Adeline Johanna
Like a lot of cradle Catholics, going to Mass every Sunday was just part of my life. I went to Sunday school, Catholic retreats, and by God’s grace, I never really walked away from the faith, but for a long time, I didn’t have a personal relationship with Jesus.
During high school, I struggled with a lot of social anxiety. I was always labelled the “nice, shy girl”. I cared way too much about what other people thought of me, and because of that I found it really hard to step outside my comfort zone. So if you had told me back then where God was going to lead me, I would’ve laughed and said, “No chance.”
Everything started to change during my first year of university. My brother started taking his faith seriously, and as a typical little sister, I kinda just followed him. I began reading Scripture, praying more often, and intentionally growing in my relationship with God. Around the same time, I realised I had absolutely no passion for the degree I was studying. So, after six months, I made the decision to leave university and pursue my passion for photography and content creation instead.
For about eight months, I made YouTube videos about photography. Then one day, my brother (who had also left uni around the same time) said something that really stuck with me. He said, “God has given us the opportunity to make videos online, so why aren’t we using it for Him?”.
I couldn’t stop thinking about that.
I felt God calling me to create Christian content, but I was terrified of what people would think and how I would be perceived. But eventually, I realised that I couldn’t let the fear of being judged stop me from saying yes to God. So I took the step of faith and started making videos about my faith.
Now, just over a year later, I can honestly see how much God has changed me. The girl who was once too scared to be judged now openly talks about Jesus on the internet. My friends and I have even started a youth group at our local parish, and it’s been such a blessing to walk alongside other young people in their faith journeys.
I’m still learning, still growing, and definitely nowhere near perfect, but I think that’s the beauty of it all. God doesn’t wait for us to be perfect before He calls us. I just hope I can keep sharing the same love and grace that He’s so generously shown me.