Our testimony is one of a kind. It’s powerful. It can bring tears. Maybe even questions. Our testimonies give us a better understand of who God is and His relentless love for us. Today you will read about one of our writers – Haley. You’ll see how Jesus changed everything in her world and how He gave her new life – spiritually and mentally.

I grew up in the Catholic church, attending Sunday school and church camps. I hated going to the traditional church every Sunday because it was extremely boring to me. At age fifteen I came to a crucial point. Being forced to make a confirmation made me truly start to think about what I believed in. I mean, I knew there was a God, but I felt like there was something I was missing. I couldn’t pinpoint it. After I was confirmed into the Catholic faith, the required classes and camps came to a sudden halt. There was nothing for the newly confirmed to be a part of, other than the regular church service.

My best friend invited me to visit her churches youth group. Honestly, there wasn’t any notable difference between the two to me. I started going to the youth group more frequently and fell completely in love with the community of young people and the leaders with their love for Jesus and each other. I had never seen anything like it.

At the same time as this I had been going through a time of severe anxiety which had caused me to experience my life as if it were in third person. My Sweet 16 had arrived and there was a party with about 200 people in attendance. Everyone was crowded around me singing happy birthday. My mom came out carrying a big cake and I realized in the middle of the song that I was seeing everything from a third person perspective. It was as if I was watching everyone sing and celebrate a girl and I was an onlooker. This out of touch feeling went on for two years. It was the scariest and hardest thing to not know if I would ever feel present in my own life again. I would pray and not feel anything.

It wasn’t until one night when I was worshipping at my youth group that I broke down and realized that worshipping was the only time I ever felt truly present in my life. My leader pulled me aside to talk and that night I accepted Jesus into my life. I barely knew what being a Christian meant compared to being a Catholic. It took me a year or two to see what that differences were.

I can tell you now that the difference I found was true relationship with Jesus. There was a shift for me and from there my relationship has grown. There have been many trials these last few years with the worst being the death of a best friend at the hands of a drunk driver; that shook my faith around. These trials have ultimately pushed me to new areas in my faith that I had not experienced, but have helped me to grow in my relationship with the Lord.