How have you gotten to where you are?

You didn't get to where you are alone. Everyone around you has helped shape who you are since the day you were born, whether it be parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, teachers, youth group leaders, best friends, old friends, boyfriends, girlfriends and anyone else you've met in your life. God puts people into our lives in order to help us become the person He has meant for us to be.

I look back at my life before I've gotten to where I am now. Without my grandparents, my parents never would have been raised in a loving, God-filled home and I probably wouldn't have been baptized or sent to a Catholic grade school. Without my teachers who taught me even when I didn't care, I never would have learned the basics of Christian teachings. Without a welcoming youth group leader, I never would have gone to my church's youth group, which is where I found my faith in God. Without a friend's invitation, I never would have gone to Mass on Sundays. Without the CORE adults in my youth group pushing me to learn, I would have settled into complacency in my faith and never would have grown in it. Without God in my life, I wouldn't be even half as happy or fulfilled as I am today.

We all need to take a look back into our lives and know that we have been guided to where we are today. We have never been left alone, even in our darkest times. God and those who He works through have always been with us. Let us be thankful for all who have helped form the people we have become and always remember that we are also shaping the people around us.

God bless!!