Faith in Everyday Spaces

No one really talks about what it looks like to walk out your faith every day in high school—especially when you’re a multi-sport athlete.

Hi! I’m Emma Hudon, and I’m a sophomore at Kamiakin High School. I’ve grown up with a strong religious background, and for most of my life, I felt deeply connected to the church. But during COVID, when my family stopped going to church, that connection changed. It felt strange, and for a while, my faith took a pause.

Then, in 2023, I attended a Cherish Conference, and everything changed. That’s where I gave my life to Christ and began a new chapter in my faith journey.

Giving my life to Christ was truly the best decision I’ve ever made, but what people don’t always tell you is that it can also be one of the hardest. Let me explain.

When Your Environment Has to Change

My freshman year of high school really taught me what it means to grow in your faith. I began to realize that if you want to grow closer to God and allow Him to truly work through you, sometimes the people and environments around you have to change. There were friendships, situations, and environments where I started to feel stuck—almost like I was growing further away from God instead of closer to Him.

I realized how difficult it is to grow in your faith when your environment isn’t helping you grow. High school comes with so many temptations—drinking, partying, smoking, relationships, friendships, drama, and the pressure to fit in. It can be confusing and even discouraging when things you once enjoyed or thought would satisfy you suddenly don’t anymore.

You start to feel like an outsider. And I learned that you can’t truly live for the world and live fully for God at the same time. Even if you aren’t participating in every “worldly” or “sinful” thing around you, your environment still influences you over time. You become a product of what you consistently surround yourself with.

One verse that really stuck with me was Revelation 3:15–16:

“I know your deeds are neither hot or cold. I wish you were either one or the other. So because you are neither warm nor cold, I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”

That verse challenged me to ask myself: Am I fully living for God, or am I trying to live in the middle?

When Performance Becomes Your Identity

On top of everything else, my faith felt like a rollercoaster. There were seasons when I was completely on fire for the Lord, and other times when I felt like a total stranger to Him. I felt stuck as a Christian, and instead of leaning on God, I tried to carry everything on my own.

That became especially difficult as my body went through a lot of changes, which affected many areas of my life—but especially sports. When I noticed those changes affecting my performance, I realized I needed to change my mindset. I had to stop allowing my performance to become my identity and start putting Christ at the center of who I was.

Being a freshman on varsity teams was already daunting. I was joining new teams, facing adversity, and trying to prove myself. At the same time, I was having to relearn certain skills, especially in hurdles, because my body was changing. I felt lost. I questioned God and wondered why He was allowing this to happen, especially after such a high point in the summer of 2025 when I became a two-time All-American. I had been on such a high, and suddenly I felt like I was losing the very thing I had worked so hard for. It took a real toll on my spiritual life.

What’s ironic is that before every new year, I make a vision board. My word for 2026 was “Everything clicks.” The old Emma wrote that down believing that if I worked hard enough, everything would eventually fall into place—and because I was faithful to God, I thought He would reward me on Earth.

Looking back, I realize how much my perspective has changed.

What God Was Teaching Me

I think a lot of new Christians believe that following Christ is going to be sunshine and rainbows. But following Jesus is an everyday battle of letting go of yourself and becoming the person God is calling you to be. That process isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes God allows hardships, uncomfortable seasons, and even separation from certain people to change your perspective and draw you closer to Him.

That’s why it can be so easy to give up when life gets hard. You pray, you wait, and it feels like God isn’t listening. But I’ve learned that sometimes that feeling is exactly what the enemy wants you to believe.

One passage that really changed my perspective is Philippians 4:11–13:

“I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances… I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation… I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

Paul wrote these words while he was in prison. He had experienced both abundance and hardship, and he had learned that his circumstances did not determine his peace. His contentment came from Christ—not from what he had or what was happening around him.

That really challenged me. I had been praying for God to change my circumstances overnight. I felt like a victim of my situation and wondered why God wasn’t fixing everything. But God was teaching me something much deeper: contentment and obedience are not dependent on getting what you want.

It’s easy to become focused on the next achievement, the next grade, the next friendship, or the next thing that we think will finally make us happy. We can become so focused on getting to the destination that we miss what God is trying to teach us along the way.

I’m learning that the steps are part of the process. The seasons that feel uncomfortable, the setbacks, the unanswered prayers, and even the things I thought were taking me backward can actually be the places where God is developing the fruit of my spirit.

A New Meaning for “Everything Clicks”

I used to think, “Everything clicks” meant that everything would finally go the way I wanted. Now I realize it means something completely different.

My word for this year is contentment.

I want to learn to be content in the highs and the lows, in success and disappointment, in seasons of abundance and seasons of uncertainty. Because when my life is centered around temporary things, I will always need the next thing to feel fulfilled. But when my life is centered around Christ, I have something that doesn’t change when my circumstances do.

That is one of the most beautiful and transformative things God has shown me: the world will never satisfy me the way He does.

– Emma Hudon

READ

Philippians 4:11–13

Read the passage slowly. Notice that Paul talks about contentment in different circumstances. As you read, think about where you usually look for peace when things aren’t going the way you hoped.

REFLECT

1. Is there an achievement, friendship, or situation you’ve started to connect with your identity?
2. What environments or influences are shaping you right now? Are they helping you grow closer to God?
3. When life feels uncomfortable, what do you find yourself asking God to change?
4. What might it look like to trust Him while you’re still in the middle of that season?

JOURNAL

Think about a season when you felt disappointed, stuck, or unsure of what God was doing. Write down what you wanted to happen and how that season affected the way you saw yourself.

Then finish this sentence:

“Even if ____________________ doesn’t change right away, I can put Christ at the center of who I am by ____________________.”

PRAY

God, thank You for staying with me through the highs and the lows. Help me recognize when I’m looking to my performance, my friendships, or my circumstances to tell me who I am. Show me what is shaping my heart, and give me the courage to make changes when I need to.

When I feel disappointed or stuck, help me bring those feelings to You instead of carrying everything on my own. Teach me to trust You in the process and to find contentment in Christ, even before my circumstances change.

Amen.