My Story , Annie Hancock
I knew who Jesus was from a young age. I didn’t grow up going to church regularly, however my parents did their best to introduce my siblings and me. I was home schooled until age 12 and I have few memories of my life prior to then. I didn’t have any friends other than my siblings, until I started public school in 7th grade. It was a huge change for me, but I was so thankful and happy to finally be there. I did not like being home schooled. I made friends quickly; some I still have to this day.
Highschool was a pivotal point in my life. One of my best friends at the time committed suicide at the age of 17. This was the summer after my freshman year. That moment altered my life going forward. I had never felt pain like that before. Navigating that loss was very difficult. It left me with confusion, anger and deep sadness. I never went to her funeral. It was too much for me to handle. Over the next 3 years of my life, Chelsea High School lost 7 kids… 5 of those 7 committed suicide. Some of those kids were friends of mine, a few I did not know personally. After graduation I lost two more very close friends of mine who died in two separate car accidents. As you can imagine, this left a dark cloud above me and all of my peers.
These events really damaged my mental health. I did not have much hope, and I was really lost. This time in my life I did not have a good relationship with God. I was angry and confused about how any of this could happen. But, I never fully lost my faith. Though I was angry and confused with him, I would take comfort from anywhere I could. I was desperate for any sliver of hope. Praying has always brought me a sense of comfort. In a world so dark at times, the chance that there could be a God out there was easier for me to rationalize than everything being a big, sad nothing.
As long as I can remember, I have known I’ve always wanted to have a family. I was blessed enough to grow up with parents who loved me and instilled strong family values in my siblings and me. I have very close relationships with my siblings; they are all my best friends. Those relationships have given me great strength to want to better myself. Especially for my younger sister, I want to be someone she can look up to. As time went on, I gained some much-needed perspective. I knew I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life sad and continuing to self-sabotage my life. So, I decided to change.
At age 22, I was ready to have a relationship with Jesus. I started to attend a Lutheran church that was 3 miles from my house. It was nice and easy for the time being. I was excited at the thought of a growing relationship with God. I went to this church off and on for the next few months. A few months later I started dating my now fiancé, Finn. Finn is catholic and he invited me to go to church with him very early into our relationship. I had
I have never been to a Catholic church before, but I liked Finn so much I didn’t care where we were hanging out, I just wanted to be around him. So, I went with him and it was beautiful! I was still very hesitant because growing up, all I ever heard about the Catholic church was negative assumptions. All of which have been proven false.
I’ve been going to church with Finn every weekend since the first time he invited me, and it took me 3 years to decide to become Catholic, myself. That was probably due to me being stubborn, but in all honesty, I just didn’t want to make the wrong decision, or make the decision for Finn and not myself. I really had to put some thought and a lot of prayer into it. Since the first day Finn invited me to church here at St. Johns, I have gotten so much out of my time here. My faith has grown exponentially. The church has given me so many tools to grow my faith and relationship with God. Going to church every Sunday has improved my life so much. It’s my weekly reset. The last few months I have spent a lot of time praying for God to lead me in the right direction, and since then, I have literally felt my heart soften and have been pulled to join the church. It all suddenly became such an easy decision for me.
Going through marriage prep is what really did it for me. That was the final push I needed. Getting engaged and soon to be married has been a very real and raw experience for me. Learning about the church’s teaching around marriage has given me a great sense of hope and purpose.
The past three years of my life have been three years of major growth. Through big life changes, therapy and growing my relationship with Jesus Christ, my life is something that I am proud of and want to see unfold. I have a long way to go and much more growing to do, so please pray for me. But I am so thankful to be where I am and to have such an amazing church community to lean on.