^i made that a few days ago^

Before I start, I'd like to say that this chapter will be about something that happened in my life fairly recently that I wanted to share. This something, however, is very spiritually based.

As many, if not all, of you know, I am a Baptist Christian and I know some people have really negative feelings toward religion and faith so I'll try to tread lightly. But, unlike the 'Christians' portrayed in media, I am not homophobic/transphobic/fill in the hateful blank here. I try my best to accept others and not judge them for something like that. "Love your neighbor as yourself."

You may have different religious beliefs than me and that's okay. This chapter will just be showcasing something that happened on Sunday that convicted me and I wanted to share the outcome with you. If you have any questions about my faith or anything, PM me and I'll do my best to answer. But remember that I do not have all the answers, despite being a Christian my whole life.

Also something else not entirely pertaining to the chapter that I wanted to share- I don't truly see this as a religion. It's a relationship with God. And I think that's what it truly should be and that's what the focus should be on.

Moving on now.

So let's get into it. This past Sunday, the whole church started a new series about praying. The main gist of the first sermon was that weak prays dishonor God. Things like "help me have a good day, pass my test, get so and so to notice me, etc." Praying those things aren't inherently bad but He can do so much more. One of the takeaways was to pray as big as your God.

At the end, there were 4 next steps.
1. Stay in your seat and do nothing.
2. Go to the back and talk to one of the adult volunteers about truly becoming a Christian.
3. Go to the front, kneel and pray while one last worship song plays, and pray about what to pray for. (It's hard to know exactly what big thing to pray for if you don't have a burden on your heart yet)
And 4. Go to either the left or the right, grab a piece of paper, write a God sized prayer on it, and put it on the wall.

I chose 3. I just felt... called to pick that option... I went to the front when the next song started and just kneeled and prayed. I even cried a bit. One of my friends was right next to me, putting his hand on my back and I hugged him afterward. I hugged a lot of people afterward, especially Andrew because of course I did, now that I think about it-

Anyway, was one of the first people down there and the last person to come back. Didn't get up until the end of the song (and my legs felt like jelly at this point, may I add.) I finally have a burden on my heart. Something I've been passionate about for a while that I want to do my best to help with even though I don't truly know how.

The burden placed on my heart was to pray for those struggling with mental illnesses, depression, suicidal thoughts, eating disorders, things like that. After everything that's happened on here, I want to do my part to help with things like that and I personally feel that praying is a good step to take.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk. I felt like this was some imperative I had to share, whether you believe in God or not.