Growing up my family was never a "church" family. We were the classic Easter, maybe Christmas Eve if we were lucky, churchgoers. When I was younger I remember hearing about God and this Jesus fellow, but I never had a relationship with Him, or knew much about Christianity. In the seventh grade I met a girl named Afton who changed my life for the better. She was the happiest, nicest, most bubbly person I had ever met and we quickly became friends. We remained close through middle school and ended up going to the same high school. In the eighth grade she asked me to come to Wednesday night church with her at Christ's Church in Jacksonville for the first time. It was unlike anything I had ever been to. It was dark, the music was loud and it was a bunch of people my age. I went a few times here and there for the next year but didn't make it a weekly occurrence. It wasn't until my sophomore year of high school that I started to become more curious about the idea of Christianity. As I learned more and started accepting Christ I realized that it felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulders. It wasn't about me anymore, it was about Him. In April of 2006 I accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior, and I asked Afton to baptize me. Without God I don't think I would have made it out of high school alive, or gotten through my parents separation and subsequent divorce. God became the backbone to everything I did, and with that life became so much easier.

Coming to FSU was the hardest, easy decision I ever made. My brother was here, it was a big university, it made sense. Within the first week I knew Tallahassee was going to be a difficult place for me to fit in. I liked to go out and have fun with my friends but I wasn't interested in the drinking and things that brought along with it. I started working on campus at the Leach Center my freshman fall and started to meet people but my experience here was missing something. I didn't find City Church, or The Well as it was called then, until a friend from work told me about it my sophomore year of college. I still remember getting out of my car and walking through the courtyard at Godby High being greeted by the friendliest faces. Everyone seemed so genuinely excited to be there and I soon realized that it was a great place for people my age. I can't say I remember the series that Dean was doing at the time but I remember laughing and feeling like I belonged there. It reminded me of my first "church" experience back home on a Wednesday night. It was the perfect wake up call to me for why I accepted Christ into my life.

I've followed Dean and the crew from Godby to the warehouse and from The Well to City Church. Now I'm involved with Kids and love being apart of the next phase of City Church. With graduation a few weeks away I can honestly say City Church is one of the main things keeping me grounded with the impending scariness of the real world I'm about to encounter. Its easy to get caught up in making our own plans for how we want our lives to go, but putting my trust in Him is the best sacrifice I've ever made.

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)