I was baptized at 6 weeks old. From then on my family and I attended church on a regular basis until about the 6th grade. Then there were issues with some people at that church and we just kind of stopped going. I don't think it meant to happen, but it did.

All through middle school and the beginning of high school, I identified myself as a Christian even though I wasn't attending church. I only thought I knew my faith. I knew I wasn't living the Christian life, wasn't praying or studying my bible, but I wasn't doing anything to change that. Then at the beginning of my junior year, I started dating his boy. I knew he would he was different because he had done something no other guy had done. He invited me to go to church with him. I had no idea what this would mean to me two years later.

I regularly went to the church every Sunday. I would even go when my boyfriend wouldn't. These people welcomed me in with open arms and became a second family I didn't know I needed. I am forever grateful for that. Because of them, I now have these amazing friendships with people who are Christ-loving and inspiring. The best part of my time there has to be when I was in a Sunday School class with the high school girls.

You would have had to be in that room to see the amazing works Christ was doing with a simple group of girls in Southeast Texas. We were free to talk about things that we normally couldn't. The emotions in that room were so real, it was life-changing. This group is going to make moving away so hard. I have learned so much with them and grown into a person I am proud of. I have a phenomenal support system here that will hold me accountable for my faith as I go off to college.

My advice to anyone who has maybe thought about joining a church is to just go for it. Put yourself out there and you will reap the benefits. I never knew the impact church and Christ could have on my life. The person I am today is not the person I was two years ago. This change is not possible without Christ and the miracles he works.