I would like to be called forward as Carolyn Abigail Friend

My date of birth is 12/06/93

The scripture verse i have chosen is Jeremiah 29:13

Carolyn Friend

Credo

Although just sixteen years old, I believe I have had a long faith journey. My faith has

been tested and weakened at times, but I have never felt that God didn’t love me. I believe that

although God tests you, He will never test you beyond your limits. In seventh grade my

grandfather died. I became severely depressed. I questioned God almost everyday. I didn’t

understand why this was happening to me because I didn’t do anything wrong. At one of my sad

times I was going to drown myself but something stopped me. I remember the next morning I

went to church, I remember not listening to the sermon that day but praying the whole time

because of what happened. I realized I needed help but I was not sure how to get it. That night

my mom decided to read my journal which I could have been mad about, but she knew how I

was feeling. That was when I realized that God had never left me, He was with me that night I

tried to drown myself and He heard me praying for help in church. In one confirmation class

Pastor Bob said, “When you get to the end of the rope, that’s the beginning of God’s help.” I was

at the end of my rope, and God stepped in to save me.

Going to confirmation has opened my eyes more than I had imagined. I learned many

new things and I met nice people. There were many things I did not know about God or Jesus.

This year we were talking about how God understood humans so well. Denise shouted out,

“Because Jesus is God in human form!” This stuck in my head because I finally realized that He

traveled through life as a human and He understands our sadness and happiness. I don’t believe
that God is all powerful and I don’t believe that He causes natural disasters or is able to stop

them. I do believe, that although He can’t stop natural disasters, He makes himself completely

available for the victims of them. Going to New Orleans put this in perspective for me. Even

though many of these people had less than livable homes five years after the hurricane, their faith

had not been compromised one bit. As we drove by a spray painted house we read, “God is

here!” This stayed with me. I realized that God was there in New Orleans. He can’t prevent all

that is bad. I believe that God is a divine human being. He doesn’t have magical powers, he has

amazing characteristics that all people on Earth should strive to have.

I believe that Jesus was God on Earth. Jesus was an amazing person that was able to stick

up for what he believed in. Jesus had so much faith in God that he was able to be whipped and

nailed to a cross for Him. When we viewed the movie Passion of the Christ, although I had to

look away for some parts, I was reminded of this. It brought visuality to the suffering Jesus went

through and I can only pray that I will have that same strength and faith when I need it. I know

that if I am in a position where I need that strength, God will be the one to give it to me. In

English we just read the book Night by Elie Wiesel. This is about the author surviving Jewish

death camps in Germany. Throughout the book the reader sees Elie’s faith journey beginning as a

strong believer in the Jewish religion to refusing to pray and being angry at God. I don’t believe

God could’ve stopped the Nazi’s from committing these acts of genocide. But I know that He

was definitely with these people. When the prisoners had to run 40 miles in one night God was

there carrying every single one of them, but some fell out of his hands. It wasn’t that God was

punishing them or causing this to happen. He was trying to help them by giving them strength.

He was doing the best that He could.

 I believe the Holy Spirit is not a person but a piece of love that everyone has in their

hearts. The Holy Spirit is there to correct sin. Sin is anything which divides us from each other

and separates us from God. The Holy Spirit is there to bring us closer to God after sin pulled us

apart. I believe that whenever someone does something thoughtful or caring, like when our youth

group went to New Orleans, it is evidence of the Holy Spirit in us showing through. Anger can

also get in the way of the Holy Spirit’s presence. When you are angry you are holding yourself

back from love and the Holy Spirit is all love.

Forgiveness is a very important topic we talked about in confirmation. I believe that

forgiveness is not for the other person but for yourself. When you are angry at somebody it takes

a lot of energy and tears to think about what they did. When you forgive them you are setting

yourself free to love and be happy and not think about them. I think that forgiveness is a long

process and even if you tell the person you forgive them it might not happen. I was very mad at

my dad because he left my family and I didn’t know if I would ever get over that anger. I thought

about it every night and dwelled on it. A couple of years ago I said I was going to forgive him

and move on but I didn’t realize it changed until last year when I started getting better from my

depression. I wasn’t dwelling on my hatred and anger towards my dad, instead I let myself go.

Nothing changed for him because he was not aware I was mad but all the change happened for

me. Forgiving someone doesn’t mean you can erase the hurt, but it is a way for you to let

yourself leave the drama and be truly happy.

Church to me is a place to center one’s self and be one with God. I don’t believe that for

God to hear you and answer your prayers you have to be at church. Nor is church about the

weekly sermon. I pray at home every night, I don’t worship God but I talk to God. I tell God to

talk to the people I have lost. I also thank God for the special people I have in my life. I believe
church is a place to worship God and pray formally. At home I believe it is a time to personally

talk to God. Even if God is not answering you, He always hears you. To me it doesn’t matter if

God answers, but it is a way to give my worries and baggage to God, so I am not carrying it

along with me.

I don’t know where my faith journey will take me, but I know that God has been a big

part of my life, whether I was going to church every Sunday or not. God is steadfast. He will

always be with me in my life. I know I can count on Him. I plan to pass these values on to my

children just as my family has bestowed them on me. God has carried me through one of the

toughest times in my life and He will be there in the tougher times to come.