If I hadn’t had Christ when my parents moved away from me in high school, or when I went to college, or England, I would be a very different person. I would be bitter, mean, angry and probably depressed. I only have joy and hope because of Jesus. The only person whose acceptance matters is Jesus! And He has always provided for me, been there for me, and loved me when I feel alone and away from comfortable community.

Family is everything to me, and I love my parents and sisters so incredibly much. A cool way I got to experience my family growing up was when we had a family Bible study at home each Sunday after church. We got to read the Bible together, ask questions, and apply what we learned. I was able to see how God was individually working in their lives as well as my own through this. My parents are also the first people who introduced me to Christ and to the gospel. I am incredibly thankful for their instruction, as well as for the way they modeled how to love God with their whole life. It wasn’t only the church and Bible things that I liked to do with my family, I also loved spending time with them outside, riding bikes, hiking, going on vacations, watching movies and playing games at home. We are a close family and they are my favorite people in the whole world.

When my parents moved away from me in high school, I was a mess. In the beginning of the summer before my junior year of high school my dad lost his job in Madison. He found another job fairly quickly, but it required him needing to move to Saudi Arabia. Yeah, you heard that right, Saudi Arabia… like the country! I have two sisters, and they are both older than me and were already both away at college when this happened, so I was the only child still living at home. My dad needed to find work, and with the job market as it was, he decided to go. Very soon after my dad moved there he realized how much he disliked the harsh heat, religious intolerance, and distance from me and my mom. He decided it would be too much for me to come, and we all decided it would be best for me to stay and finish up my last two years of high school in my hometown, while he and my mom went. So, I moved in with an amazing and gracious family who opened up their home to me and loved me like their daughter. This was such a huge blessing for my family and me, but that didn’t mean it was any easier to be away from my parents for two whole years. It was extremely hard for me. I was separated from the parents whom I loved, and had to gain independence two years sooner than I otherwise would have. I was able to handle it, and continue smiling, because God provided! God showed Himself to me and provided time and time again, when I had more hard adjustments to make: moving to college and studying abroad in England (a country I had never before been and knew no one) both proved to be difficult, but each time God showed up. He reminded me during these hard and uncertain times that even though I was away from my family and my comfortable community, that He would still always be there, He would provide for me, and never leave my side.

Because of my upbringing in a Christian family, I was taught from a young age who God was, what he had done and how He had sent his son, Jesus, into the world. But, it wasn’t until I let these things I knew actually take hold in my life that they took on meaning for me. I was at a conference with my youth group when I realized how huge God’s sacrifice was, when I realized he loved me so much that He sent his only son to the world to die, to cover my sins, so that I could have eternal life and so that I could have a relationship with Him. A relationship that gave me ultimate comfort, satisfaction, confidence, pride, love and acceptance. God promises in the Bible that he will never leave me nor forsake me and that He is with me until the very end of the age (Matthew 28:20 and Deuteronomy 31:6). I am a follower of God because He made me, He loves me, He provides for me, and He gives me joy and a purpose each and every day.