Katherine Weir had just settled into her life at Biola. She was looking forward to school as she began to get involved in different activities and ministries, meet new people and start classes. Nothing could have prepared her for the morning of September 18th when her younger sister called with the news that their mother, Mary, had passed away in her sleep.

Removed from her home and dealing with the shock and sadness from her mother’s passing, Weir needed someone who could take time out of their busy schedule to simply sit with her listen to her grief.

Biola has made it a point to repeatedly remind their students, even from their first visit to campus, that the university’s faculty and counseling staff consider each person as more than just a number. They have expressed their desire to be open to help students, not just academically, but spiritually and emotionally as well. They desire for the entire campus to be one connected community.

According to Weir, this was exactly the kind of attitude she encountered after being directed to the Associate Dean of Resident Life, Beth Born. Although she is not part of the counseling staff herself, Ms. Born asked Weir questions and then listened as the hurting student poured out her heart. Salliana Mayer, a friend who was with Weir that day, saw how Born was able to support Weir when she needed it most.

“She really was just the person we needed at the time,” Mayer said. “When I found out who she was, I was so surprised that she had taken all the time we needed to talk through everything we were worried about.”

When asked about the matter, Born explained how for her it really was a no-brainer to be there for Weir.

“She came in need of a place to talk and process,” Born said. “I wanted to help. When we get really hard news sometimes we just need people to listen and to offer help where needed.”

A few days later, Weir was stunned to receive a phone call from Dr. Barry Corey. He expressed his concerns for her well being and informed her that the Biola staff had been praying for her, and offered to do the same at that moment. Weir said she felt fortunate.

“I felt lucky I was here, [and] I realized that if I were at a secular school this never would have occurred,” she said.

The circumstances involving her situation have all pointed back to Biola as a community. Weir was unable to return home immediately after the death, instead arriving nearly a week afterwards, leaving the disjointed family to grieve apart from each other during that time. Weir’s father, William, has expressed regret that she didn’t come home sooner, saying that he didn’t want her to have to mourn among strangers that she had barely met. But Weir doesn’t think of it this way.

“I already considered the girls on [my] floor… and some people at school as friends, so… I didn’t quite agree because either way we are brothers and sisters in Christ,” she said. “So by having people to be able to pray for me and be with me [meant] I never thought of them as strangers.”

Weir found a timely message in the theme of suffering during this year’s Torrey conference. Although she was not enthused when she first learned of the topic, and later became engrossed in the events surrounding her mother, when she attended the sessions she was able to reflect on how crazily God can work in people’s lives.

“Learning how to let emotions out, and just learning again how to suffer in Christ has been literally a life changer for me, and being able to talk to people who are learning about suffering has also made a world of difference,” Weir reflected.

Worship, she says, was when she was able to let out her emotions. The song “Everlasting God” in particular held significant meaning to her, as it was the last song that she danced to with her mother one Sunday. This stuck out to her partly because it was only a few weeks before her passing that Weir’s mother began going to church regularly. She recalls it being played often during the Torrey conferences, and every time, remembering her mother, she was “able to worship God through it and praise him for what he’s been doing in my life.”

As for her family at home, Weir feels somewhat helpless because she cannot be with them, but she is leaving it up to God and trusting him to take care of them in her absence.

On the whole, Wier does not believe that her faith has been shaken by her trials. While it has been difficult to endure such a tremendous loss, she began to cling to God, which became easier and easier. The supportive environment that she was in, the Torrey conferences and the people in her life have helped her to come to grips with the loss of her mother and express her thoughts and emotions to God as she draws closer to him.

But she is not the only student that is going through a difficult time in their life currently. To other students who are experiencing similar struggles, Weir offered simple yet beautiful words of advice: “Give it up to God.”

To this day Weir still has no answers as to the cause of her mother’s death as the coroners continue to run tests. But in the sea of uncertainty, she remains anchored to God as her rock.