Rebecca Roebuck: Let it all out

Published: August 26, 2016

Rebecca Roebuck, a member of Christ the King in Fort Smith, spent her summer in Chile studying Spanish.

Rebecca Roebuck, a member of Christ the King in Fort Smith, spent her summer in Chile studying Spanish.

Rebecca Roebuck, 21, a member of Christ the King Church in Fort Smith, is beginning her senior year at Oklahoma State University studying strategic communications and minoring in Spanish. As a high school student, she attended several Catholic Heart Work Camps with Christ the King’s religious education program and spent summers as a counselor at Kanakuk Kamp, an interdenominational camp in Missouri. She also leads a Bible study group at Oklahoma State University.

When her older sister Mary Frances was diagnosed with a rare blood disease last fall, Roebuck’s faith was strengthened as she sat vigil in the hospital for five weeks, comforted by the words of Isaiah 55:8-9, learning to trust in a God who sometimes leads people on unexpected paths. Her blog, playingsecondstring.wordpress.com, is a testimony to her belief that we are all instruments playing our hearts out for Jesus.

This summer, after her sister’s health had stabilized, Roebuck studied Spanish at the University of Valparaiso, Chile. Far from home, she learned that Jesus is all she needs.

“The worn and torn pages of my favorite travel companion, my prayer journal, bring me much hope, and hope in Jesus is not to be kept bottled up inside,” Roebuck blogged.

• What is at the top of your bucket list? Why?

Backpacking through South America or climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro. “I love how simple life is when I am outside and away from the temporariness of this world.”

Click for the 15 Catholic young adults who inspire us, 2016 index