My journey with faith has not always been an easy one. For times sake and to read a little more on the specifics of my journey, check out a past article at the link below:

https://www.theodysseyonline.com/is-anyone-out-the...

I personally feel that college is a huge make or break point with teens and their faith. There are so many points in the spectrum that people experience and get called/ pulled from God. There are the people who have gone to church their entire lives to make their parents happy, and go to college and hardly go. There are the people that have never stepped into a place of worship, and feel called and begin their journey of faith starting in young adulthood. There are the people who sometimes go to say they've gone but don't do much else other than the occasional Sunday. At the end of the day, to each their own.

I can say my faith in God and religion in general is so much stronger than when I first came into college. I look forward to Sunday mornings singing my heart out in worship and praising our Lord with all I am. The past couple of weeks I have been so moved that I've cried in church, which has never even come close to happening before. I have learned to love the Lord and put Him above myself and truly find myself in worship, and I am very grateful for finding that for myself.

Finding God has lead me to a place of strength, courage, and especially peace. I put my worries on the line instead of holding them in only to circulate in my head, and have really used prayer constantly for the first time in my life. Instead of only praying for the bad things to get better, I have begun to pray for my thanks and blessings- for the positives in my life. Finding joy within myself through the Lord has been the highlight of my year, and although I still have my struggles, I can face them with a stronger sense of rationality and calmness.

Isaiah 55:12 says,"You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands." Finding that peace and joy within myself, I believe, has translated into how I live my daily life. I try to treat everyone with respect and understanding, instead of potentially getting upset over things I can't control. I put my worries in God's hands, and keep faith for myself and the people around me.

I have began to notice how that impacts me as a person. I find more pure thoughts in the simple things. There's a cabin on top of a hill that my friends and I sometimes adventure to. On a cold but clear night, you can see a sky completely filled with stars. Standing on top of the hill feeling the breeze go through my body, I feel nothing but God. The wind takes the breath out of me, but fills my heart with peace. It's beyond refreshing to feel that reassurance, to look to the stars and know you are valued and loved through everything life has put you through and put against you. I have started to give myself more credit for the things I have done, and stopped holding the things I haven't done against myself. There is nothing like God's love for you, and although it's been an uphill battle, overlooking the town I grew up in and feeling nothing but joy has been the ultimate reassurance.