Growing up, the church was not a place I knew all too well. It was a place I dreaded going, only ever actually going because my parents made me. We weren't a family who went to church every Sunday, that was usually more of just a holidays' thing. I was baptized when I was little, participated in the first communion, and was confirmed in middle school. I did these things because I was told to. They had no real meaning to me, and I saw no point in any of it. I wouldn't say I had any sort of relationship with God or with my church. Entering into high school, all of this changed for me.

I didn't hang out with the best people in freshman year. They brought out a side of me, that really just wasn't me. I ultimately made the choice to distance myself from them. Through soccer I made some of my best friends. Through them, I met even more of my current friends. Something a lot of them had in common was the place they went to church. I had known of Shepherd Of The Valley, but I never really thought more of it than It would be cool to go to a church with all my friends. But that was a Lutheran church and I was raised Catholic. Then one day, a good friend of mine asked me to go on a mission trip with her and her church. This was not something I was exactly interested in doing, but part of me thought, 'why not?'

To this day I still think about how that one trip changed my whole life. I created bonds with people in a way I never knew I could. I was welcomed into their community. I felt an acceptance I never had before. Some of the best things about these trips are that you disconnect from the world for a week, sleep on air mattresses on a church floor, and work long days usually in the heat. We spent time working on an Indian reservation, fixing up houses, or giving the kids of the community a place to come during the day where they could play, learn and have fun. These people were not as privileged as us, yet I never heard them complain once, and they were almost always smiling. The kids had hard lives, and it wasn't always easy hearing their stories. But one thing they did have was faith; a relationship with God, and trust in him to take care of them. We did a lot of things outside my comfort zone. We worshiped everyday and did devotions at the end of the day. Praying out loud to people was something I never did. Yet, I walked away from this trip with amazing friends, a new but growing relationship wth God and comfort in who I was and who I was becoming.

From that summer on, I joined my friends on a mission trip every summer, always somewhere new. I made a personal choice to switch churches, and my family was very supportive. I started teaching confirmation classes on Wednesdays and Sunday school on Sundays. I loved being at my church, and it became a huge part of my life. The summer after my senior year of high school, I got a tattoo to represent my faith and the presence God had in my life. College was a whole new world, though. Being away from home and not having my church just a few minutes away was hard but I had my friends from home that really helped with this. At one point I got another tattoo as a reminder of what role God played in my life and that it's easy to sway from that.

I'm now a junior in college; life hasn't really been all that easy. I started to lose the relationship I had with God and my faith all together. I've questioned why things happen the way they do and why He would put me through certain things. Recently, I was in the bathroom of all places, and one of the lunch ladies noticed one of my tattoos. She asked me about it and why I chose what I did. I got to explain to her what they meant to me and why I had chosen to get those specific tattoos. I walked out of that bathroom feeling much different about life than I had when I walked in. I came to realize from this how strong my relationship with God really is and even if it sometimes feels lost and I question his choices for me, my tattoos are there as a reminder of how great He is and that I am who I am today because of Him.

I know that not everyone is involved with their church. I know that not everyone has the same beliefs that I do and I don't want any part of this article to seem like I'm trying to change your mind, or sway you. It is just a story of faith I felt like sharing because I would not be the same person I am today without any of this.