Family

By Maggie Light, Junior at St. Edward's

My parents don't come to church with me. They support my faith, and they believe in God, but rarely do they come to church with me. So most Sundays, I sit in a pew by myself, stand by myself, kneel by myself, pray by myself, sing by myself, and get communion by myself. But today was an exception. Today, at communion, a choir member jerked me out of my pew, saying, "Come be my family for the day." She held my hand as we walked down the center aisle, and I thought to myself, "I'll be your family any day." 
I have so often found myself feeling as if I am alone in my faith, as if there's only me in this search for God. But every time I go to church, no matter how long it's been, no matter how far I've strayed, no matter how much I've sinned, I find a family that jerks me out of seat, claims me as their own, and takes me to God. 

But it isn't just at church that I've had this experience. 
I happened at 62, and I vividly remember walking into the ODH on that first night, full of fear and anxiety. Later that night, when we were blindfolded, Sally Paris came and held my hands as my group formed a line. I was still terrified, and the blindfold wasn't exactly helping, but Sally's voice reassured me, and Zakk Carpenko's claims that Sally was trying to steal his group made me laugh. Soon, Sally was forced to let go of my hands as they had to hold on to Zach Carpenko's shoulders (which was interesting, considering that I'm exactly a foot shorter than him). But as Zakk lead us around in our blindfolds, the terror started to fade because we (my group and I) were all in this together. I started to feel like I had a family. And by the end of the weekend, I knew I had a family. 

And at one New Beginnings, my sister and I were both serving on team when she was put on drama team. We had already agreed that I would trade places with her if she was put on drama team because it was her senior year, and she wanted a particular position. So here I found myself jerked into a place I wasn't sure about with a group of people I wasn't sure about either. But Nick Cooley made me laugh, Katie Jordan made me hyped, Curt Allen made me happy, Sam Jenkins made me smile, Liz Livermont made me warm and fuzzy, and they all brought me closer to God. By the end of the weekend, they claimed me as family, and I them. 

Through all of these experiences, I have come to truly believe that we are all family through Christ Jesus. I could not be more thankful for all the family members I have added over the years and for all the family members that have added me. I hope and pray that many more of you come to know me as your family and I come to know you as mine.