Graduating Austin student publishes faith-based book

May 18—It's a big month for Ellie Hope Durbin, who published a book May 11 and who on Monday will be one of 301 Austin High School students to walk across the stage to receive her diploma.

Durbin embraces prayer and her Christian faith, and over the years she said it has carried her through dark times.

Durbin, 18, and her family moved to Decatur after her first grade year, previously living in Dothan and Killen. She said after moving to Decatur, her father Dan Durbin was hired as the executive pastor of BComing Church on 14th Street Southeast, formerly known as Epic Church, and her mother Carol Beth Durbin was hired as the church's leadership development pastor.

For the last four years, her parents have been the owners of Durbin Leadership LLC, a leadership coaching and consulting firm.

Becoming a teenager was difficult, according to Durbin, and as much as she tried to fit in with her classmates, she said she discovered high school popularity is of little concern to God.

"It's purpose over popularity," Durbin said. "In those hard moments when you're left out, your purpose in what God wants you to do is more important than what is going to make you popular."

After years of writing down her thoughts in a journal she keeps to this day, Durbin decided to have her writings published from the last three years.

"Every time the Lord would speak to me, I would just write it down in my journal," Durbin said. "My parents told me some of these were pretty good, so I slowly started putting them in a Google document on my school Chromebook, and eventually, I wound up with around 200 pages."

Durbin started seeking out publishers last fall and signed a deal with Texas-based Beyond Publishing in November. Her book, "To Live: Stepping Into Fullness and Light," was published May 11.

The book is 214 pages long and contains one-liners, poems, passages and quotes that Durbin hopes will change lives. She said it took about two weeks to edit her journal entries and compile them into a book.

"Some of it came from my freshman year, a lot came from my sophomore and junior years, and then a couple from the beginning of my senior year," Durbin said of her book's content.

Durbin said even if only one person walks away changed, she believes the book will be a "huge success."

Austin High cheer coach Eria Crittendon said Durbin is a model student.

"She's the student you would want everyone to be like," Crittendon said. "She's the one that's going to encourage her teammates and kids around her. She is always going to be the one to uplift others. If the team is down, she's bringing the Bible verse and the quote talking about positivity."

Austin High guidance counselor Ann Faulk said Durbin's selflessness is shown every day in the school's hallways, from assisting special needs students to being a friend to shy students.

"There are not enough positive adjectives in the world to describe Ellie Hope," Faulk said. "Just her genuine love for people is the thing about her that stands out the most to me. It doesn't matter who they are or where they come from, she is just always that loving person. Not to mention, academically, she is brilliant as well."

Durbin will graduate third in her class on Monday with a grade point average of 4.5.

Durbin is a co-captain on the cheer team at Austin, where she and her teammates won first place in the Game Day Division 7A cheer state competition in 2023 and 2024. She is also a member of the school's National Honor Society and Ambassadors program.

She will attend Samford University this fall, but before that she will complete mission work in Nicaragua this summer, where she will assist staff at the Katie Beth Carter School.

"I've been on a big mission trip before in Africa, in Eswatini," Durbin said. "That's when my heart for missions just grew immensely and I knew I wanted to do something like that for the rest of my life."

Durbin said she will study Christian ministry at Samford and will participate in its global missions scholars program.

"My dream is to work either in the church or in a nonprofit doing missions and community outreach," Durbin said.

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