crazy thing was that all the points I had on it was JUST enough for the flights I needed— a round trip and a one-way flight to NYC. I totally felt that God was preparing me for an adventure and He was planning it so perfectly.

The Third Sign

The week when I was in NYC, my friend told me that a girl that I’d met at a conference back in 2010 also happened to be in NYC at the time. We had the chance to meet and catch up and I learned that she also wanted to apply for a master degree and study in New York. I told her that I loved FIT and I was planning to apply. I didn’t know anyone else in NYC at that time so I prayed that I would have a Christian roommate and we can have small group together once a week. We did eventually become roommates and had a small group night every week. It was another answered prayer from God!

I only applied to FIT because I had such peace in my heart when I visited New York. It’s such a strange feeling to have peace in my heart from God that pretty much defies logic. I had my own ideas about what path seemed best for me, but God gave me so many confirmations to go to New York that I just had to follow. All I can say is His ways are better than my ways and His thoughts higher than mine! 

I still have a long way to go on my journey of faith— I still have millions of worries and problems that I wish I didn't have, but I truly thank God for He has never forsaken me. He is so faithful and He knows my strengths and my weaknesses. He did not promise me an easy and comfortable life but He will always be with me in this journey together. 

Let’s walk this faith journey with Him together :)

Youning C.