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Emma Dukate flips through her bible, at Creation Coffee, Mount Pleasant, Michigan, Wednesday, September 11, 2024. Dukate says this bible is important because it resembles a pivotable moment in her life.
Emma Dukate looks at Alina Anderson as they talk about their devotional at Creation Coffee, Mount Pleasant, Michigan, Wednesday, September 18, 2024. Dukate says Anderson always has different perspective that help her.
Emma Dukate writes her daily devotional, at Creation Coffee, Mount Pleasant, Michigan, Wednesday, September 11, 2024. Writing her devotional down helps her engage in what she is taking in.
Emma Dukate leads the small group at FCA, Mount Pleasant, Michigan, Monday, September 16, 2024. Small group helps Dukate feel more connected to her religion because she is able to have a meaningful conversation with individuals.
Alina Anderson holds hands with Emma Dukate as they pray at Creation Coffee, Mount Pleasant, Michigan, Wednesday, September 18, 2024. They always start their devotional with a prayer together.
Only God Knows My Heart
Emma Dukate has always gone to church and believed in religion, but it was not until her baptism on September 24, 2023, when she realized she wanted to live a life fully devoted to her Lord. When she chose to get baptized, she chose to be washed away from her old life to begin her new journey.
Emma puts aside about a half hour in her day-to-day schedule to make sure she does her daily devotional. By doing this, she feels her connection to God and understanding of his words has become significantly better. One of her favorite places to do this is Creation Coffee, this is a safe space for her.
Since Emma is a volleyball player for Central Michigan, she wanted to have a bigger role than just being apart of FCA, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, so she became Vice President. Through FCA, Emma leads a small group which allows her to encourage not only herself but others around to do their daily devotional and to follow God’s plan.
Emma reads her devotion with her teammate, Alina Anderson, at least once every two weeks. They put a big emphasis on not being a student athlete, but a child of God. They feel “athletes should not define themselves by the things you do, but the things god allows you to do with the skills he gave you,” Emma said. So, when they meet and do devotional together not only do they read the word but also have tough conversations about daily life because they will both give each other advice on how to manage situations in the way God wants them to.
Emma has also encouraged her teammate and roommate, Krystina Kasson, to start her religious journey. Emma says walking into church with Krystina on her side gives her a sense of safety and joy that she gets to help someone else on their journey and not travel the path alone.
Emma’s religious journey has not been easy, “It’s hard and it exposes you, if being a Christian was so easy then everyone would do it,” Emma said. But keeping this in the back of her mind always motivates her to keep reading and following the path God has made for her.