Because even though I'm a junior in college, I still thank my Youth Group at home for helping to make me into the person I am today. Although there's more than four things to be grateful for, these are the most important to me.

1. Thank you for giving me so many opportunities.

Whether it was simply through the Urban Plunge mission trip to Omaha, the ELCA Youth Gathering in New Orleans, teaching Sunday School, or the yearly 30 Hour Famine through World Vision, I was able to not only learn more about my faith but I was able to experience it. Through prayer walks - not only in our hometown but elsewhere, staining a porch deck at the local homeless shelter, not eating for 30 hours so that we could experience only a small part of what people around the world feel on a daily basis, packing food for school children who don't have meals on the weekends, and watching thousands of Lutherans in New Orleans praise God in the Super Dome: being able to watch God's work and love shine through not only myself but everyone I was around is something that I will never be able to forget. Those experiences are things I will never be able to thank you enough for.

2. Thank you for the new friendships.

Throughout middle school and high school, it always felt like I was searching for friends - for the people that I belonged with. In middle school, I hung out with girls who constantly tore me down and never apologized for it. And in high school, I just did my own thing - through juggling homework, band, and sports. Yes, I hung out with some people, but I never had a ton of friends at one time. And maybe it was because I was quiet and gave off the wrong impression, either way, until youth group I didn't really feel like I belonged anywhere outside of my family. I will never be able to thank you for introducing me to people who have the same morals and values, people who want to make a difference like me, and people who helped me get out of my shell.

3. Thank you for showing me that my faith expands outside what is taught at Sunday School.

Sunday School was great, don't get me wrong. Through both Sunday School and Confirmation you learn everything you needed to know to be a well rounded Christian - whether it was Bible passages or how the church worked. But sometimes it's hard to understand how what you're learning can be applied outside of church. It was hard to understand at a young age that faith plays an integral role in everything that you do. That living God's word isn't just something you do at church but it is something that you do everyday through your actions and interactions. And that although Jesus lived a long time ago, you should be able to connect the stories and their meanings to your everyday life. Thank you for showing me how to connect these stories to my everyday life and how to truly live by my faith.

4. Thank you for making Immanuel my second home.

Through all of the hours I spent at the church, it didn't take long for Immanuel Lutheran Church to become a second home. It's the one place, outside of my home, that I can truly be myself. It's a place where everyone is so kind and caring. Where people genuinely want to know how your doing and what you want to do after you're done with school. It's where not only my faith grew, but I grew. From making my way through Sunday School classrooms to finally being on the Confirmation floor to being confirmed and walking through the church as an official member to becoming a part of Youth Group to teaching my own group of Sunday School kids, I know that place like the back of my hand. I wouldn't be half of the woman I am today without the support, guidance, and love that not only the Youth Group gives, but that the whole church gives. Thank you for molding me into who I am today and allowing me to show other people just how great God's love is.