Two things changed my life: Christ and higher education. Though not equal, both are essential to who I am today. I was raised an atheist in a home lacking grace and mostly lacking love. I suppose people do the best they can in the circumstance they inhabit, and I came out of childhood way too early knowing I could count on no one other than myself. I stumbled into higher education because no other options seemed viable. I was lost. The first time I ever felt like I belonged somewhere was in an English literature class. Still alone and painfully shy, I flourished in the classroom. After bouncing around the country and different colleges, I landed in Tennessee where everything changed. A professor took an interest in me and encouraged me to pursue graduate education. Meanwhile, I kept living a life based on values I made up as I went along and mostly feeling alone in the world. Then I met some people unlike any others. They loved me even though I tried to make them hate me. They prayed for me and asked others who did not know me to pray. And God met me where I was. He changed everything about how I saw the world and my place in it—he shifted my paradigm to one where I was neither alone nor the center of the universe. I was nurtured in a particularly effective church and found people who lived out their faith rather than talking about it on Sunday and living like me the rest of the week. They loved everyone simply because God loves everyone, and that rocked my world. I don’t know why it took 32 years for me to experience love, but I am certain God can use anyone at any point in life to reveal His grace and love to others. I am living proof that no one is beyond the reach of God. My liberal arts education allows me to dig deep into God’s word and study how people have imperfectly carried out the great commission over time. It allows me to understand better the roots of our faith and the tremendously intellectual foundation Judaism provides for Christianity. God reaches different people in different ways, so I would never claim you have to be educated a certain way to be a Christ follower. Millenia of illiteracy would demonstrate otherwise. But for me, coming out of intellectual ignorance opened the door for a spiritual awakening, and my love for learning continues to feed a deep curiosity about our world and a love for its people. If you do not love people, you cannot serve them. If you do not serve people, you cannot reach them.