Ephesians 4:25

 ²⁵ Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 

Eve Carson

I just finished reading an article about a young woman who was murdered a few years ago by the name of Eve Carson. You’ve probably heard about her, she was the University of North Carolina student president who was robbed and shot in Chapel Hill in 2008. She was a Morehead Scholar who spent summers traveling abroad to help in medical fields across the world. In her too short time here she accomplished ten-fold of anything I have to this date. When I heard about the story a few years ago, I talked to my friends who were attending UNC and all of them said that Eve was a person they wanted to be like. She had a genuinely optimistic outlook on every situation in life and would rather look at the good in someone even if they had wronged her. None of it is what stuck out to me though. The article was about a new statement by a witness who said that Ms. Carson asked her killer to pray with her before he did it. He testified “She wanted them to pray together.” Wow. I don’t think this is something that I would ever even think of doing in my last moments, especially knowing that someone had it in their mind to murder me. And that’s a sad thing to think. I mean, just last night I was eating dinner with a friend of mine, someone who I’ve known for 3+ years now and I know has a heart that is fully in love with Christ and the thought crossed my mind very briefly that I should ask to prayer for our meal but then I became afraid to do so. I was afraid to pray openly with a friend of mine.  And this isn’t a new feeling for me. Yet here was this girl who was in acceptance of what was happening to her and she wanted to pray with a man who was going to take away a future that was shining so bright. Sometimes I’m so afraid to be open about myself and the things that I hold dear in fear of being rejected by others. After reading this, I realized just how childish that is. As Christians, we’re called to ask and seek so that we can find what God has in store for us. Sometimes I wish it were that easy. I think that if it were, then it would be something I would do more often. Maybe it is that easy though and I’m just missing out on something that God is putting right in my face. Regardless, I wish I were more like Ms. Carson. That I could be open and prayerful in any situation. That I could face a tribulation so dark yet have my mind completely focused on the Lord and want to share His love with someone who was hurting me, my family, or my friends. So that’s my prayer for tonight, to be more like Eve Carson. Her story reminded me of Psalm 107 and I think her story paints a beautiful and accurate representation of God’s calling for all of us.

²⁸ Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,
   and he brought them out of their distress.
²⁹ He stilled the storm to a whisper;
   the waves of the sea^[b] were hushed.
³⁰ They were glad when it grew calm,
   and he guided them to their desired haven.
³¹ Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love
   and his wonderful deeds for mankind.
³² Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people
   and praise him in the council of the elders.




(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/15/eve-carson-unc-pray_n_1152210.html)