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Andrea Martinez
Professor Batty
English 28
13 December 2016
A New Beginning
I grew up in a catholic home. I grew up knowing God was the one and only God. I grew
up going to church every Sunday. I had a baptism, first communion, reconciliation; everything
required of me as a catholic member. When I was younger I knew nothing of other religions, to
be completely honest I was sometimes lost in my own religion. However, as I got older I started
doing more research. I began to read the bible more, not just the scriptures they provided for us
every Sunday morning. I started putting things into perspective and realized I didnt entirely
agree with certain catholic practices. Nevertheless, I never thought of abandoning my religion for
thats all I knew, thats all my family practiced, until a turn of events. A good friend of mine,
Baylee, was Christian. At the time I didnt truly know what the difference was, mind you,
coincidentally I was still trying to get a grip on my own. However, one day she had invited me to
attend this retreat with her; and like a curious teenager, I agreed. I was ecstatic; my family on the
other hand was not too thrilled. They feared I was going to be brainwashed into believing lies.

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Despite their concerns, I took it upon myself to go because I owed it to myself to see what the
differences between the religions were. Thus brings me to the best day of my life yet the most
frightening.
Going into the retreat I didnt know what to expect. I was eager to learn something new,
yet I was completely fearful of what awaited me. Before I begin I must note, nobody at this
retreat forced me into believing or doing anything, everyone just simply informed me and I did
the rest. Everyone there was charming and welcomed me with open arms. The church that I
attended was huge, beautiful architect. All throughout the church you can spot the extravagant
chandeliers hanging from the ceilings. I recall the entire church smelling like sugar cookies, and
it was delicious. There were over 400 youths in attendance, and we all sang songs in unison. The
theme was HE>I. Afterwards, we had a keynote speaker and he explained to us that God has
to be before anything and everyone, God has to be our foundation. At a point in time, the
keynote speaker said something that completely flipped my world upside down. He said, Faith
activates God - Fear activates the Enemy. After the speech I was still curious as to what the
difference between Catholicism and Christianity. I was fortunate enough to catch up with the
keynote speaker, Carl Cherry. Once I told him my story and my feelings, he told me, Im no
one to tell you what to do, but when God is calling, you must answer. Everything he explained

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to me the differentials and I agreed with entirely. With that being said, I spent the rest of the
night wondering what I should do. Christianity described me perfectly yet I was nervous if I
went against my familys religion theyd be upset. Regardless of my fear I decided to follow my
gut. The following morning I asked the pastor of the church if he could baptize me, and just like
that I became a Christian. Now this is where the best day of my life became the most freighting.
I couldnt face my family.
See to my catholic family, switching religions isnt socially accepted. They find it a form
of betrayal to God and the church. After my baptism I spent hours before going home trying to
find the right way to tell them. At a certain point I thought maybe not telling them would be best,
but thatd be hypocritical not telling them after just being baptized. I shaped up went home and
just said it, Guys, Im a Christian. The stern look I received was no joke. You see, they were at
first upset, they thought I was brainwashed. I spent hours trying to explain to them thats its
been an ongoing feeling. I explained to them that I didnt agree with certain practices and they
kept saying my way of thinking was wrong. After awhile I gave up trying to explain to them
what I was feeling. My grandparents really didnt approve. There is only one right religion,
everything else are just copies of Catholicism., my grandmother would tell me. My response to
her would be, If thats the case grandma, why are you guys all angry with me? News spread

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and well lets just say at a point I was discouraged, until I realized one thing. Regardless of what
you decide to call yourself, we all believe in one God. I took it upon myself to attend my
Christian church every Sunday despite the remarks I got from my family. A couple of weeks go
by and they stopped giving me problems, and wed come home every Sunday and openly discuss
the message given at our churches. Finally, everything fell into place.
My situation made me who I am today. Despite the heartache I endured, I grew closer to
my God and even my family. You see they became more open-minded and understanding .
Occasionally they even agreed with what Id pass on and practice. I thank my good friend for
shining a bit of light on the subject, and I thank Carl for speaking with me and clarifying my
questions. Till this day I do not regret my decision or how I handled it. After all of this, I learned
that if you follow your heart youll never go wrong.