We've had our ups and downs. We've been through good and bad times together. But in the long run, you've never left me. I've been the one to leave you. And each and every time I look back your arms are wide open, waiting for me to come back, and I can't find any other words than thank you.

There have been so many times that I have wondered if you really loved me like I love you. There have been so many times that I have questioned if I really love you or not. But there have also been so many times that I have known without a shadow of a doubt that you love me even more than I love you. The time I was baptized, and you welcomed me into the family without question. You didn't ask where I planned on going, what I saw in my future. Yes, I was an infant, an innocent child, but you took me in.

The time I was confirmed, and you smiled and rejoiced. You threw me a party. You once again welcomed me with open arms, and I looked at you and laughed. I turned my back on you, and I walked away.

When I came back, after months of struggling to figure out my life and finally realizing I needed help to do so. You once again had your arms wide open just waiting to embrace me in that all powerful hug. From that moment I promised not to walk away again, I promised to love you just as much as you love me. But there were still times I didn't want to love you.

When I started growing stronger, when I finally was starting to understand, you stood there like a proud parent. You continued to support me, but you let me start walking on my own. You were there when I stumbled, and you helped me back up. You tried oh so hard to build my confidence level, and you did in many ways. But we had our moments. Moments when I felt unwelcome by the leadership you had provided me. Moments when I questioned if I was really hearing what you were trying to tell me.

Now, here we are. I'm almost 19 years into my journey of life, and you welcomed me almost 18 years ago into your family. I can't go a day without thinking about you, or a week without seeing you. You are the thing that keeps me going. The love, the support, the care you have shown me in our journey together, it is what has built me to become the young woman I am today. I could never, ever ask for anything more of you. And yet, I find myself doing so.

I ask that you continue to love me, even when I make the most awful mistakes. I ask that you continue to support me, even when I cannot support myself. I ask that you continue to care for me, even when I cannot properly care for myself. I ask these things of you so that I may be able to care for you, to love you, and to support you in the best way that I can. I ask these things of you so that I might watch us grow as a family.

Thank you, United Methodist Church, for being my home and my family when I had nowhere else to go.