Hi. My name is Jessica. I turned 17 July 5th.

All my life I believed that there was God in heaven watching over me to protect me. I don't live in a particularly religious family but my parents and sister are very strong theists and my father was raised a catholic. I had never given it a second thought. There was this time in 8th grade when I was in bed one night and I started to pray because I really had something to say but no one else would listen to me. But I remember I stopped talking and that I had this horrible feeling I was talking to myself and that I was the only one who heard my voice. I became so scared because I knew that I was alone then. After that I never said anything and I refused to think about it anymore. Until freshman year of high school. I heard these 3 girls talking about how they felt so bad for the muslim kids from Saudi Arabia because they were going to hell if they didn't change their ways and believe in Jesus. I was so angry. I had been thinking about the thought that had been growing in the back of my mind. I went home that day and went into the bathroom. I stood in front of the mirror and said aloud "God does not exist" and for the first time in about 16 months I felt so free and so proud that I had stopped betraying myself with lies. I guess I've known all of my life that to me God does not exist, but I was to young or stubborn to accept it. But now that I have I think I'm a more tolerant and open-minded person.

Jessica Eads-Rundel