Now that it’s over, I can speak from experience. Senior year is weird. It is also a lot of fun: an easier school load (because you’re almost done, after all) and increased independence (driving, anyone?) are typical perks of senior year. However, though you gain the advantages of freedom and being the oldest and best at school, those things require a great deal of responsibility.

Taking on the name of Christ in a world that is increasingly hostile to Christian faith is a weighty commitment. It is no easy thing to find your identity in Christ, and even harder to genuinely live out His example in a mature and serious way. Along with the basic responsibilities of growing up, we covenant youth are also continuing to make our faith our own as we seek to glorify the Lord in the next step of our lives.

The challenge of this has resulted in my spiritual growth. Senior year, with its hardships and difficulties, was a good year. I can look back and clearly see God’s faithfulness in the midst of my uncertainties. Friendships grew and changed, fell apart and came together. In all of the fluctuations of the past year, I learned to be especially thankful for two things: the Lord’s steadfast faithfulness, and the love and support of my brothers and sisters in Christ.

In His faithfulness, God granted me the strength and perseverance to make it through hard decisions and circumstan­ces, guiding and comforting me, especially as I called on His name. Second Thessalonians 3:3 says, “The Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one” (ESV). The Lord truly is faithful, and when all the rest of life is a big mess of hectic insanity, He remains steadfast and constant. The more difficult life gets, the more I appreciate and depend upon the unwavering love of my Savior.

The Lord has also worked through some incredible people in my life, people whose love for Christ and His Word is clearly evident. These people come from school, extracurricular activities, my local church, and, perhaps most significantly, through denominational events. The people I have met within the RPCNA, specifically at youth events near and far, are remarkable encouragements to my life and my faith. I am thankful for the dear friends I have all over the country that I know through the RP church. They have encouraged, strengthened, and supported me, and I know that we will still be close 10 years down the road—a confidence I cannot reasonably have with most other friends.

Senior year is a time of simultaneously holding tight and letting go: holding tight to the Lord, to people, to family, and to home; while learning to let go, mature, and move out of high school and possibly away from home. For me, it means going to the University of Pittsburgh, a secular institution, after being homeschooled in a town I’ve lived in and loved my whole life. In the midst of the weirdness of senior year, with crazy-big decisions, changing friendships, sometimes awkward transitions—plus the annoying responsibility of growing up and semi-adulthood—God has been extremely faithful and provided for me by reminding me of His goodness through incredible people and wonderful retreats.

At the end of Theological Foundations for Youth 2015, a three-week theological and missional boot camp, my fellow student Sam Goble pointed to Psalm 133. The psalm summarizes both the eternal blessing of following Christ, and the joy of spending time with fellow believers in this life. “Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! It is like the precious oil….”

Katrina Gazo | Trinity (Burtonsville, Md.) RPC