By Kate Wahnsiedler | TRINICY.org FOUNDATIONAL QUESTIONS TRINICY: What spiritual habits and disciplines do you follow on a daily basis? KATE: I pray every night and I'm trying to say the rosary more often, because I am Catholic, and for Catholic's the rosary is a very important tool for maintaining spirituality. I also try to read the Bible often and other books concerning religion. For example, I am currently reading "The Road To Sienna" which is the biography of St. Catherine of Sienna. TRINICY: Out of all God’s attributes, which one amazes you most? Why? KATE: His mercy. I often find it can be hard to forgive when someone wrongs me because its so much easier to just keep hate within your heart but God calls us to choose love and not hate like he does. I often think about Luke 15:7 "I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent." God is so willing to forgive our sins and that amazes because throughout my life thus far I have done so many things I shouldn't have and yet I get to go to sleep at night knowing my sins are forgiven and that God still loves despite all my faults. TRINICY: Who led you to Christ? Who are you leading or hope to lead to Christ? KATE: Most of my family is Catholic, so I suppose they led me to Christ but I think that the choice people in the situation of being born a Christian have is whether or not to stay one. For me that choice was presented through my confirmation into the Catholic Church and because of the example set by my family members and their devotion to Christ, the choice was easy for me. I knew that I needed Christ in my life and that I could never live without him. I really want to lead nonbelievers to Christ because as a Christian I believe that we are called to be disciples of Christ and that means helping others find their way to him. TRINICY: What primary talents and gift(s) has God given you? How are you using them for the kingdom? KATE: I believe God has given me the gift of academic intelligence and resourcefulness. This isn't to say that I'm the smartest person or the best of problem solving because I believe each and every person has their own kind of intelligence but I succeed mostly in the academic field. I want to use this gift to help others find Christ and to help others in general. I use this gift for the kingdom by trying to help others in need after all Jesus also calls Christians to help our neighbors. Because I am very capable academically I wish to pursue a degree in medicine or in law because I believe that through one of these professions I would be able to truly help others. Currently I use this gift by helping my peers also do well in school. Many of my classmates tend to come to me for help with their school and I always do my best to help them because even though I'm young I know that I can make a difference and be the Christian person I'm called to be by aiding others. TRINICY: Which person from the Bible do you resonate with the most? Why? KATE: I resonate with Peter the most. Peter denied Christ three times but Christ forgave him and Peter was ultimately able to be the person Christ called him to be. In my opinion Peter is a good example of God's mercy and not giving up. He made mistakes, horrible ones, but in the end he learned from those mistakes and learned that God is a loving God and that he could follow in Jesus's footsteps and lead others to Christ. TRINICY: What social issue do you care most about? Why? KATE: The social issue I care most about is ending abortion. As a Christian, I feel that ending abortion is the most pressing social issue present. I can't even begin to imagine killing an unborn baby but I want society to understand how precious every form of life is born or unborn. I see women who long to be mothers and women who make the choice to have their baby even though they are struggling or who sacrifice their own life for their baby. There is truly nothing more powerful on Earth than parents' love for their child. Just like how God loved Jesus and Jesus loves us and when I hear about abortion I'm just reminded that it is an evil in our world that needs to end. I want women considering an abortion to be confronted with love and comfort instead of fear and anger because they are strong enough to make the right choice they just need to be told that. TRINICY QUESTIONS TRINICY: What does being a Christian mean to you? Why Are you a Christian? KATE: Being a Christian is the most important thing in my life. To me it means that I have a relationship with Jesus and relationship that I can grow and it means that one day I will get to be with Jesus in heaven. As a christian I know that I have a community of Christians both on earth and in heaven that I can rely on for aid and for prayers when I am struggling and that I can in turn help my fellow Christians in their time of need. I only feel pride at the fact that I'm a Christian and I'm very willing to share that with the world because as a Christian I believe that I should share my faith with others as Jesus calls us to do. I am a Christian not just because my family encouraged me to be but because I am so much happy and fulfilled being one because life is not easy and it is filled with temptation and hardships but I know that if I endure I will get to have enteral life with Christ in Heaven. TRINICY: What does being a Conservative mean to you? Why Are you a Conservative? KATE: Being a conservative means to me that I'm going to fight for the rights of unborn children and the rights protected by the constitution. Originally I became a conservative because of my stance towards abortion but as I've grown and learned I know that being a conservative means having a logical and practical standpoint and that as