Growing up, my family attended a Catholic church. Both of my parents grew up Catholic, so it only seemed fitting that they would build their own family in the same religion. We were very sporadic churchgoers. We never went on Sundays. My dad used to say, “If we don't make it there on Saturday evening, then we didn't make it this weekend and we will try again next weekend.” This was often the case due to all of the sports and activities my sisters and I were involved in as we got older, events that took place almost all day on Saturdays. I remember times when several weeks would be in between the masses we made it to. Still, we continued to go about our way and made it to church when it would fit into our schedule.
My sisters and I were all baptized, completed our First Communions and confirmed in the Catholic church. However, while we did all of these things and understood why they were important milestones in the Catholic church, we did not understand anything beyond that; we just did these things because it was what Catholics do. Upon my confirmation, my parents explained to me that I was now independent from them when it came to my faith. They could no longer tell me what to believe; it was up to me to decide what I believed and how I was going to express those beliefs. To me, this was my excuse for not having to go to church anymore. See, I was in high school at the time and I did not want to stop hanging out with my friends because I had to go to church. It was this thought process that made me realize I had absolutely no clue what I believed in. I spent all of my years growing up Catholic but never actually understood what that meant to me. Come to find out, it meant nothing to me. I stopped going to church and never really pursued finding my faith after that.
In the summer of 2012, my parents decided it was time to make a religious change in my family. After hearing what I had to say about not understanding what it means to be Catholic and not attending mass because I didn't like it, my family realized they were feeling the same way. We left the Catholic church and started trying to find a religious home somewhere else. It was only a few short weeks later that we attended our first service at Mountain Christian Church. I will never forget how this moment changed my faith forever. Finally, I understood the stories of the Bible and how I was to follow God. I was no longer on an island by myself trying to figure out which way is the right way. I developed a trusting relationship with God and learned that only He knows what is in store for me. I am just along for the ride taking advantage of any opportunities that come my way and learn from the mistakes I make. Needless to say, after a few months of attending Mountain Christian Church, my faith did a complete 180-degree turn.
Keep in mind that I was in college at this point. I had just graduated from high school and was on my way to my freshman year of college. This might seem like an extremely late time to develop your faith and determine your religious beliefs. However, I don't consider myself to be behind in my relationship with God at all. When we are young, we tend to simply go with what our parents instill upon us, especially about religion. My parents had me grow up in the Catholic Church; therefore, that is the belief system I was engaged in. This seemed fine when I did not really understand what was going on around me in the world and just wanted to make my parents happy, but as I got older, I had to start thinking about myself and whether continuing to be in the Catholic Church was benefiting me and my relationship with God.
I decided it was not. I also decided that I wanted to improve my relationship with God, especially since I was going through a huge transition time in my life. I was ending the grade school chapter and entering a whole new chapter away from home and what I was used to for the last 18 years. Mountain has taught me that God has always been there for me; he was just waiting for me to see Him and start following Him. This does not change from age to age; it is eternally true for all of us. When you are ready to accept God, He is waiting with open arms. I have recently graduated college, and while this should be a really intimidating time where I am lost about how to get a job or how to prepare for the real world, none of this has troubled me. God gave me a wonderful job right after graduation and will continue to guide me in His chosen path during this new chapter and every chapter following this one.
The message I am hoping to get across to the readers is that sometimes you develop your beliefs late in life and that is completely okay! You are not behind or off schedule. You do not have to read the whole Bible in one night to catch up to those who have been doing it their whole life. You simply welcome God into your life and let Him guide you. If any of you have or are currently experiencing what I experienced in my religion, I hope you find this article to be your sign from God that you can still have a relationship with Him and He is waiting for you. Age never matters, especially to God.
