As a child of God, I get the unconditional love I need. Jesus assures his children that he is there for us.

Do you ever catch yourself saying, "Why me? What did I do?" Those used to be my favorite questions at the age of nine. When bad things happened, I just assumed that I did something to cause them.

The worst time these questions came up was the day my world seemed to come crashing down. My mom left my sisters and me; she no longer wanted to be part of our family. It was the saddest moment of my life. I was not going to have a family like all the other kids had.

I spent many nights in my room crying, asking, "Why?" I felt alone and disowned. As a young child, I did not know what was going on. I never thought I would wake up and not have a mom to show my sisters and me the comfort we needed. Although as a believer in Christ, I knew I did not have to feel that way.

With Jesus it is not that way. Jesus is there for us on our good days and our bad days. As a child of God, I get the unconditional love I need. Jesus assures his children that he is there for us. I do not have to worry about waking up and not having a God. I felt alone without a mom but found comfort through Jesus.

As I got older and started to realize reality, a great dislike for my mom grew inside; she hurt us and she could not fix the pain she had caused. Although as a believer, I knew I had to forgive. Jesus forgave his children for the pain we caused him by our sin, so I knew in my heart I had to forgive too. But it was not easy at first.

God puts roadblocks into our lives to teach us things we cannot see alone. It may seem as if we cannot handle things anymore, but we can. God only gives us as many problems as we can handle. He guides us through all the roadblocks in our lives. At times we may feel alone, but we are not. Jesus is always by our side.

The large roadblock that I had to deal with actually helped me in the end. It has been more than five years since I have seen or heard from my mom. I am fine with that because it has made me stronger. This incident has not only made me stronger as a person but also has helped make my faith stronger. It has shown me that all the comfort I need is in Jesus and with him I can get through anything.

When I get mad or sad and ask why, now I can answer my own question. I do not have to wonder anymore. I can say to myself, "Jesus is putting a roadblock into my life to show me something I cannot see on my own." I know my Savior will be there from the time my pain starts until the time the pain ends. Jesus will never leave my side, no matter what I may be feeling inside.

Trust in your Savior. Continue to hold on to him by faith. He will be there to guide you through all your painful roadblocks in life as well.

Cayla Chojnacki, a senior at Wisconsin Lutheran High School, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is a member at Resurrection, Milwaukee.