This I Believe

I grew up in Ethiopia in a city named Addis Ababa, where people take Christianity very seriously, especially my mother. Religion is a system of thoughts, feelings, and actions shared by a group that gives the members an object of devotion; a behavior by which individuals may judge the personal and social consequences of their action. In my words, religion is a code of behavioral ethics. I believe without the power of prayer my life would not be what it is today.

My mother teaches all her children to fast when the time comes, and go to church everyday. I remember when I was little she used to wake my twin sister and me up early in the morning for church. Back home in Ethiopia, church programs started at 5:00am and ended at about 11:00am, and there was also an evening service which started at 6:00pm and ended at 10:00pm. My mother was not as strict with my other siblings attending as she was with me and my sister; I think because they used to have to go to work or school I never knew the exact reason, she was very demanding on having us attend all the services

I believe that everyone should have something or someone to believe in or worship. Evidently in my life my faith helps me get through hard times, not only hard times, but in general it helps me get through each day. My mother always says, “If you need something really bad all you have to do is pray every night with absolute faith, never giving up.” I do believe praying to God is important especially in bad time. Every time there is something I need very badly, I don’t mean nice pair of shoes I saw at the mall, but something much more serious like a job or my family’s health, I pray with all my heart every night until it comes true. When my dad came to visit us three years ago, he got very sick. He had to go into sugary; he was in surgery for six hours although the surgery was only supposed to last thirty minutes to an hour, and when he came out, the doctor told us he would not be able to talk or eat. The sugary turned in to a very serious matter. At some point, they made it seem as if he was not going to make it, but I prayed every night, and every day for him. Even though he had to feed through a tube in his stomach, finally my prayer was answered and he was back to his normal health state with in a year.

Sometimes I feel something inside me giving up, but then I hear my mother’s voice telling me to never give up, and I just force myself to continue. It surprises me sometimes that no matter what goes on in my life, I can always pray so that I will be okay. The thought that all I have to do is pray when life seems to get hard gives me confidence in everything I do each day. Because of what my mother thought me about my religion, I was able to accomplish a lot in my life, and successfully pass through hard time. This will help me succeed through a lot of things in my future like it has in the past.