What is the significance of Believe. Commit. Achieve.? This motto of mine was inspired to me by my favorite bible verse, Proverbs 16:3. It states, “Commit to the Lord at whatever you do, and your plans shall succeed.”

So how does my tagline relate to an athlete? As an athlete it is very important to first BELIEVE in ourselves. If we cannot believe in ourselves and be confident in our training, abilities, and etc., we have already lost the battle we set out to accomplish. After we learn to believe we are able, we must COMMIT ourselves 100% to achieving that goal in mind. Whether it’s in our diet life, training life, relationship life, in all areas of our lives we must be fully committed towards achieving that goal in mind. That means put sticky notes up on your wall if you must, as I do, to remind yourself what you are working towards every day. Nothing comes over night, it comes by accomplishing our daily goals and to do just that we must be fully committed. After we learn to believe and commit to our goal, we can then ACHIEVE the goals and dreams we desire. It doesn't mean that it’s a 100% definite we will achieve. Life is not a math problem where 1+1=2. There will be many times of failure, but that is how we grow, get better, learn, gain experience, and overcome our fears to chase our God size dreams in the first place, so that when the time is right in our lives, we will achieve! 

This motto is not only beneficial for our lives as athletes, but it’s also beneficial to use in life outside of sports and competition. When I was a little girl 13 years old I decided to pick up my bible and flip through the pages. I didn't like to read when I was younger, so I never really read my bible before, but I thought “why not open it to see what’s inside?” As I was flipping through random pages my eyes landed straight on the bible verse of Proverbs 16:3. I remember as if I was slapped in the face with Proverbs 16:3. I was in awe, stunned, and enthused to keep reading more. I was a baby Christian at the time, but after this experience at 13 years old I started growing in my relationship with Christ. It was because of this verse I was lead into a real relationship with God. That is one of the many reason why this verse is so important to me.

But what does this verse mean and how does it relate to my tag line? First, we must believe in Christ. Second, we must commit our lives to Him completely. That means our dreams and the desires of our hearts becomes His will for our life and we must commit to doing and achieving His will. Lastly, through Him we can achieve. This doesn’t mean “believe in God and we will absolutely most definitely achieve all of our heart's desires and craziest dreams.” We can achieve all things through Christ yes, but it must be according to His will.

So, in whatever you do in life, believe, commit, and you can achieve!

I have a total of 14 scars on my knees. I’ve had a total of 4 knee surgeries. ACL reconstruction in 2010, meniscus and ACL reconstruction in 2012, and two reconstruction ACL surgeries in 2013. Despite all those who doubted me and advised to give it up, after a long rehab process, in 2014 I returned to sport.

Why didn’t I give up when I had the perfect reason to? Because I knew it wasn’t God’s will for my life. The Lord has gifted me with these talents and abilities from birth and they were meant to glorify Him. He gives and he can take away, and that’s what He did during that time in my life. These happenings allowed me to refocus my life and put God at the center of my life. It woke me up and when I hit rock bottom the only thing I could do was look up. It shaped me into the fighter I am today, a fighter with heart and perseverance.

In 2014 I made the decision to trust in God completely with all I had and to glorify His name doing what I love. First God, then my passions. I decided to work hard as if everything depended on me and pray hard as if everything depended on Him. It’s not a easy road committing your life to the Lord. In 2016 I fell short of qualifying for the Rio Olympic Games. It was a big heart break I had to deal with. I was sure qualifying was what God wanted for my life. I asked "Why God? Why would you bring me so far to fall so short?". But I trust His ways are greater than mine and I continue my journey and trust in him.

Though my journey and story is still being written and I don’t know what my future holds, one thing I can be sure of is this, God’s will for our life will always be greater than our vision. 4 years ago I would’ve never thought to be where I am today. Even when things seem impossible, as they did for me 4 years ago, He can use those experiences to help others and mold you into the person he wants you to become.

Don’t give up, look up!❤️