The Best Relationship

          Last year was the most amazing year of my life. I got accepted to all of the colleges I wanted to get into and was lucky to get to choose to go wherever I wanted. I graduated high school! I went to prom XD No prom isn't really that big of a deal, but it was fun. I also started college! And joined the Cougar Marching Band!!! Lastly but definitely most importantly I found God.

          I went to church when I was a little kid but never thought much of it. I stopped going regularly in sixth grade. Ninth grade I fell into a hole, I hated school and surrounded myself with people who had hurt me before and would only continue to hurt me. Tenth grade came around and I started reading books by Melody Carlson. She is a wonderful Christian author writing books about high school age girls finding God. I wasn't totally sure about the things she was talking about but I liked the books and continued to read them. Later that year I picked myself back up. The next year got bad again and I found myself doing the same things, not trying my best and not believing in myself. Senior year I got a new boyfriend who took me to youth group with him. I wasn't sure what I believed but I had a good time. The only problem was I was too afraid to ask questions. Luckily I turned to books again this time Karen Kingsbury. The books I read by her were about relationships (of the human kind) and God. The people went through some really hard times and turned to God to make it through. But it wasn’t just that, they were believers and talked to their children and friends about God. I came to college still unsure of what I believed in but knowing that I wanted to learn more about God. I started going to CRU after some girls came by my dorm and invited me to go one day. I am so grateful for this. The first night I learned about having a relationship with God and saw how many people believed in him and live for him and worship him. This moved me greatly. A few weeks later I decided to invite Jesus into my heart. Since then I have not stopped smiling, maybe on the outside but not on the inside. My relationship with God is the best relationship I have ever been in! I know I can trust him with everything and that he will never leave me and never hurt me.

The things that have helped me in my relationship with God:

     CRU- Being part of a movement all about being in a relationship with God, worshiping God together as a movement, and encouraging others to get to know God

     Books!- I love books Karen Kingsbury is my second favorite author at the moment and her books are all about God and real-life situations, they are amazing and extremely inspiring

     Music!- Another huge love of my life. The songs we sing at CRU every week and the contemporary songs from my childhood church are still making a huge impact on my life!

     My relationships with other Christians- One of the girls in "my group" is also a Christian so being able to talk with one of my close friends about our relationships with God is wonderful. Chelsea, my "mentor". We have weekly lunch dates where we talk about what's going on in our lives and our relationship with God. It's wonderful because she is experienced in her walk with God and "has smart friends". My Facebook friends who are believers and post bible verses. I love reading status updates and those ones always inspire me and make me think. Katrina, an older band member who also encouraged me to go to CRU and provided me with my first ride there. My growth group! Go Streit! Many others...

Things that have made my day: Good morning text from Andrew, Special K red berry! Listening to Disney music between classes, having one last Smores Luna bar, Easy Mac, having a good interview, dinner with the clarinets and Sarah! Winning jeopardy with Molly, growth group! The Bachelor...