The three people that impacted my life the most on my journey would be my grandmother, my best friend Rebecca, and Clyde.

I had people in my life that went to church, but I kind of let them do their thing and was always just kind of like, is it true? Is it not? I don't really know. I'm a really scientific-based person. I guess nobody really sat down and explained it to me in a way that I understood. It was just kind of like information and overload, and I never really understood.

So I think that's what really was confusing. Like how is he always there? How does he hear my prayers? 

My grandma, she always went to church and was always a passionate woman. She was always in the choir when I would go to church. I would just love to see her sing. I never really talked to her about it, but I could just feel it in her--like Christ was in her. 

I've always wanted that but I never honestly knew how. Again, you know, I never had that kind of conversation with her, but she died from Alzheimer's, so when I got to a point that I wanted to have that conversation with her, I really couldn't.

I went through a relationship out of high school and I actually met my best friend who has always had a background with church. She would always ask me if I ever wanted to go to church with her or anything like that, and at the time I just I never went.

What really brought me to church was Clyde, my boyfriend. I met him in December and he brought me to Door Creek and it was like a whole new experience. I never had like a "Door Creek" kind of church that was just like a church for all people, that is engaging and fun and you can feel the passion from the pastor's, the worship group, like everything. It's just a really great environment.

When I got baptized, Marc was talking to me and before he dunked me, I just had this overwhelming feeling of joy and happiness that just came over me. When he dunked me and I came back up, I just truly felt everything that happened in my past and that could happen in my future.

I just know He's always going to be there and I know that I have somebody to lean on no matter what, so it's just a really humbling feeling.  

I knew what a healthy relationship was. And I never had experienced it. Like I truly hadn't. And just knowing that God gave his only son for me and for all of us in general--that's just extremely humbling and you know, not knowing that I could even do that myself--that is something that is so big. I just feel so joyful. Just being able to have a relationship with him and no matter what I had said or I had gone through, I was forgiven.