Alondra Lebron: A High School Journey of Faith and Identity
Join Alondra Lebron, a 17-year-old high school senior from Caguas, Puerto Rico, as she shares her poignant journey through the challenges of adolescence, academic pressures, and personal struggles during the pandemic.
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In this video, Alondra discusses:
Her initial goals to excel in school and participate in numerous clubs and sports, aiming to build an impressive college resume.
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on her life, including spending extensive time at home and dealing with familial difficulties, particularly with her mother.
The challenges she faced during her junior year, including starting a job, falling behind in schoolwork, and struggling with her sense of identity as her grades slipped.
A pivotal moment of despair and the invitation to a Cru event called "Fast Break" that marked the beginning of her spiritual awakening.
Her emotional experience at the event, where she felt a direct connection with God and received a message of love and acceptance.
How this experience transformed her perspective, helping her find comfort in her faith and a newfound identity in what God thinks of her, rather than societal expectations or academic achievements.
Alondra's reflections on the importance of faith in her life now, her desire to overcome any lingering doubts, and her ambition to fully trust in God.
Her aspirations to be an instrument for God, reach out to others, and positively impact the world.
Alondra's story is a powerful testament to the transformative power of faith, the search for identity, and the journey towards self-acceptance. It's a must-watch for anyone facing similar struggles or seeking inspiration on their own path.
I'm Alondra Lebron. I was born and raised in Caguas, Puerto Rico, and I'm currently a senior in high school, and I'm 17 years old. Coming into high school, I wanted to be in all the clubs and all the sports because I wanted to be engaged with my school, and I knew that that would look good in a resume for college.
So that was my driving force. Everything was just excel in school, excel in school, excel in school, and that's what I did.
With the pandemic, I had to spend obviously a lot of time at home, but I wasn't alone at home. I was with my mom as well, and I've never really had a very concrete relationship with her. It's been very hard, you know, having arguments and difficulties within my household at the same time that I began my junior year.
I also started working. So now there was one thing more on my schedule. I started getting behind on my schoolwork. And then once you're behind, you're behind. It's so hard to get your feet back on the ground. My identity revolved around good grades, and I wasn't getting those good grades anymore. So it was like, I didn't have an identity anymore.
I remember there was a specific instance where I really felt like I would be better off if I wasn't here or the world would be better off because I wasn't here. I couldn't handle it anymore emotionally and just like mentally. And I decided to call out of work and about 30 minutes later, a friend reached out to me and he was like, “Hey, there's this event going on for Cru. It's called Fast Break. We would love for you to come.”
And that's what I did. I sat there listening to the person who was giving the sermon speak. It was like really just hearing who God is. Like he's the person that's gonna go and get you every time you walk away from him. He's the person who's gonna keep knocking at your door.
He's the person who wants to see your heart and wants to see you for who you truly are. They gave a moment of, you know, like, stand up if you want to receive Christ into your life. And I was just in tears and tears, just so many tears. And I remember I threw my bag down and I got up and as I got up, he asked for my name and he was like, “Alondra, God loves you.”
And it was more obvious. It felt like God was speaking to me. Like God was really, really using him as a tool to talk to me. And being told the opposite of what I thought of myself and what I had been told the entirety of my life. Pretty much made me feel at home. It made me feel at home, and that my identity remained just in him and on what he thought about me and not anyone else or anything else.
It makes me emotional to think about it because if I hadn't been at the place that I was at, so low, how would I have seen how good God is?
Being able to receive God's love for me made me realize that I wasn't alone anymore. And it made me see that I could trust in something bigger than myself and in something that has total control over my life and who I am. I believe now, but I know there's unbelief in me. And I want to get to the point with God where there is no unbelief.
There's just full trust in Him. I just want to see God work in my life. Like, reaching out to people and pouring life into other people and just being an instrument for God. Because our world needs it.
