If you would prefer video form, watch this 5 minute video:
https://www.facebook.com/matt.colleran.90/videos/vb.100006343779808/2458917170996385/?type=2&video_source=user_video_tabText form:
Conception-5: Born to a Catholic dad and a mom who was raised Baptist but wasn't particularly religious. Baptized Catholic.
5-10: Without a deep understanding of faith, I became acutely aware of what religion I was being raised in, almost in a my group versus the other group mentality.
11-13: Didn't see much of a point in religion and began having some doubts about God's existence while still ultimately telling myself I believed in Him, still went to church when dragged by my dad and was confirmed in the Catholic Church.
14-16: Became an atheist. Probably the most vehement in the 15-16 year old range; like a lot of people that age, I thought I knew everything. I do remember going to church once with my Baptist grandparents when I was 15 and thinking "this isn't as bad as what I'm used to".
17-20: Had a health scare at age 17 that made me contemplate mortality for the first time, but didn't instantly change my views. Went to college and gradually went from a sort of agnostic my freshman year to vaguely Christian, without a real understanding of what it meant by my junior year, very gradually. In this time, God put a ton of people in my path that He used to change the way I saw religion. I went to church a few times at age 20 and enjoyed it but still didn't fully connect with it.
21: I finally felt the need to go to church and develop a deeper faith. I was baptized again (in a Southern Baptist church) at age 21.
22-Present: After significant initial growth, I kind of felt stagnant. I wound up going to a new church, where I found a great group of people that have helped each other grow since then.
