Teens June 11, 2018 Issue

Trusting God—and finding the perfect fit

Haley Martin

For my first three years of high school, I felt like a puzzle piece that didn’t fit. I didn’t feel right about where I was, or who I was, either. If my high school was the puzzle, I was the piece that not only didn’t fit—it didn’t even belong.

I learned differently than others did, and I needed an environment where the teachers cared about my education and wanted to work with me. And I also felt misunderstood and out of place. There was a heavy focus on materialism in my school that didn’t seem to leave a lot of room for spirituality. I couldn’t express myself without having my views challenged or dismissed, and that was hard, because turning to God in prayer is such a big part of my life.

During that whole three-year period, I was praying for an answer. I thought maybe things could change at my high school. But I also had this voice within me that was constantly nudging me to consider trying something new. This voice was one I’ve heard before when I’ve needed direction, and I’ve come to recognize it as God’s. I do trust God; yet, while it kept coming to me to try a boarding school, and I felt like I wanted to do it, I kept coming up with excuses about why I shouldn’t. I was afraid that if I left home, I would lose my friends and sever my close connection to my family. And I had a lot more worries that made me doubt God’s leading. So I always pushed those thoughts about a boarding school far into the back of my head and ignored them.

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