"Hey Courtney,I hope that all is well with you! I have been meaning to email you for a while to say a quick thanks for introducing me to TMCF and all the great things they have to offer. Although I was not successful at being selected to attend the leadership institute the first time around, I did attend during my senior year and received an employment offer. I am currently loving the work that I do. Thanks again, I'm very appreciative for your role in such a life changing opportunity."

How God Used Me

The above note is the latest in a handful of heart-felt thanks I’ve received from my classmates since graduating college. I feel so much joy every time I receive a note like that because I know God used me to positively influence others at school.Besides actually earning my degree, helping several of my fellow students secure really great jobs after graduation is what I’m most proud of.To even say that is crazy for me because in the middle of my collegiate journey, I was on track to flunk out. I’ve blogged about it before, but in my junior year of college, I messed up big time and ruined my GPA, lost my scholarship, and took on a ton of credit card debt.Yet through a series of omg-this-could-only-be-God events, I was able to transfer to a cheaper, though lesser-known public university in DC. Not long after I got there, out of the blue, I was appointed as a student ambassador for an organization that pairs students with scholarships, internships, and post-college job opportunities. Through that two-year role, I was able to help some really talented but undervalued students secure paid internships and job offers at Fortune 100 companies. Many of them have told me were it not for my influence and linking them with the organization, they would not be where they are today.The more I receive emails like the one above, the more I’m convinced that God repurposed my screw-up for a greater good. In other words, maybe I didn’t just “end up” at my new school as a result of my mistakes but maybe, I was sent there.

God Can Still Use You

God in His infinite wisdom and knowledge knows all the mistakes you will make and the wrong turns you will take in life. But because God is so awesome, He will still honor the plan and purpose He has for each of our lives if you choose to follow Him.

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. -- Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,before you were born I set you apart... -- Jeremiah 1:5a (NIV)

The key to being used by God, even if you've messed up, is to trust in Him from this point forward. Leading up to when I nearly flunked out of school, I honestly was not thinking about God. I never even considered that God created me for a purpose -- I was too busy doing my own thing, living my life how I wanted to. I was very arrogant in fact; I justified a lot of my wrongdoings (pride, lying, cheating) because I ultimately trusted in myself (not God) to get the things I wanted out of life.When all my mistakes caught up with me and my world came tumbling down, I finally understood that my way was no good and I chose to go God's way instead. I gave my life to Christ. It was at that point that God softened my hard, arrogant attitude and actually gave me a heart for other people. When I transferred to my new school, I quit thinking about myself and instead, I felt real empathy for my fellow students. I wanted them to succeed just as much as I wanted success for myself -- and wouldn't you know it, God used me and the new attitude He had given me to make that happen!

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I don't know what you may be going through, but I hope you can find a least a little encouragement in my story. Sometimes we get ourselves in situations where we can't fathom how God can possibly turn our story around, let alone use it for the good of others. Just know that He can -- I'm living proof!

(Photo credit: America's Next Top Model / Jim de Yonker)