Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God

It all started when I was 17 years old, attending my last year of high school. I was in the process of applying to……actually no, it all started when I was 9 years old and sitting in the back seat of my mom’s car, and I drove by COLUMBIA UNIVERISTY. Ever since then, this utmost desire to attend this university grew in me. Every day, from the age on, I prayed to God, begging Him to allow the admission officers of that school to accept me. Having no idea what the school was about, as I started my Junior High School, I decided to attend their fall and summer programs. I knew that starting ties with the School early on would look good on my resume, so I proceeded in doing that for six years. I did all that I needed to do to get in that Ivy League School, such as performing well academically, undertaking extracurricular activities, travelling all over the world, increasing my proficiency in many languages and so on. As I reached my last year of High school, I applied at Columbia University as an Early Decision candidate; which meant that it was illegal to apply to any other schools and I would be forced to go to that school if I were accepted. Being that Columbia was my dream school, those conditions were not a problem for me. I knew that’s where I wanted to go. So as time went by, low and behold, I got accepted. Celebrations were made every two days, whether it be with my immediate family, my extended family, in church, in school, everywhere. 
However, the nightmare began suddenly. Two months later, I got involved in a little issue in my school that caused me to get suspended for one day. The suspension later on fell in the ears of the admission officers of Columbia University. And, just like that, my admission was revoked. My life literally stopped right at that moment. The one thing that I had asked from God was finally in my hand, and I just let it slip out of it. I was distraught, hopeless and done. Being that I hadn’t applied to any school, thanks to their legal rule, not only was I out of Columbia but I had no chance to get anywhere. All schools had finished with regular admissions and I was left out. I cried myself to sleep EVERYDAY!!! I wanted to run so far away and never come back. Nevertheless, I knew of a God, the mighty and omnipotent God named Jehovah. I prayed daily that He took me out of this misery. I fasted non-stop. 

Results: Two weeks before the semester was starting for almost every college in NY, after their admission office had been closed for the upcoming semester, out of nowhere, Fordham University Lincoln Center was desperate for me to be a part of their school. I started right away and graduated right on time. Praise God!

But it doesn’t end there. 

Even before wanting to be a student at Columbia University, I wanted to be a lawyer. I worked in law firms for 5 years, building knowledge on the field of law. I went from receptionist in one firm to being a paralegal and office manager at another firm, while enrolled in college. Things were looking great. However, after my incident with Columbia, I grew a lot spiritually and I started getting more connected to God. I got intensively involved with ministry as well. However the things that I had to do in the law firms that I was working in were not fitting with what I was preaching about in ministry. How can I speak of the commandments of God, but for work, defend murderers, thieves, liars, drug dealers? It didn’t make sense. And it was bothering my spirit for quite some time. Furthermore, the CEO’s of those firms, although they were millionaires, were involved in some real illegal stuff. I was baffled. However I knew that if I went to law school, this would be the life I had to pretty much adopt forever. So I prayed to God and said “God before I make this decision, reveal to me if this is the will you have for me.” For weeks, I prayed that prayer and I felt like He was not answering me. So I proceeded in filling out these applications. However, two seconds before I was ready to hit the “send” buttons to all 14 schools, something told me WAIT. I was nervous and I did not want to trace my life a certain way that God didn’t want for me. So I saved the applications and logged out. After much praying, I came back with a decision that I would apply to only one school out of all 14, and if God wanted me to go to law school, that I would get accepted; and if not, that would be the end of the road. I applied to Fordham Law School and I didn’t get accepted. Although I had prepared for both, an admission and a rejection, my heart was crushed in million pieces because I did not know what to do next with my career life. What was I going to tell my mother? What was I going to tell my family? I was lost. 
But three days later, after crying as much as I breathed, my faith built right back up and I said God, “you shut this door to open a new one. Everything will be alright.”

Results: One year later, I am now pursuing an MBA and an international Management degree in Barcelona, Spain. I can honestly say I love it here. I love the school, I love the country, I love the people and I love the fact that I can have a profession and not feel like it’s incompatible to my ministry, nor to the Word.
During my trials, I did not focus on them as much as I thought I would. But instead I focused on God and what He wanted me to do: ministry, building a spiritual mind and character. Being that, I believed and I did not lean on my own understanding of things but rather, I trusted Him with all my heart, He directed my path. (Prov 3:5-7) 

PRAISE GOD!!! I am sure there are more testimonies to come.

The verse I leave with you is the following: Matthew 6:33 “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, And all these things shall be added unto you”. Be blessed!


L.J