I’ve been going to church ever since I was young, when my mom brought my sister and I to ACCC for the first time in 2014. It was a routine to go every week, and I believed everything that was taught in Sunday school. However, I really started to feel God’s presence when He helped me so many times by answering my prayers and gave me miracles that I knew were not pure coincidences or just good luck.

In grade 10, I attended a piano competition in Pickering. I felt very nervous and had no confidence at all. I wasn’t expecting anything, and the minute I got down from the stage, I knew I probably wouldn’t even be able to get first place, but I still wanted the chance to go to provincials as my last year of playing piano. So I prayed to God with my dad, and after hearing that I had been chosen to go to provincials, I felt so happy and grateful. Whether it was because I went before and did well at provincials or because the adjudicator liked my performance, it was a pure miracle, an opportunity and chance I didn’t think I deserved at all and was only granted because of God’s grace.

Another time I felt very blessed by Him was recently in grade 12. Throughout the year, I often felt stressed and worried, not sure which school and program were right for me. My dream school for the longest time was McGill, but for some time, I practically gave up on it because I thought there was no chance I would get in. However, there was no other school I wanted to go to, so I felt hopeless and uncertain of my future. In the end, I didn’t want to completely give up on my dream school, so I still applied to McGill, and the most shocking thing was that after I submitted my second semester midterms and first semester final grades, I got accepted the next day, within twelve hours. Everyone else around me still had no clue where they were going and were still waiting, but I got my offer so fast, despite thinking that I would be one of the last ones to get it. I remember feeling so happy that my dream could become a reality, and I was so beyond grateful to God, who made everything work out despite all the stressful moments and times when I thought I would give up.

Looking back, I feel so blessed by Him and can feel how He guided and helped me through things that I couldn’t handle alone, things that no one could have helped me with except Him. A verse that really speaks to me is “’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” Jeremiah 29:11. I don’t know what the future will bring, but God does, and I trust that He will continue to guide me and walk with me for the rest of my life.