Hello!

Hey guys! My name is Lauren and I'm from the USA. I was raised Catholic and went to a Catholic school until High School. I recently started to break away and look into other denominations, such as Methodist, Baptist, etc, and I'm not really sure where I fit in. My parents don't attend Church and therefore I cannot go on Sundays. After being diagnosed with Scoliosis last Summer and needing surgery, I turned to God for strength. It felt like my world was falling apart. I had wanted to go professionally in dance after doing it for 15 years, but when I was diagnosed, that was no longer possible due to metal rods all down my spine. I was told if I did not have this surgery soon, my spine would completely crush my organs. I had major complications during surgery and spent over 8 days on the Pediatric floor. The pain medicine did not work and had instead caused severe side affects. When I slept, I would not breathe and would be jerked awake by the nurses. I was not able to breathe on my own and got pneumonia in the hospital, giving me a 20% chance of survival with the complications. Even through all this, I trusted in God and knew he had a plan. A group of kids from a nearby school came to the hospital and were giving out gifts. By some miracle, a game I had always wanted but was no longer made, was in this pile of gifts I could choose from. I really believe it was part of His plan, because that simple thing helped me to recover so much faster. After about a month of recovery, I returned to dance, and to this day the doctors cannot understand how I am still able to dance at the level I am currently. They had told me I would never be able to dance again, but I was determined to prove them wrong. Almost a year out of surgery I am dancing over 20 hours a week. I cannot feel any part of my back or legs, but I still keep going. This is how my faith in God has grown because with him, ANYTHING is possible! Also, please donate to your local hospitals because even the simplest of things can really help a person get through rough times. God Bless everyone and I look forward to meeting you all!

Lots of love,
-Lauren