Student Recipient Spotlight
Presbyterian Study Grant Recipient Reflects on Summer Preparing for Seminary
By Melissa Davis Gee
Melissa Davis Gee and her dog Murphy. In the past I spent summers outdoors either working in the garden or hiking. However, this past summer was a time of preparation and reflection both indoors and out of doors. I spent the summer preparing for a move by selling and leaving a home to relocate into temporary housing where my husband and I would finalize details for this next part of our journey. I wrapped up volunteer duties at church as well as professional work tasks in order to begin Seminary at the end of August. The past and the future were uniquely tied together during last summer.
I found myself not only preparing for the next few years by looking ahead but also reflecting on all that had brought me to what was my current reality. Along with calculations for a budget that reflected the loss of one income, I summed up all that was my past. As I prepared for life as a student after ten years out of the classroom, I remembered the feeling of being the first in my family to graduate from college. As I thought about living in a city, I visited the mountains of West Virginia, which hold my most cherished memories. This reflection alongside preparing for change caused me to be cognizant of God’s work and presence in my life. While I was preparing, I came to fully know that God would provide for my family.
Gene, my husband, our dog, Murphy, and I took time to travel to my home state to explore my roots together before branching out. We experienced the best and worst of West Virginia’s natural resources. We were swept away by the beauty of Dolly Sods Wilderness area and deeply impacted by the devastation that coal mining has caused for both God’s human creation and environment. We were filled with hope when we visited the windmill farm in the northeastern end of the state that holds the promise of recreating how energy is supplied. This technology will someday help restore and preserve the beauty of Appalachia and the health and well being of the people living there.
 While visiting my parents I attended the Presbyterian Church near our home and was welcomed not only as a child of the community but a future leader of the church. Knowing that I would never be alone was one of the things that led me to the Presbyterian denomination. In service to my church and through my personal life struggles and growth I have felt the presence not only of God but the hands of my congregation in Boone, North Carolina, gently pushing me forward.
The realization that I wasn’t alone in this journey became evident once again when I arrived in Louisville. I am so thankful for and have been blessed by the support and prayers of my sisters and brothers in Christ, both known and unknown. While I cannot imagine what God has in plan for my family and me, I know I will never be alone. And while I know that God is always with me, there is something comforting about having human shoulders on which to lean.
Thank you for supporting the Presbyterian Study Grant. Without this scholarship my husband and I would have a very difficult time.
Melissa Davis Gee is a 2007-2008 Presbyterian Study Grant recipient attending Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. She is a member of First Presbyterian Church of Boone, North Carolina, and an Inquirer under the care of Salem Presbytery. Melissa graduated from the University of South Carolina with a B.S. in Marketing and Management in 1998. |
