KaylaOn the morning of August 23rd, 2009, I sat with my dad in the airport parking lot soon to board my flight headed for Indianapolis. A hundred thoughts were swirling through my head as I prepared for this four week trip, and I was glad when we paused to read a few Psalms. As we were reading through Psalm 111, I suddenly stopped dead in my tracks at verse seven. It said, “The works of his hands are verity…” I had read that verse before, but it was just as if I hadn’t. It was as if the words had leapt off the page, straight into my heart, for I was headed to a place called Verity Institute.

To start at the beginning, my parents heard about Verity at the ATI Regional Training Conference in 2007. They were very impressed with the discipleship focus of the school as well as the accelerated learning, saving both time and money. My father told me he strongly desired for me to obtain a college degree. While it wasn’t exactly my own first choice, I knew I had to trust and obey the Lord through the authorities He had placed in my life.

During my last semester of high school, I participated in Verity’s dual-enrollment program. From home, I took a Biblical Worldview class, went through the Life Purpose Planning workbook, and studied and tested for two CLEP exams.

Keeping a one-accord focus on seeking the Lord is first priority at VerityIn June of this year, I graduated from high school with plans to apply to Verity for the fall semester as a distance learning student. In August, I attended orientation and the Verity Journey to the Heart (my second Journey). The atmosphere of the Verity campus cannot be accurately described with words. I could tell after spending just a few days there that the staff and students are truly sold out for Christ and desire to please Him in all they do. On the Journey, I enjoyed studying the heart conditions again with my team, seeking deeper insights from the Lord. It was incredible to see the Lord work among our student body and bring us to one accord, allowing us to start the year off on the right foot. I hope to become an on-site student in the future, Lord-willing.

The Verity Campus in Indianapolis, INMy first semester as a Verity student was stretching both mentally and spiritually. Every two weeks, I was given the opportunity to trust God for the results of my test and experience the joy of being in His will regardless of whether or not I scored well. God taught me to cry out to Him for the grace I needed for each moment and focus on the spiritual insights He was giving me through my studies rather than on just the academic lessons. Colossians 2 tells us that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Jesus Christ. Verity acknowledges this truth by centering all aspects of their program on growing our love for the Lord.

One of my favorite things about Verity is the spiritual accountability provided by the leaders, staff, and fellow students. Each week, we are assigned a command of Christ or character quality and corresponding verses to meditate on. At the end of the week, we must write an essay on what the Lord taught us through the command or quality and its application to our lives. This discipline has proven to be invaluable in deepening my walk with the Lord.

I know Verity is the work of God’s hands in my life. The eternal blessings are what I am most grateful for; the college degree is just the icing on the cake.

~ Kayla
May 2008 Girls’ Journey

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This entry was posted on Saturday, December 26th, 2009 at 6:42 am and is filed under The Journey Continued. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.