Melanie Nacey

Faith, Religion, & Society

9-8-19

My Faith Journey

As defined by the Oxford Dictionary faith is “complete trust and confidence in someone

or something.” For most people this definition is true, but all people’s faith journeys differ by

their experiences in life. Some people are raised in a church and live out their faith from the

beginning of their life to the end. While other people may not discover God until they are much

older. Some people may fear God, on the other hand people may love and care for God and

Jesus. This all depends on how a person is raised and how they have experienced life. If a person

was raised in a home that did not believe in Christianity, then they will have different views than

a person, who was raised a Christian since birth. All these experiences contribute to a person’s

faith journey. A faith journey is how someone experiences their religion through life. My

personal faith journey is different from everyone’s.

To begin, I was raised in a Christian Methodist church. When I was younger, I enjoyed

going to church. I liked listening to the stories about Jesus, his disciples, and the miracles Jesus

and God would perform. This is where my faith in God and Jesus Christ started. My family was

not extremely religious but was still religious enough, where we would pray before we ate, and

we tried to go to church almost every Sunday. My strong family support has helped me sustain

my faith in God and Christianity. Without my family by my side I do not think I would still

believe in God today. Ever since middle school my mom would always reassure me whenever I

had a big test or an audition for a musical to always take my concerns to God. Even though, back
then I would question how God would help me in this situation, it always did feel good to have

someone to talk to when I was nervous. Additionally, God helped sustain my faith by helping me

decide on a career path. When I was in ninth grade, I was thinking about careers that would be

suitable for me, and God told me nursing. To this day I am still majoring in nursing because my

faith in God motivates to stay with this career.

Throughout my life I have had many hardships that made me question my faith in God.

When I was nine years old my grandpa died from lung cancer. This was a very difficult situation

for my family. My mom was very upset and depressed, and my family and I did not attend

church for several months after his passing. At a young age I started questioning God. I did not

understand why he would take away such a good father and grandfather. This happened again for

my family and I when my uncle Bill lost his battle to throat cancer when I was thirteen years old.

This was another devasting experience for my family and I because he was so young. In high

school my faith was challenged. My best friends started excluding me from events and just being

all around rude people. This challenged my faith in God because I did not do anything to my

friends, but they still treated me poorly.

In my faith journey I believe I have recently reached the young adult stage in the journey.

In my teenage years I questioned many things about my faith because I am the type of person

that needs answers to every question. I needed more scientific questions answered because I was

taking science classes in high school, that taught me that humans were not the first species to

walk the earth. They also taught me that the earth has been around for billions of years. In

addition, I felt peer pressure from some of my classmates. They would question my beliefs, and

they would tell me it is “not cool” to believe in God or to be a Christian. Now that I am in

college, I feel that I have slowly transitioned into the young adult stage of my faith journey. I am
starting to form my own opinions on my religion. My parents are helping me by allowing me to

choose if I want to attend church with them now. I occasionally go to church with my parents,

but I am glad they are no longer “guilt tripping” me into going with them now. I think they are

also happy with my decision to go to a Christian affiliated college. Seton Hill University will be

a good place to explore and grow in my faith journey. I hope to meet people and join clubs where

I can an experience my religion the way I want to. I hope I can continue my faith journey and not

be full of regret, when I become older.

Throughout life everyone experiences hardships that can make them question their faith.

This could be losing a job, a divorce, a family member passing away, or numerous other

hardships a person may face in their life. Someone’s faith can help them push through the hard

times, or the person can lose faith in their religion or God and give hope. Personally, I have had

to deal with several hardships in my life, but I have maintained my faith throughout. Thinking

about the good moments in my life gives me hope for the future. I hope my faith journey leads

me to a fulfilling life in the end. I hope to raise my children to have a strong faith in God in my

next stage of life. In essence, a person’s faith journey is unique to them, but with a strong faith

system a person can have a successful faith journey throughout their life.