The piece below is a guest post from my friend Nat. She's an awesome friend and a senior in high school. She'll be adding her own thoughts here from time to time. Also, I love the way she writes:)
MY JOURNEY
I've always told myself I was a risk-taker. I would say I'm the kind of girl who would jump on the chance to go skydiving or swimming with sharks. What is life, after all, without taking such crazy chances, at least once? But those are just singular acts of courage and jolts of adrenaline to make us feel strong, worthy, or exciting. What about taking risks that are so close to our hearts and secret fears that we wouldn't even consider trying them? Mental risks, you could say. Like risking your beliefs, your values, everything you have founded your life on...risks of your FAITH. I'm starting to realize that the biggest, scariest risks of all are of this nature. A friend once told me that people who always have to have finite answers to support their faith are probably not putting their full trust in God. As I'm early in my faith journey, I'll be the first to admit that I don't fully trust Him myself. But everything in the entire world and my heart has been tugging at me...telling me that that is okay! Humans can't fully trust someone they've just met; you need some “getting to know you” time throughout the relationship. Considering that I've truly just met God, I'm willing to be patient, as hard as it is sometimes, to work on the commitment and trust thing. So where does the risk come in? I am risking my beliefs in evolution, the Big Bang theory, every piece of scientific evidence that conflicts with what I'm discovering. And it's probably one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. I'm not saying that I will throw away all I've believed to be true: I think a balance can be found. I have not come to terms with every word of the Scriptures, either. It is a process, a process that requires time, hard work, and sometimes just sitting back and letting yourself question things...every thing. While chatting with good friends who are in different stages of their journeys and tossing around countless thoughts in my own head, I've been able to come up with a lot more questions than answers. But I'm starting to think that answers are overrated. After all, doesn't everything good in life tug at your curious soul, yank you back for more, but strangely satisfy you at the same time? That is the epitome of my own faith journey right now, and it's refreshing and exhilarating. Besides, a great conversation is made up of asking questions, not arguing answers. Good luck on your own faith journey. It will be a long, exciting haul.
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