It's so weird to be standing up here as a senior. I remember watching all of the past seniors stand up and do this same exact thing. I remember sitting in the pews or by the piano and thinking "wow I can't believe I'm going to have to do this some day" but it never seemed realistic. I never thought that I would actually be standing up here.
It's crazy how comfortable I feel when I'm here, at my second home. When I first came to this church after leaving my old one I considered it "the new church" and I considered it that for so long until I realized one day "wow this isn't my new church, I've been here since I was 7 years old." I'm pretty sure the day I realized it was one of the days that I came here tired from a sleepover at 8 in the morning thanks to my mother in basically my pajamas. Which I didn't even bother changing out of. I wasn't worried about being judged or anything bc all the familiar faces that I saw every single Sunday were faces of people that after years I have come to known as such kind hearted loving people.
Even though I haven't even talked more than a couple words to some of you, seeing your faces every week for years made me feel like we've lived in the same home and every week I'm just waking up crawling out of bed and lounging around in my own home with all of you. This Church makes me feel like I can just be myself when I'm here . Even in school I have known my peers for basically my whole life yet besides about 5 of them I would never show up in my pajamas in front of them or sing in front of them. Because school doesn't make me feel like I'm home. But this church does. I'm not going to lie I still get nervous everytime I come up here to sing in the youth choir but then all I have to do is look up and I realize I'm just singing to my family who has heard me sing a thousand times before. I'm not gonna lie about 80 % of the time I had no interest in waking up early in the morning and coming to church which a lot of the time felt like something that I had to do. But when I got here I realized that this is where I'm supposed to be every Sunday.
I really never thought about it until now, how much this church has impacted me and my faith. Without Union Presbyterian church in my life I feel like I wouldn't be the same person. After graduating high school I plan to keep this church close to me because you've all done so much for me over the years. I also plan to remember all of the things I've been taught in Sunday school and in the sermons every week for the past couple years and apply everything I learned to my everyday life.
I figured out that no matter what you're going through, whether it be a small struggle or a big struggle, anything is easier to overcome with a strong support system behind you. For me that was Union Presbyterian church. This church helped me to find my faith in God and look at everything from a positive perspective and I will keep my faith with me the rest of my life. So thank you all for helping me to find my faith and for giving me a second home