Came to my Rescue

By: Kirsten Mayuga

My name is Jasmine, I am 16 years old and I am a Catholic Christian. Growing up, I was always taught to love God and to follow all His teachings. But I didn't really know Him, I just went to mass every Sunday and even got bored whenever I did. It was only when I was about 10 years old that I realize that God is much more than that; He basically controls everything that happens around us. I was never really sure on why God gave me this life of mine, because it really sucked. My parents fought everyday and my siblings would always tease me; it's hard living in a home with a broken family.

My siblings would always call me "stupid" "idiotic" and "absent-minded" but I never really minded it because I would always pray whenever I felt lonely and sad. I was a loyal follower of Christ for about 3 years before my mother was murdered when I was 13 years old. It was August 17 when I got the phone call from my big sister, I could feel the depression in her voice and I could almost feel her shaking. That's when I lost my faith. I kept thinking; why did God do this to me? So I forgot about Him. I never prayed anymore, I never went to mass, I almost didn't even believe in Him. I turned away from Him and started to turn to cutting, alcohol and drugs to help me forget about all my problems. I never really liked my mother, but what her death had done to my family then was heartbreaking... my dad started abusing us and always came home drunk or high.  I lost my faith in Him and just kept all of my problems and worries to myself and I just wanted to explode. One day, my close friend Lissie came up to me and asked me when the last time I prayed was. This was such a shocking question because I honestly didn't know the answer. I felt guilt and quit the chaotic life of drugs and alcohol and  slowly went back to praising and worshipping Him again. Just like that, all my problems went away.All  I needed to do was to learn how to let go and let God.

Reflection:
This is an average story showing how much God really loves us. He loves us enough to die on the cross for us, and He also even takes care of us without us knowing it. In the story, Jasmine loses her way but manages to come back to Jesus better than ever. I think this is the way we are, we forget about God but we only go to Him when we need something. That should change, we should always turn to God no matter what happens. This relates to the prodigal son because the son was lost, and then found. Even though he greatly sinned, his father still loves him anyways. This also relates to finding of Jesus in the temple because we should never lose faith, and you can always find us in God our Father's house. It can also relate to the parable of the lost coin; because God tries so hard to find us, even in the dark, because He truly loves us. His love is never ending, and he is truly so great; His love never fails, it never gives up, and it never runs out on all of us. This story shows that even though we forget Him. He's so patient and kind, but still, we continue to hurt Him, so now, instead of hurting Him, we should thank Him and praise Him. We are so unworthy of His love but He I continues to love us anyways. God will always look after us and keep us safe, no matter what. Everything that He is to us is everything that I've hoped for; He has a plan for all of us and we should know that He will always overcome. All our troubles and all our fears, God our hope, He has overcome.