MY LETU STORY: Chanel Kemball-Cook

NOTE: This is part of a series on letuathletics.com with feature stories written by senior student-athletes about their time at LeTourneau and the impact it has made on them.

By: Chanel Kemball-Cook | Sr. | Women's Soccer

If you told freshman year Chanel the effect this school would have on me, I wouldn't have believed you. 

These past four years have completely transformed my life.

I came in as a seeker of the world, looking to succeed on and off the field for my own gain. I found early success, but I had never felt more empty in my life. Long story short, I tried filling a God-sized hole in my heart with the temporary, fleeting fix of athletic achievements. It wasn’t until my junior soccer season when I realized they weren’t sustaining.

God has the best way of using people to point others to Him. The people here at LeTourneau exemplify what it looks like to love God and love others. Loving others means valuing them above yourself as Christ Jesus did (Philippians 2:3-5). A complete selfless, unconditional, and sacrificial love. This agape love surrounded me when I was lost and broken. Before I knew who Jesus was, I was being influenced by those who shined through His light. 

When our program had a change in coaching staff, they showed me what the whole point of soccer is - a gift given by the Lord to bring glory to Him. I am forever grateful that God knew exactly who I needed to be surrounded with. Since He met me where I was, life has been greater than what I could have ever imagined. I whole-heartedly know that my identity is not found in things of this world, such as how many goals I score, how many friends I have, how precisely I can fly an airplane, but rather who Jesus says I am.

I wouldn’t change anything about my time here. 

Each year has been so special in its own way. I have found life-long friendships who make college so fruitful. Seeing how God moves in each of their lives is incredible and a constant reminder of His goodness. 

We’ve had a total of seven girls on the team get baptized, including myself, over this past year. Seeing how quickly and powerfully God is moving within the team and how He is changing the lives of each girl is unexplainable. The joy felt every time we gather in the locker room for Bible study, step between the white lines to play, or even eat together at the dining hall is something I will always cherish and remember. 

Thank you Jesus for the group of girls I get to run around and kick a ball with, but also who I get to love the Lord with!

I have learned what purpose is, and how God calls us to a specific mission field to fulfill it. Purpose is found in Matthew 28:19-20, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

And He has equipped me with a skill set in aviation, where I get to fly airplanes for His glory and teach students to do the same. I am grateful for the hearts of my professors and instructors who love and care for my future as a God-fearing aviator.

I am so thankful to Jesus for leading me to LeTourneau. Being a YellowJacket has shaped me to be the person I am today and the person I am becoming.

Chanel Kemball-Cook #19