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Shannon Trantina, 20, has a heart for ministering to girls, especially those striving to “navigate the hard things with God.” Trantina, a lifelong parishioner and graduate of St. Joseph High School in Conway, spoke a few times this past year to junior high girls on how her spiritual life saved her from anxiety and gossip.
“I had the realization that God has everything in control, and he has a plan I can’t see and it’s all going to work out for the best. That’s the moment my anxiety was completely gone. … Whenever I started going to adoration and growing in my spiritual life, everything changed.”
She felt the most anxiety about being “perfect all the time” at school and in sports. She began a devotional series called “Beloved,” listening to Christian music in moments of panic and focusing on God rather than “trying to fix it myself.”
“I had a spiritual life, but I didn’t personalize it to myself. But once I started opening up and involving God in all aspects of my life,” things changed, she said, adding, “Just finding your purpose through God first will help everything else come more naturally.”
Her focus on God has led her to volunteer in several ministries, including The Upper Room high school youth group and being a mentor for Deliver Hope, a Christian-based nonprofit in Conway that helps at-risk youth.
“It’s fulfilling. Just seeing them let their guards down and you being the one person they can trust in their life is awesome,” she said of Deliver Hope.
Trantina, a senior dietetics major at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, said, “Just knowing I can help one person just makes me very happy. … It’s not me; it’s just the work of God going through me.”
More stories will appear in our 15 Young Adults Who Inspire Us 2023 Section as they are posted online. Subscribe to Arkansas Catholic’s digital and print publications to read more content like this.
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