My relationship with Jesus is still fairly new because it was only in January of 2018 that I finally started to understand what a real and meaningful relationship with Him meant. I have grown up in a Christian home my whole life and identified as a Christian to anyone who would ask me, but I don’t think that my relationship with Jesus really began until 2018 when I realized just how badly I needed a savior. Since then, I have become more and more dependant on Him to see me through every second of every day. Before I had a relationship with Him I would hold onto all of my problems and struggles and never give them up to anyone including Jesus. It was hard and painful. When I realized that Jesus had been right beside me in my worst moments and that all He really wanted me to do was give Him all of my hurts and burdens I felt a feeling of complete peace and reassurance pass over me that I had never felt before. Now, I try and come to Jesus first and foremost with everything in my life; good and bad. I’ve begun to see His hands at work all throughout my life and now when I go through hard times, that before I felt like I had to face on my own, I can turn to Him and find His love and open arms waiting for me. As I look back on the last year and a half it is amazing just how close my relationship with Jesus has become and even when there were roadblocks or periods of silence He always helped me overcome them and draw me into an even closer relationship with Him through those times. My hope for this mission trip is that it will only bring me into an even closer relationship with Jesus and that it will open my eyes to new things that He is trying to teach me <3
