"Praise God that he did not let me stray too far"

I grew up in a Christian family but in a non-religious country. I’ve never walked away from God or questioned my faith, but I still had questions; especially when I started studying theology. When I first came to LCC, I started going to the City Church, but a couple times I would miss Sundays and everyone would ask me: How come you were not there?

I understood that I was expected to go to the church and the fact that I didn’t go was weird. I stopped going to church all together for about 6 months. in that time, I went to worship nights, small Bible studies, and theology classes instead. Because I had my transition from Study Abroad to being an actual student at LCC, I realized that I needed to get involved somehow and make friends. Unfortunately, the fastest people to befriend are the partiers. You go out with them and they like you. It was so exhausting, boring, and pointless and I understood that doing non-Christian things are a lot less fulfilling. So I realized that I would rather do the motions and pursue my spiritual life even if I did want like the churches available to me. I would find a way to get some spiritual input, rather than go to parties and get drunk.

In that time my faith became a lot more personal, realistic, and integrated in who I am. I also became more confident in talking with non-Christians about God. Now I can engage in a conversation with them and find common things. Maybe it was unfortunate that I had to walk away from the church in order to see the value in it, but I definitely saw how much my life was lacking without being in a community of believers. Praise God that he did not let me stray too far.