My name is Mylene, I am 24 and from Ottawa, Canada. Throughout my life, my faith has always come naturally to me and was nurtured through the good Catholic family and friends who surrounded me. I was heavily involved in my parish youth group and had many personal encounters of Christ and his love for me. This strong faith came into question during my grade 11 year in high school. I began a dating relationship with someone who was not a good influence and began to consume my life around this relationship and going out with my friends whenever I could. slowly but surely, I began slipping away from my relationship with Jesus and distancing myself from him through sin and bitter attitudes. At one point, I decided that God in my life was more of a burden than anything else and I willfully chose to no longer have a relationship with Jesus anymore. I was unable to believe that God could fulfill me, because in my mind, my life was great and I was happy, and God was the only problem. While my belief in him remained, I doubted his goodness. Finally, I was torn out of this apparently perfect life, when my family temporarily moved halfway across the country. With my relationship over and my friends no longer with me, all of the things that I had consumed my purpose in were gone. I was at a point where I felt lost and confused about what I should do next, I felt God tugging at my heart, and I felt deep down this feeling that I missed my best friend: Jesus. My heart was slowly becoming more open to the idea of welcoming Christ back but I struggled to let go of everything that I had put before him. One morning, I was at a time of adoration. While being distracted by everything in my life, I looked up and saw the image on the altar of some fish and loaves. Here, Christ spoke to me in my heart, reminding me of the Gospel story of the multiplying of the loaves and fish, Christ challenged me to give my small portion of bread and fish to Christ, like the little boy did in the story. If I gave what little I had to Him, he would multiply it into thousands. This realization made me visibly awestruck. Immediately after I imagined giving to Jesus every single aspect of my life that I was holding onto, with everything I gave him, I felt lighter and more free. The time following this was a time of pure joy and elation, I prayed daily, and God poured his love into my heart in exactly the ways I needed it. From that time on, I came to realize that Christ did not stop me from experiencing the joys of life, but that he was my joy. No matter what the circumstances of my life are now, I can see that I can stay at peace and with joy in my heart because I know Jesus loves me, and that I can always turn to him.  Prayer is now areal necessity in my life and I am constantly challenged to grow in my relationship with God, to give him everything so that he can multiply the fruits of my works. While this is a constant challenge, that I often struggle to succeed in, His mercy is ever present, welcoming me to keep moving forward. I encourage you to give what you have to him, and allow  him to preform the miraculous within your life!