So, this is it, I'm leaving for college in a few weeks. I have always been the girl who was a wanderer, I traveled across the world and whenever I was home I muttered "I can't wait to get out of here" over and over. During the last few weeks I have graduated, had my grad party, and have started to say goodbye to the place that was my childhood home.

There is one place I'm not ready to say goodbye to yet.

I basically was raised by the Wesleyan Church of Hamburg. I went to Sunday School there, I went to Base Camp there, I went to the Hub, and have gone to the ends of the Earth with teams from there. My address might say "Orchard Park" but my real home was my church. On average, I spend three to five days a week there. The people there have become a huge extended family. No matter how much I mess up, no matter how far I wander away from God, my church has been always been there. I have been blessed to be a middle school leader at the Hub on Tuesdays, and I witness firsthand the beautiful love story of God and his children every single week. I see what it must have looked like when I accepted Jesus in middle school, I see these kids engrossed in his everlasting love. When I face doubt, these kids show me more faith. I have spent my summers at Love Buffalo, helping refugee families with their homes and learn about Jesus. I have spent my falls at LeTourneau Christian Center for fall retreat, meeting friends who are like brothers and sisters to me now. I have spent my weekends on stage, pouring out my sorrow and joy to the Lord during worship services. I have spent my childhood and the beginning of my adult life at my church, and I have no idea how to start thanking people for the impact they have had on my life. I have no idea how to thank them for not giving up on me, even when I gave them a thousand reasons to abandon me.

Thank you. Thank you so much everyone. Thank you, Trevor, for singing with Lift during Sunday Services and for taking me to Zambia. Thank you Tom, for being the best pastor a girl can ask for, both during and long after Middle School you have guided me through thick and thin. Thank you Denny and Debra, for believing in me and taking me to Lebanon, a place that has drilled in my heart nonstop for months. Thank you Bryan Savage, for showing me my personal way of connecting to God on the deepest level. Thank you Yo, Gisesle, Mikayla, Dan, Lexi, the Bubar family, the Weber family, the Wojnicki family, and the countless amount of others for all of the prayers, all of the deep conversations, and all of the love, especially the love.

I'm not the kind of person who loves saying goodbye or getting emotional about it. During graduation I literally begged my mom to take me home the instant the ceremony was over. However, Wesleyan Church of Hamburg, you have moved in my life more than you can ever imagine. You have been my family, my support system, and my friends. You have forced me to fall completely in love with you because of your dedication to the Lord. Thank you all, thank you so much.