Cedarville Magazine Summer 2022

GOD IS FAITHFUL BY SEAN BEVERLY ’ 22 “God is faithful; you can trust Him.” I have written this statement on various sticky notes time and time again as God has provided for me at Cedarvi l le. Growing up as a pastor’s kid, I always knew that I would have to find funding for college. Part of the reason I was able to come to Cedarville is the academic scholarships offered to me freshman year. However, my f reshman year in engineering did not go smoothly. Because of my GPA, I lost my largest scholarship. I remember having to swallow my pride and tell my parents about what happened. I felt like I had wasted my opportunity and, even worse, I may have completely ruined my chances of getting a college degree. I contemplated transferring schools that summer after freshman year, but something kept pulling me back to Cedarville. Even though I had no plans for how to pay for the next year, I decided to return for sophomore year after being awarded a small scholarship during the summer. I also asked my parents if they would take out a loan. I hated having to resort to this because I never wanted to place the burden of my education on them. Beginning spring semester, I vowed to figure it out, or I would have to leave. When I returned in January 2020, the Spring Missions Conference was kicking off. They collected an offering for one of their selected missions, but during this time I was pinching pennies, waiting on my financial aid meeting the next day to find out if I needed to pay for a ride home or not. The plate kept getting closer and the weight on my shoulders kept getting heavier. I remember breaking down in my seat and praying, “God, if this is where you want me to be, I need you to pay for it.” As the plate reached my row, I grabbed a $20 bill from the last $60 in my wallet and threw it in. I felt that if I expected God to work, I needed to trust Him. That next day, I walked to financial aid fully prepared to hear there was nothing they could do. Thankfully, it went much differently; they found $8,000 for me! I was at a complete loss for words. I still had nearly $7,000 left to pay, but I was positive that God would provide. Despite seeing God work, I avoided looking at my leftover school bill. Eventually, my sister talked me into looking at it and, to my surprise, all that was left to pay after government assistance and some reimbursements was $20. I quickly paid for it and excitedly ran upstairs to tell my parents the great news. This has not been an isolated event in my time here at Cedarville. God has provided all my funding for every semester since. Some semesters I even had money left over in my student account that helped cover a summer class. The Lord has provided 14 different scholarships through Cedarville. In all of this, I keep thinking about Dr. White’s chapel series from sophomore year and remembering, “God is faithful; you can trust Him.” Sean Beverly ’22 graduated in May with a Bachelor of Science in management. TRANSFORMATION STORIES I contemplated transferring schools that summer after freshman year, but something kept pulling me back to Cedarville. Cedarville Magazine | 9