So, this article is going to be a little different than my last two, this one will be more personal and extremely vulnerable. My reason for wanting to be open is because I want to have a connection with my readers, so that way you feel as though you know me on a more personal level, so here goes nothin'.

Most of my high school career I have been known as the "church girl", but oddly enough, no one has ever asked me what I actually believe in. After two years of being invested in a church, AV Journey, I've come to realize that church isn't necessarily for me. The reason for that is because I have my own personal beliefs of what happens after death, why we're here, who God is, etc.

So, to get to the point, let's start with what I believe happens to us after death. Each person is unique, embedded with different traits and qualities that make them who they are. That being said, I don't think that everyone has the same "afterlife".

I strongly believe that each person was put here with a purpose, but that does not mean that all of us fulfill that purpose in this lifetime. So, I believe that once we die, we're given a second chance, otherwise known as reincarnation. In that second life, we're given another chance to complete what we were meant to be here for, just not in the same body or mind, meaning that we wouldn't remember our past life.

Now as for the rest of us, who aren't reincarnated, we all have the option to "repent" and ask God for forgiveness. I feel that those of us who do repent, go to our own version of what heaven is like, meaning that for every person, heaven may be different. Because I believe that God forgives all, I don't believe in hell, so for those of us who don't ask for forgiveness, I feel that our spirits are stuck here on earth, explaining any ghostly activity we find here. Now, as for the people who worship Satan, they've already given themselves up to Lucifer, so who knows what he has planned for them, I try to avoid thinking about that side of the spiritual realm.

As for why we as people are here, I do believe in God.

I definitely don't believe that he puts our bodies together as if we're made the way dolls are, that's what atoms and molecules are for, but I do believe that God gives us our individual traits, handcrafting us to be the people we are, and will become.

Now I know a lot of people are turned away from the idea of God because there are people with cancer, people who are abused, and so many more awful things of the world. When bad things happen, we as humans immediately look for someone to blame, and most of the time we choose to blame God because nothing else makes sense. To be honest with you, I don't have an answer as to why these things happen, and as cheesy as it sounds, I just have faith that there's a reason for it all.

Who and/or what is God?

Keep in mind while reading this, I was not raised in a church, so finding God and church was something I chose on my own. To me, God is good, all loving, and all powerful, similar to what they tell us in the Bible, but I don't believe these things because of a book. I believe because of personal experiences and stories I have heard of other's lives.

Let's start with something semi-personal, a friend of a friend. Keeping this completely anonymous, a man was working on a friend's RV in his backyard. While working underneath the vehicle, a bolt of some sort came out, causing part of the RV to collapse on his stomach. Screaming in pain and agony, he was trying his best to find a way to protect his stomach. As emergency services arrived, it looked as though he passed out, little did anyone know, his spirit left his body.

As he explained it, he was sitting on the roof of the house, watching himself lay there with an RV on top of him, but that was definitely not all he saw. He described the figures as massive eight-foot-tall angels with wings bigger than their bodies, holding his stomach, trying to protect him. Even though all odds were against him, he came to, and survived. Now, granted he could have very well made this up and being naive, I believe it, but here's something personal.

Last year, around this time, my cousin killed herself, leaving behind her, at the time, 2-year-old son. We'll call him M. Recently, M woke up one morning telling his dad that he needed to buy a fishing rod. Already, this is bizarre, because no three-year-old would use the word rod, especially if they've never been fishing. So, his father continues and asks him why. M then says, "Last night I had a dream that I was fishing in heaven with mommy." M has no idea what heaven is or what it's like, yet he is completely confident that he was there in his dream.

These stories and experiences blow my mind. There's truly no explanation for what's real and what's not; what happens after death or even if there's a spiritual realm at all.

My point of this article is not to alter anyone else's views, or convince anyone to believe the same things as me, but I want people to understand what I believe in because this is a huge part of my life. None of us will truly know the answers until we die, but I am definitely confident in what I believe in. If you got this far into my article, thank you. I hope to have some awesome conversation about other people's beliefs in the future. Thank you for allowing me to be open and vulnerable with you.