My name is Gavin (25). I grew up going to church for all of my childhood but when I moved out life got in the way and church fell to the wayside. I always knew about God but I never thought about going back to church unless my life got difficult. All throughout basic training I went to church because God was familiar, I thought I found my faith again. Upon exiting bootcamp i immediately turned back to my old ways. I then went on to meet a girl. We got engaged and moved in together, I thought we were going to get married. During my relationship I started to feel God pulling at me to return to church but every Sunday I would either value sleep more or we would have plans. I put God on the back burner once again. 4 months before we were to get married my fiancé said she wants to breakup. I immediately knew I had to turn to God and to the church. He had been pushing on my heart for months and it took what I perceived to be my life falling apart to answer his call. I threw myself into church and used it as a vehicle to get over my pain. A few weeks into the breakup she came back into my life. Like every time previously I dropped my extra curricular activities with the church and focused my life on her and my physical relationship, completely neglecting the spiritual relationship God was working in me. To nobody's surprise, she left again. I felt ashamed that I dropped my mentor and small group to be with her and was embarrassed when I returned and showed my face again.

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Instead, I was welcomed with open arms. I was never made to feel lesser, everybody understood the struggle I was going through, but most importantly I knew I could turn back to God even though I had shrugged him off so many times. I have spent time working on my relationship with God through mentorship, going to church, and attempting daily devotion. It requires discipline but the lessons I have learned and my faith in God have grown exponentially. I encourage anyone to reach out and come to church. Our arms are open and God is always welcoming.

-Gavin