A Note On Faith

“Love is patient; love is kindand envies no one.Love is never boastful,
nor conceited, nor rude;never selfish, not quick to take offense.There is
nothing love cannot face;there is no limit to its faith,its hope, and
endurance.In a word, there are three thingsthat last forever: faith, hope, and
love;but the greatest of them all is love.”

Psalms:34:22

This is one of my favorite quotes from the Bible. No, I haven't read the actual bible but I've been enough church classes, heard enough sermons, and seen enough on various internet sites to have a selection to choose from as my favorite. I don't know if I've ever spoken about my faith to any of the followers so I guess I'll start now. I am a devout Christian Catholic and I attend St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Hiawatha, IA. My family's not the best at going to church services but we get to Sunday mass at least once a month. My mom used to be my religious education teacher and we'd have classes every Wednesday since I was in 2nd grade up until my sophomore year in high school when I finally got confirmed. The process wasn't easy however as I sat through over 20 hours of lectures to do go through a one night mass. Anyways, not the point. The point is: I have never really been involved in church and until recently I never thought it was that big a deal. You never hear kids our age talking about their next youth group meeting or the next church retreat they're going on, things just don't happen that way because kids our age don't talk about faith. It's brushed to the side and not discussed and I've always wondered why not. I guess I've realized it's because kids are scared of sharing their beliefs. If they actually know something about the Lord they're afraid to say it because they don't want people to think of them differently. So I've kept my mouth shut, attended the church services I had to (rolling my eyes like every other kid seemed to), barely attempting to mouth the words of the songs, and otherwise keep faith out of my life until I realized, after being forced to go on a church retreat last winter, that I really did enjoy the youth group at my church and the activities we did. So, I became a part of the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton youth group, one of about 7 kids who stays involved with community service and does alot of church outings like retreats for younger kids or going on retreats for ourselves to learn more about God and strengthen our faith. Every retreat I have been on thus far, has been pretty powerful. They always seem to choose the best pastors. I remember this one retreat last year in Waterloo. It was held at this big stadium type thing and the pastor was this really cool african american dude who had moved here when his parish got flooded out in Louisiana. He gave a sermon on hope and peer pressure and his words really spoke to me. He knew what to say to get through to us and he kept in our terms. It seemed weird to sing in front of others, like actually sing, but I sang every single word of every single song at that retreat along with the hundreds of other kids that did too. I felt like I had made a bunch of new friends and I really connected with God.

When life has handed me struggles, I've never known how to deal with them. But now, everything's okay and whenever I do feel down in the dumps or kicking myself for something, I remember God and his love and courageousness for me and everything is okay. While it's been tough dealing with my brother and father, I've used prayer as a way of supporting them and showing them my unconditional love. Being connected with God has opened alot of doors for me. It's shown me the power in community service. I now volunteer at almost every chance I get and seeing the smile on someone else's face makes a world of difference to me. It's also shown me to forgive and forget. Before experiencing the wrath of what I consider one of the most powerful things that's ever happened to me, I held alot of grudges I'll admit. I kept enemies and I didn't try to make new friends or even keep up with old ones. I just was an angry person, one that sometimes I don't even recognize. When God has showed me the way, I'm able to let the past lay where it is and move on with my life. I'm able to forget what has hurt me in the past and look forward to what I can heal in the future. I've tried alot harder with my friends and have even been very outgoing to make new ones and now I'm just an all-around happier person. One of the best things I guess I've also earned from it is my experiences teaching others. Knowledge of your faith and God is something irreplacable and often times, taken for granted. When I'm able to share with other teens my age what I experienced, it's a great feeling.

With everything I've benefited from God, I've truly learned to deal with what he has given me. It's better to appreciate everything in my life and feel truly blessed. Every time I'm able, I try and thank the world for existing. For allowing me to be a part of it and for God who has helped show me the way in my faith. Just a little note for you all.

God Bless.