As I enter my junior year in college and my third year of being a collegiate athlete, I started to reflect on previous years. Being an athlete is no easy walk in the park. It takes time, patience, and a lot of dedication to get to a certain level. Through the years, I have turned to God whenever I think it's too much for me.
In high school I had my first knee surgery when I was 15. I wasn't sure why it happened to me, but I bounced back. I showed resilience. I didn't let my injury defeat me. I let it heal and got right back on the course. I made the sacrifice after knee surgery to get better and stronger so I could play in tournaments. I knew I was made to golf, and I never once thought I should give it up because of my knee surgery.
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Thinking back to the time of surgery, I never thought I wouldn't play again and I didn't think I wouldn't get a scholarship. I saw it as a speed bump in my journey. The more I reflect on that time in my life, I realized God knew exactly what he was doing. He started a fire inside me, a fire that I still have. I may have had a minor setback, but if I didn't have surgery I wouldn't have pushed myself as hard as I did.
The injuries, unfortunately, did not stop at age 15. Years leading up to the time now I have experienced more injuries and have not been the healthiest. Yet here I am, still pushing. If someone would've shown me a timeline of my life I would have never guessed I would experience another knee surgery as a freshman in college. I was confused, angry, and kept questioning God. Just like that my freshman year of golf was squashed because of another injury. On top of knee surgery, I also got mono and let me tell you how difficult it was.
My freshman year I was so angry and kept questioning God, asking, "Why is this happening to me? Why me?" I even doubted if I should still golf because everything bad happened to me. Then one night in FCA, he proved why I should keep pushing. The speaker said this verse that was clearly made for me to hear: "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose" Romans 8:28. I was focusing so much on all the bad that I had gotten mad at God for it. I struggled to find the purpose behind what was happening. Instead of praying to God and allowing him to guide me through it.
I was at such a low point and was ready to give up on everything because of another setback. With God pushing me, I realized there was a reason why all of this is happening. Everything contributed to a purpose to make me a better version of myself. It may not have been the vision I had planned, but it made me stronger. Going into my sophomore year of college I became stronger in my faith, golf, and in myself. As soon as I was healthy, I got back on the golf course.
With all that life brings me and whatever setbacks I have, he is good all the time. He provides. "That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong" 2 Corinthians 12:10.
