HANCEVILLE, Ala. — Hanceville’s Mattie Keith will be a sophomore this school year and, in this interview, she shared her story about how God has helped her overcome challenges in her life. She has had an amazing support system to help her out along the way as well.
“My walk with God hasn’t always been perfect. In fact, it never will be. I’ve always grown in church, but that doesn’t mean that my relationship with God has been healthy. As God’s children, we are called to serve and share His word, but I haven’t always done that. Truly, it wasn’t until here recently that I have been comfortable to share more about my story and show others how much God impacts our lives. I’ve had many struggles in the past, but those struggles haven’t always drifted my relationship with God, until my grandmother took a hard decline and got very sick. It was really hard to see the strongest person you know be so weak. It really made me question God and doubt his plans. My relationship with God then was not strong and before then, it wasn’t very strong.”
Mattie added,
“It wasn’t until she passed away that I saw God in so many different things, and I think that was God and my nana helping me out. If it wasn’t for some incredibly amazing angels on Earth, I wouldn’t have been able to get through that time. My best friends, Millie Brown, Kerrigon Moore, Kinsley Wright, and Piper Butts, constantly helped me keep a smile on my face and helped me stay positive in that time, as well as my family, like my mom and dad, my close cousins Morgan Hammock and Mallory Rollo, and last but not least, my kind and caring boyfriend, Drake Bentley. He was there for me whenever I needed it the most and helped me, especially regain my relationship with God. It was really hard, because I jumped to questioning Him instead of patiently waiting for His plan to phase out. After I had started to get back on track with my faith, I have noticed my overall self has become happier. God has pulled me out of a really dark spot that I thought I would never get out of.”
“He has sent me some amazing people as well to help with my journey. Instead of living a life where I constantly question, I instead live a life where I wait it out and see what God has in store for me. Perfecting your walk with God is never easy, and it’s especially not easy to show people what that walk can look life. My youth pastor once said that you may be the only God that someone sees, and I always think about that, because there might be someone around me that is struggling and needs a light. I want to be that light for them, because no one deserves to feel the way I did. I will continue to show gratitude to God for coming through when I needed Him the most, and I know that He will continue to help me, even when I walk down the streets of gold. God has changed my life for the better, and every day, it gets more and more exciting because of the choice that I made to walk with Him every day.”
Mattie shared some of her favorite Bible verses and talked about her favorite mission that she’s been a part of.
“Song of Solomon 4:7, because it reminds me that God made me in His image, and that’s the way He wants me to be, Proverbs 3:26, because it reminded me that God has always been there for me, even when I didn’t realize it, and Titus 3:5, because God didn’t save us because we were worthy. It was because He knew we needed it, and to me, that shows the amount of love that He has for us,” she said. “Most people probably wouldn’t consider this a mission, but just sharing the message to others around me is something that most people sometimes forget about when serving God. Sometimes, including myself, most people think about themselves and what they need to do to fix themselves in order to be aligned with God, which is fine, but we often forget about those who might not even know God and His amazing works, and they are missing out on the amazing things that He can do for us. My favorite ‘mission’ has to be when our Wednesday night small groups would share a small devotional about something that God has done for us to help others with their walk with the Lord. Those devotionals don’t just stay in the room. They travel to so many places, and to me, that is an act of missionary.”
Mattie wants to help even more people find God, and she wants to be a role model in their life as they begin that journey.
“It means so much to me. The earlier you grow a relationship with God, the better, and everyone deserves to know Him and his wonders. I do everything in my power to be a good example to others of what that ‘daughter of a king’ example’ looks like,” she said. “It’s amazing. I want people to look at me and say, ‘Man, she’s on fire for God’, because that’s what you should want people to say about you as a child of God. I may not always be the perfect role model, but I always try my best, and I’ll always be there for anyone who may be stuck in their walk with God.”
Keith gave some advice to people who want a relationship with God and is more than willing to help them in any way possible.
“Just be patient, don’t doubt God, and pray daily. I promise God answers every prayer that you send to Him, and He does it in a unique way. Just because something doesn’t work out the way you want, it doesn’t mean that you should give up on God. He does things that are best for you. If anyone needs someone to talk about that uncertainty, I’ll always be there for them. I’ll be here for them. I’ll pray for you and with you, and I’ll never tell someone unless they just want it to be shared.”
Mattie has so many amazing Godly role models that she looks up to, and she has learned some very important things during her journey so far.
“My role models have been my mom Nancy Keith, my cousins Morgan Hammock and Mallory Rollo, my grandmother Joan Calvert, my boyfriend’s mom Lauren Bentley, my boyfriend Drake Bentley, and quite honestly, my entire family,” she said. “I’ve learned that it’s all in God’s timing. You just have to put your full trust in Him.”
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