Kiersa Sauder grew up in a small town within Lancaster County, where she was surrounded by farmland and had to learn how to pass Amish buggies on the road as she started driving. She now lives in West Chester, where she attends the Culley community group and eats at Chick-Fil-A as often as possible. Read on to get to know her!
Kiersa, tell us a bit about your family.
I am the youngest of four children and I am the only girl. My two oldest brothers, Conrad and Brandt, are fraternal twins, and they are nine years older than me. My other brother, Evan, is seven years older than me. By the time I entered middle school, I felt like an only child because my brothers were in college. I am very thankful for my mom because we have always been very close. Fun fact: all of the boys in my immediate family are left-handed, but my mom and I are right-handed!
What’s something about you that most people might not know?
When I was a toddler I had a time where I experienced double vision. My mom scheduled an eye appointment right away and I ended up with glasses that had Minnie Mouse on them. I loved them and I still remember them!
Speaking of childhood, we hear you have a pretty great embarrassing story to tell.
Oh, I have a few that I could probably tell, but nothing beats the sixth grade whale watch trip. It was a big deal in my elementary school that the 6th grade class rode a coach bus to Cape May to get on a boat in search of whales. The problem was taking me on this trip. From infancy until teen years (and every once in a while nowadays) I dealt with major motion sickness. My teachers thought that I would get sick on the boat, so they gave me medicine at school before we left. They underestimated me. I threw up on the bus ride there. To make matters worse, they made me move all the way to the front of the bus to sit with the teachers. For 11-year-old me, that was the worst part. Everyone was watching me! Also, we saw no whales, so all in all it was a pretty sad trip.
What are some things you love to do nowadays?
Ask any of my friends this question about me and the first answer will probably be eating at Chick-Fil-A. It’s my favorite! I also enjoy watching movies (movie marathons are always a good idea), writing letters, walking around Oakbourne Park or in the West Chester borough, going out for ice cream, and hosting game nights with my roommates.
What are some ways you have seen God working in you?
God has really blessed me in my devotions recently. I used to struggle with obedience in spending time with the Lord (and still do in different ways). In the summer of 2019, I decided to try the women’s Bible reading plan that the church suggested. It was a lot of reading! I think the Lord blessed my efforts, and I stuck with the plan way longer than I expected. Ever since then I have maintained the desire to spend daily time with God. My consistency ebbs and flows, but I have spent more time in His Word than ever before. I am so thankful for God’s kindness and grace to me in this area.
Going off that topic, what is your favorite verse or passage of Scripture, and why?
My favorite verse is, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). I love thinking about God creating us with the tender love and care of a father. Not only did He handcraft each and every one of us in His image, but He gives us the opportunity to follow Him and praise Him forever. We don’t do good works to earn our salvation, but they are the fruit that comes from following the Lord. God planned everything out for my life before I was even born. Now I get the privilege of living it out and doing good works to bring Him glory for it all.
Finally, what has God been teaching you lately?
God has been reminding me that his timing is perfect and his purpose is good. I went to West Chester University beginning in 2014 and continued straight through until I graduated with my master’s degree in Social Work in May 2019. Then, I waited and waited and waited. It wasn’t until December 2020 that I began my first social work job as a temp. But God. But God, being rich in mercy sustained me through that time. The passage that guided me through this season of waiting was, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30). I find it no coincidence that this was the key verse in both books I read during that time. God is kind to equip us for this life of hardship instead of offering an escape. I am thankful that I can come to Jesus with my burdens, and He will offer me rest. Life may not be easy, but the yoke of Jesus is. God blessed me in mid-April 2021 with my dream job of being a full-time Social Worker at an adoption agency. I am thankful for the season of waiting and how it pushed me closer to God. I need him desperately and I praise him wholeheartedly for all he has done to get me where I am.
