When I was in college, I was involved with a group called Davis Christian Fellowship (DCF). I was told by a hometown church friend to not come home for a visit until I had been to DCF. He wanted a full report, because it was that good of a group.
He was right. I made some lifelong friends through DCF, and met some of the most incredible leaders. DCF saved me from some crazy stuff - it also introduced me to dance ministry. Really, without DCF, nothing about my life would be the same today.
My very first time at DCF, a girl named Joy was the first person I met. She walked right up to me, introduced herself, and sat with me. She then gave me her phone number and said if I needed a friend (since I was the new girl on campus) or just encouragement and prayer, I could always call her. That little scrap of paper stayed in my bible for years. I never needed to call Joy, but I just found the little piece of paper she wrote on in an old bible I used in college.
I smiled when I found it, and remembered my friend, who all throughout college, asked me if I needed prayer for anything. And I know she prayed. A lot of people don't when they say they will, you know.
This morning, I got a facebook message from the pastors of DCF. Over the weekend, while I was dancing in Southern California and playing at Disneyland with a ministry I founded because of DCF and Joy's "hook" into it, Joy passed away.
Joy did not only pass away. She committed suicide. The happiest girl I knew during my entire time at college killed herself.
Please remember to pray for and encourage those in your life that seem the happiest. Those people who seem to be upbeat, and who "don't need" all the love and edification possible (just like us more gloomy folks), please remember Joy.
Joy knew Jesus, and His love sustains. She will experience the comfort of the ultimate Comforter. But it didn't have to be this way. She had a lot more life to live, and many more people to love and encourage. And we are sad today as we realize she didn't seem to know it.
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