Dogol Link: CONFIDENT GOD IS AT WORK

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Champions' TriBUne Archive

: Hannah Sedwick

Champions' TriBUne is a special feature through Baylor Athletics that gives you the student-athlete's perspective and the chance for them to share their own story. Hannah (Lockin) Sedwick, a senior setter from Des Moines, Iowa, was a first-team All-American and Big 12 Setter of the Year in 2019 when she led the Bears to a share of its first conference championship and a spot in the NCAA national semifinals. A corporate communications major, Hannah married Baylor kicker Jay Sedwick in May. After opening the season with a road split at Kansas, Baylor volleyball (1-1) hosts TCU at 5 p.m. Friday at the Ferrell Center:

"To you, O Lord, I cry,
    and to the Lord I plead for mercy:
"What profit is there in my death,
    if I go down to the pit?
Will the dust praise you?
    Will it tell of your faithfulness?
Hear, O Lord, and be merciful to me!
    O Lord, be my helper!"
You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;
    you have loosed my sackcloth
    and clothed me with gladness,
that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent.
    O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!"

Psalm 30: 8-12

I think we can all agree that the year 2020 has presented itself quickly, unexpectedly, and a little too aggressively. As an avid worrier myself, it is so easy to let fear of the unknown turn into anxiety, and it is so easy to forget how I got to where I am: by grace alone from a good, all-knowing, sovereign God.

I often have moments in my life where I think to myself: "Wow! I can really see God at work here. This wouldn't be happening if it wasn't for him and his perfect timing. I never want to forget this!" It's like a message for my future self. When I'm doubting God's presence and faithfulness in the future, I want to be able to look back and remember his faithfulness in previous areas of my life, and encourage myself with that, knowing he will always be faithful, no matter what.

So, I want to tell of God's faithfulness in my life, to hopefully spur you on to think about and remember his faithfulness in your story as well.

One of the biggest marks of the Lord's faithfulness in my life, and one of my favorite stories to tell, is the one about how I got to Baylor as a volleyball player. I was a young high schooler who just loved playing volleyball and knew I wanted to continue playing in college. Being from Des Moines, Iowa, I grew up going to Iowa State volleyball games with some of my family. Those games really inspired me. I wanted to play at that level, I wanted to be the one that little girls like myself at the time looked up to, and I even wanted to do it at Iowa State.

Hannah Sedwick

During my freshman year of high school, the opportunity for me to play volleyball at Iowa State was lost. While this bummed me out at the time, little did I know that God was closing one door only to open an amazing one in the future. Sophomore year came around, and I was not exactly sure what kind of school or volleyball program I wanted to be a part of. I was trying to keep my options open while I looked into a number of schools. My family and I had heard good things about Baylor University from people in Des Moines whose kids had attended there, so we thought, "OK, let's just check it out."

My family was headed to Texas for a random spring break trip, so we contacted Coach Ryan McGuyre, basically asking if we could come on a visit. Coach McGuyre offered to give me a visit, but he also told us that their recruiting for 2017 was pretty much done, and they did not really need a 2017 setter. We came anyway, excited to see the campus, learn about the program, and continue to grow my knowledge of college volleyball programs.

We met Coach Mac the morning of the visit, and headed into his office to start the day. This is the crazy part: Coach Mac proceeded to tell my family and I that the 2017 setter that had been committed to Baylor, decommitted from Baylor the night before this random visit that I was taking. One thing led to another, and within a few weeks I was committed to Baylor to play volleyball. This was sovereign provision on God's part. I loved Baylor, but how was I supposed to know for sure as a sophomore in high school that it would be the best fit for me? The truth is, there is no way I could have known, but God knew, and Baylor has been a greater fit for me than I could have ever imagined.

Hannah Sedwick

Fast-forward a few years, and I am officially a Baylor volleyball player. My freshman year, and even into my sophomore year at Baylor were good, but I can tell you that I was not living for the Lord. He had been so faithful to bless me with Baylor and surround me with some of the best people, but I was not being faithful in return. I was putting my identity in things that were not of the Lord. I was idolizing things that I shouldn't have been. Sin had me in chains that I couldn't seem to break on my own. I was looking for joy and approval in the world, rather than looking to my Maker to satisfy my soul. I had accepted Jesus into my heart when I was 4 years old, and had grown up going to church, but I had not yet developed a very deep relationship with the Lord.

Hannah Sedwick

During spring of my sophomore year, the Lord really opened my eyes and softened my heart to him. I realized that I did not want to be a slave to my sin anymore, and He was the only way I could be truly and wonderfully free. While I had known these truths all my life, this was the first time I feel like I really understood the weight of what Jesus Christ did for me when He died on the cross. He was perfect and yet took all of the sins that I had committed, bore them, suffered, and died. He died the death that I deserve so that I can live free, having a relationship with Christ himself forever! I understood that the way to be truly free was to surrender my whole life to him and follow his word and what it says.