a Conservative supporting principles that as a Christian I should. I believe that the conservative party is doing much more to "One Nation Under God" as opposed to "One Nation" because I know without God the world would be filled with even more evil than it is now. As a conservative I believe I am supporting the constitution and our natural rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, because without those things, which our forefathers fought to gain, we would be living in a world where equality wasn't important and where a human life was not seen as valued or important. TRINICY: What has your experience been like as a Conservative Christian on and/or off campus? KATE: As a Christian I've found that at times Public School can be difficult especially when it comes to being able to express my opinions freely. I've had the luck of living in a place where the majority of those around me are Christian and quite of few of me peers are also conservative but I've noticed that for those around me who aren't conservative of Christian that they are more than willing to make jokes about those who are Christian and to purposefully disregard Christians as a whole. One of my classmates at school often tends to make jokes about Christians and to say very blasphemous things in order to upset those who are Christian but I feel that regardless of anyone's religion they still deserve respect and I would hope that even those who aren't Christian will at least respect those who are. I happen to have several friends who are agnostic but we are willing to discuss religious and political topics with civility and have open minds. To me it is just important that my friends know that if they want to know more about Christ that I will be there for them, this gives me hope for the future because I truly believe that all people on all campuses in the world can work together to at least respect each other and make the world a better place. I understand that I can't make my friends or peers be Christian, after all one of the things that makes God the God he is that he gave us freewill, but I want them to always know that Christ will always be an option and I hope that through my life I can inspire others to turn to Christ but I want them to also know that as God calls us to do I will always love them despite their sins and I will pray that they find their way to Christ every single night. TRINICY: What were your first thoughts when you heard about TRINICY? KATE: When I first heard about TRINICY my first thought was that it was something I wanted to be a part off. As a high school student I've often struggled with feeling like I can't make an impact because I'm too young and too inexperienced but when I heard about TRINICY I felt like maybe I could have an impact and that TRINICY was going to give me a really great opportunity to spread the word of Christ and to encourage others on their own spiritual journeys and even just to be a part of a Christian community. TRINICY: What book(s) do you recommend conservative Christians read to help strengthen their faith in a secular and/or liberal setting? KATE: In all honesty the Narnia series. I read this very often as a young child and I happen to believe that anyone of any age can read it and should. These books are a really great way for people to have a better understanding of Christ without feeling like Christ is so great and unimaginable that there is no way to have a relationship with him. I think that a lot of people can be overwhelmed by what Christ represents to the point that they don't know how to have a relationship with them but the Narnia series gives an example of Children connecting with Christ on a closer level and I think that these books do a really good job of helping people realize that they too can be that close with Christ and that though they should fear God alone our God is a good and loving God. I also recommend any book by Dinesh D'Souza because his books are really interesting and captivating for Christians and Conservatives. As a high school student, there are still a lot of books I haven't read yet but for younger people, I recommend the Mandie Collection by Lois Gladys Sheppard and the Code of Silence series by Tim shoemaker. Both of those series are fictional but they contain many Christian Concepts and are not afraid to discuss God and prayer. TRINICY: What advice or resource would you offer to fellow conservative Christians today? KATE: My advice to fellow conservative Christian would be to persevere. In this world, there is so much temptation and evil that we face every day but God is always with, and ultimately if we face those things we are going to be rewarded with eternal life in heaven which will be so much better than anything we could possibly imagine. Also, I would advise my fellow conservative Christians that we are all in this together and that as a Christian you having a willing community to turn to in your time of need. OTHER QUESTIONS TRINICY: What is an interesting/unusual fact most people don’t know about you? KATE: I am a really fast reader, on average I can read a 300 paged book in 2-3 hours. TRINICY: What passion or dream keeps you up at night or wakes you up in the morning? KATE: Getting into a good college. It may not seem like the kind of dream most people have but I've worked so hard to get good grades and get good test scores that I want to be able to have the reward of opening college acceptance letters and being able to say that I got in on my own merit and that my hard work paid off. TRINICY: If Jesus were physically here now, what would you want to ask Him or talk about? KATE: Honestly, I don't know if I would really want to ask him about anything, I think there's