Faith is hope and believing

Faith is having complete trust or confidence. Faith can also mean a strong belief in God or religion. Faith truly doesn’t have one meaning; faith has many different meanings. 

I remember so vividly the day I almost lost my life in a car accident. The moment was still and rings in my head. A car with a light green color caught my eye in the front window and came closer and closer; glass shattered, the car colliding with a bang and the ringing in my ears was all I could hear. For a split second I couldn’t make out where I was and my vision was blurry. 

I felt trapped and realized the seat belt was constricting. My adrenaline and fear was pushing me to get out of that car right away. I tried opening the door but it was stuck. That’s when I lost all my faith for a moment. The driver, a close family friend, ripped the door open and I jumped out. I looked back with shaky legs at the smashed black car. The horror of it struck me and I backed away as far as possible.

This event, which could have taken my life, guided me to realize that any second could be my last and you can’t control everything that happens to you. In the bad moments, that faith inside of you comes out. These bad times, the moment I saw my life flash before my eyes, all I could do was thank God that I was still breathing, still feeling my heart pound in my chest, and still feeling the tears in my eyes. 

Faith in my eyes has always been what I look up to when I feel like all hope is lost; when I feel like there is nowhere to turn to. Having faith keeps me going and makes me look to the future. Faith helps me believe that everything happens for a reason. Believing everything happens for a reason is faith. It’s believing that even if something bad happens, something good will come out of it. 

Faith, that word is positivity, it’s hope and believing. If you asked me what faith is right now, today at age 14, I would tell you it’s a way of life. It is the way the world looks through your eyes and how you interact with it. Faith is what it comes down to when you’re looking for a sign, when you’re looking for help. Faith is a shoulder to lean on. It’s inside of all of us.

Mia Avella is a ninth-grader at Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons High School.