Softening this hard heart after years of not living for the Lord: what an example of God's faithfulness and a great reason to sing His praise forever!

Following the Lord's transformation of my heart, I realized that I wanted to be baptized. My friends and family were all baptized as I was growing up, and I knew this was "something a Christian is supposed to do." I never wanted to be baptized growing up (mostly out of shy fear, not wanting to show my emotions, and stage fright), even though those around me were all getting baptized. Growing up, I wanted to do it just to "get it done." I am SO thankful that I did not. On July 7, 2019, I was baptized in the Brazos River in front of the Lord, my family, Baylor volleyball family, and my boyfriend's (now husband's) family. While this action of getting my head dunked in the river did not save me, it proclaims my faith in Jesus Christ and what He did for me on the cross. I also had a whole bunch of witnesses that can hold me accountable in my faith. It was amazing, and truly another mark of God's faithfulness in my life.

The 2019 volleyball season to follow was without a doubt one of the coolest experiences I have ever had. Until Baylor, I had never been on a volleyball team that was striving for success on the court in order to point the glory back to Jesus Christ alone. And that is what 2019 was for us. We were not perfect by any means, but we were constantly learning how to give the glory to God in all circumstances, positive or negative. I think every single person on the team grew in this way during the season. In 2019, our team broke record after record, made a Final Four run and produced three first-team All-Americans, the National Player of the Year and the National Coach of the Year and the national coach of the year - things that a young volleyball player dreams about getting to be a part of. I was inspired day after day by my teammates. Their work effort in the gym, their hunger for more and more success, and doing it all knowing that the higher we got as a team, the higher we could lift His name to those watching, and the more people we could reach.

Hannah Sedwick

God's faithfulness to me continued, as the best man I've ever met got down on one knee in October and asked me to marry him. Jay Sedwick was now my fiancé, and one of the clearest gifts of God's grace to me. I am still in awe of Jay's heart for the Lord, his love and kindness to me, and his bold love for God's people. We were to be married in May of 2020. Never did I think that I would get married in college. Let the wedding planning begin.

What a crazy thing to go from a year like 2019, to a year like 2020. Getting my final spring cut short is not what I had in mind. Re-planning a wedding with the man of my dreams because of COVID is not what I had in mind. However, the Lord proved faithful once again. I got to spend some amazing time with my (now) in-laws (they're literally the best), and my (now) husband (he's also the best). I got to learn new things, do different workouts, and really slow down in ways that I hadn't in years. Rather than having a full schedule, I had one that was flexible and allowed for a chance to not always be on the go.

God showed me once again that He is the provider, the planner, and fully worth trusting. Wedding planning was coming along great, until we were forced to re-plan our wedding because of COVID restrictions and wanting to keep everyone safe. While this was definitely a turn of events, the Lord blessed us with a smaller, intimate wedding with our families and bridal parties. It was perfect. On May 25^th, I promised my forever to Jay, the love of my life, in front of God and our closest people. While we really did not know what the wedding was going to look like until three weeks before the date, God was teaching us to value what really mattered: the marriage. I am so thankful.

So, while the 2020 volleyball season looks a lot different than I originally thought, I am confident that God is at work.

Hannah Sedwick

The college I ended up at looked a little bit different than what I originally thought I wanted. But I am so thankful that it is.

The transformation of my heart was not what I expected my sophomore spring to entail. But I am eternally thankful with every ounce of my being that it happened.

I did not expect to get baptized in the summer of 2019. But I am so thankful that God granted me that blessing.

I did not expect to meet the man of my dreams and marry him before I graduated, much less re-plan an entire wedding the month of. But here we are, four months in, and I am beyond thankful that we were able to get married when we did, and beyond thankful that our wedding was exactly how it was.

Nobody could have predicted COVID and all of the crazy happenings and uncertainties of 2020. While I am tempted to fear and to doubt that God is still present in our situations, I can look back and see where He has delivered me, where He has been the solid rock, and where His plan has prevailed over mine. His plan has brought me more blessing than I could have ever imagined.

While we all have stories of God's faithfulness, I believe the most important, inspiring and crucial mark of God's faithfulness to us is simply how He has saved us. I did not choose God, He chose me. I did not love Him first, He loved me first. I did not open my own eyes, break my own chains or soften my own heart. He did those things so that I could see His goodness and faithfulness and turn to Him. I can do nothing but sing of His faithfulness. It is not me, but Christ in me.

"Will the dust praise you? Will it sing of your faithfulness?
Hear, O Lord, and be merciful to me!"

Psalm 30: 9-10