a peace in not knowing some things, but I think I would just want to talk to him like I was talking to my very best friend, I think that it would easy to talk to Jesus because he knows everything about everyone and I know he would understand anything I said I think that would be amazing. TRINICY: What are the three greatest life lessons you’ve learned thus far? KATE: I've learned to trust my instincts because I think that a person can tell right from wrong by just feeling it within them. To accept that things don't always happen the way I want them too but that God has a plan. Learning that family is the most important thing there is and that family isn't limited to just those related to you by blood. TRINICY: Which Christian song best connects with you? KATE: I love Christmas songs so I think that Silent Night connects the best with me. I feel like the moments I know God is with me the most are the silent ones where it's just me and him so I really love Silent Night because it reminds me that even while I'm sleeping God is with me. TRINICY: What legacy do you want to leave as a Christian? KATE: As a Christian I want to leave the legacy of having others know I wasn't ashamed to profess my faith and that I would willing give my life for my beliefs. And I also want to leave the legacy of one day having Christian Children to whom I can teach about Christ and raise them to be good people who love God above all things. TRINICY: Which teacher has impacted you most? How? KATE: I think my AP Language teacher. It's kind of funny but she made us read a speech by Greta Thunberg and that really upset me because I didn't want to have to read something I didn't agree with and I thought she was trying to force her political ideologies on me but I later realized that she wasn't doing that at all she was in reality just giving a text that some people found persuasive and having us analyze it for rhetorical strategies. But in way that kind of changed how I thought about things because I think its important to be objective about things and to consider every side of an argument or you can't consider your own argument to be credible. Her making me read things I really didn't agree with pushed me out of my comfort zone and helped make me a better writer because it helped me to be able to see points of view that I don't agree with but having a better understanding of why some people might be persuaded by them so that in my arguments I would be more adept to counter them and be more credible by being objective. TRINICY: What is your life verse? Why? KATE: "The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone." This verse just acts as a reminder to me that there is beauty in everything in life. I represents the rejection of Jesus by his own people and in turn serves to tell us that Jesus will never reject anyone and that through him you will never be alone. It means a lot to me because I know what its like to feel like the odd one and I think most people do but there's comfort in knowing that God has a plan for us all. TRINICY: Which world events have influenced, changed, or shaped your life? KATE: At this point in my life, probably the Covid-19 pandemic. The pandemic pretty much changed every day life for almost everyone on Earth and it definitely changed life for students still in school. For me I really just had to learn how to learn without having a teacher present which took a little getting use to for learning math at least. TRINICY: What is the most difficult thing for you about being a Christian? KATE: I think that the most difficult thing for me about being a Christian is that I know I need to truly behave like one and that means things like being patient and getting along with my sister even when I'm frustrated with her. For me I struggle the most with just reflecting Christ in my actions. Of course everyone is human and will make mistakes but I want people to be able to look at everything I do in life and be able to think that person is really patient and incredibly kind and helpful and while I do my best to be that person I don't think I'm quite there yet but I know I have to keep working at it until I am. TRINICY: What, thus far, has been your greatest "praise report"? KATE: I think mine would be getting to experience the miracle of my late grandfather living for ten years of my life. He had his first heart attack when my mom was in the third grade and he was then diagnosed with heart disease. He also developed Parkinsons and he had a very low platelet count so his blood couldn't clot properly. After he died the doctor told my grandmother he couldn't believe he had lived as long as he did. So that was truly the greatest miracle I've experienced so far in my live because I can't imagine what it would have been like to ever known him because he was so smart and funny and just an amazing person and I was lucky enough to have four loving grandparents for ten years and I'm thankful for that everyday. TRINICY: What is a question you wish we had asked but didn't? What is your response to this self-selected question? KATE: I wish you had asked my what my favorite Christian quote was not a Bible Verse but just a quote in general. Mine would be "Be who you were meant to be and you will set the world on fire." - St. Catherine of Sienna. WE WOULD LOVE TO FEATURE MORE CONSERVATIVE CHRISTIANS ON TRINICY.WE WOULD LOVE TO FEATURE MORE CONSERVATIVE CHRISTIANS ON TRINICY. If you know of other conservative Christians on or off campus we could feature, please email us at [email protected] OR share the Spotlight Interview Form with them to fill out. We will choose which to publish based on quality and content.
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