Cedarville Magazine, Spring 2018

YOU MUST REALLY WANT ME HERE, GOD Allie Eybers ’21 grew up in a strong Christian family with two loving parents who encouraged her to follow Jesus from a very young age. Her childhood was almost perfect, until her mom got sick. The family moved around for a few years, relocating so her mother could receive the best treatment for breast cancer. When Allie was 12, her mother lost her battle with the disease, leaving Allie reeling and doubting her relationship with God. “But I still had my dad,” she said. “He was the one who kept encouraging me and making sure my faith stood solid.” She, her dad, and her two younger siblings moved in with her maternal grandmother in Munroe Falls, Ohio, which provided needed support and stability to the family as they grieved her mother’s death. Allie was enrolled in Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy School, where she was growing in her faith. Then, the unthinkable happened: Her father died suddenly from a heart attack. “It was such a shock, so unexpected,” Eybers said. “It was really hard to make sense of it.” Following her father’s death, she and her younger brother and sister continued to live with their grandmother, who became their legal guardian. Eybers heard about Cedarville University from a friend at school and fell in love with the University the first time she visited. “I loved it,” she explained. “It was so different than any other school I looked at. There was just something different about the atmosphere. “My mom went to a Christian college. I knew she would have loved for me to go to Cedarville,” ADVANCING CEDARVILLE 30 | Cedarville Magazine