Kayla Gets to Know Her Love, Savior, Father

Kayla Garza, a senior in high school, attended the Steubenville Mid-America I Youth Conference. Read about how she allowed herself to be free to let God's love take her over.

This year was my first Steubenville conference and it was the best weekend of my life.
The topic was "God is." Before the conference, I had no clue who God really was. All I knew was that I wanted to get to know Him.

During our time in Missouri, we heard speeches, danced and sang our hearts out. Steubenville was a place where I didn't have to be afraid to be myself - where I could sing as loud as I wanted and not be afraid to worship. The speeches we heard were amazing and left me with a lot of questions - questions that helped me get to know God better.

On Saturday night, I felt him. Adoration was a time for me to talk to God one-on-one and it helped me so much. In the beginning, I knew I wanted to give my life to God but didn't feel like I was ready. During adoration, I found myself saying "take me." I realized all I wanted was God and I never wanted Him to leave me.

On this trip I felt so much love - love like I have never felt before. And for the first time, I felt God's love and it was the best feeling in the world. Everyone there, no matter how well we knew them, cared and prayed for each other. It was one big family. By the end of the trip, I knew a little more about who God was. He is love, my savior and my father.

Unfortunately the weekend had to come to an end and coming back home was really hard. I didn't feel like God was there, but this conference taught me that God is everywhere. We just have to be willing to open our hearts to Him. After this trip, I wanted the church to be my home and I wanted to become a follower of Christ.