Kids of Christ

by Haidyn Rilling
02/11/2025

Story and illustration by Haidyn Rilling, Age 13

There is nothing else in the world that I am more thankful for than for God being a part of my life. He has changed all the ways I look at the world.

I attend a faith formation class at my parish, St. Francis Xavier, McKean. This class has taught me incredible things, exposed me to deep conversations and has answered many of my questions.

I am most grateful for the Bible I got from my class. Reading the Bible puts a whole new perspective on how I see things.

In the first chapter of Genesis and in the first few sentences my mind was already blown! Reading about God and how he created so many incredible things opened my mind and made me love him more than anything!

One of the biggest things I learned about God’s love was that God has a purpose for everyone. He knows what is right for you and he knows things that can help you and shape you into an incredible person.

The biggest advice I could give someone who may need direction in their lives would be for them to turn to God. You need to let go of the little things and think about the one thing that will be with you forever.

That one person is God. He hears all of your prayers, even if you can’t find the words to say out loud and they may just be in your mind, he knows what those things are.

He wants you to go down the right path. He wants you to go down the path that he made just for you. As it says in Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, on your own intelligence do not rely; In all your ways be mindful of him, and he will make straight your paths.”

I am so grateful for having God be a presence in my life, especially while I am young. There are so many reasons to have God be a huge part of your life which is why no matter what age you are or what you’ve done in the past, it is never too late to turn to God.

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