Despite a nation that boasts of having of over 384,000 congregations, 25 of which being in the city of Hudson, Wisconsin alone, there’s a new church family in town. And they aren’t going anywhere any time soon.

When we’re seventeen, we don’t realize that the silly things done at parties or the gossip spoken about others sticks. I still remember the nicknames and terrible decisions made by myself and others during that time…17 years later! At that point in our lives, we are the truest reflection of what our parents have raised us to be and the experiences we’ve had; we are just shy of going out into the world and becoming our own selves. A coping mechanism of mine during school was to be critical, and to carry a confident facade which didn’t bode well (read about my Hudson High School Hit Lists here).

At the age of 17, my friend Shera and I attended a concert that would forever change our lives. We went to meet guys but we came out with God. The year was 2001. In the world of Christian music, it was the era of Michael W. Smith, Steven Curtis Chapman and Nichole Nordeman.