Most people say that when you find peace with your faith and you finally find Jesus, you have some sort of life changing event, but that didn't happen with me. There was no life-changing event, and i didn't feel much different.

This is not where the story starts though, let's rewind a few years and go back to 8th grade. I was a miserable girl. Sure, I had good friends and a great family but I couldn't quite figure out what was missing. Moving on to 9th grade, I met someone who would soon be one of the best friends I've ever had. Once Alexis and I grew closer she offered up the idea of taking me to church with her. At first I was hesitant, because I hadn't been to church in years. But I said yes, and now that I look back, I am incredibly happy I did.

It didn't take long for me to fit in with this wonderful group of people, I was very thankful that I could call the people in the Hope Community Baptist Youth Group, friends. Although I fit in well, and I was happy to finally be going back to church, something was still missing. Over the course of my four year high school career, as Alexis and I became practically sisters, we started going on more trips together and one of my favorite trips was attending Bible Camp. It is an unreal feeling when you are in the middle of worship and everyone is singing and you open your eyes for just a second and everyone is overwhelmed with faith. I was jealous, I wanted that. I always wondered as to why I couldn't gain that personal relationship with Jesus that everyone else had.

I waited and I waited for a very long time, but it wasn't until recently when I was having some trouble finding myself, and I just felt really down on my luck, and I thought to myself, "What would Jesus have me do?" I knew that as soon as that thought crossed my mind, something changed because I suddenly wasn't in such an erratic state and I was taking deep breaths, my mind started to clear and I felt free, and what I was worrying and stressing about, shouldn't be causing me this much pain. Even though it wasn't a life-changing event, the outcome was indeed remarkable.

I finally found that personal relationship with Jesus that I longed for.

I have nothing but love and appreciation for the members of Hope Community, thank you for taking me under your wing and showing me to the path of faith and a huge thank you to Alexis, thank you for being my best friend and my sister. I love you.