Faith.
As you probably noticed in the heading, faith comes first for me, before family and freedom. As you’re reading this, your faith might be different than mine, and that’s perfectly fine. I don’t share my faith to push it towards you by any means.

Raised Catholic
I grew up in a catholic household. My grandma, being a prime example of someone who enjoys sharing her faith, went to church daily. Mass is truly the highlight of her day. You can imagine how hard it was during the Covid-19 Lockdown.
Growing up, I attended church school every Saturday and mass every Sunday. It’s actually where I met some of my best friends today. While in high school, I began teaching and educating kids about Catholicism and what it means to be a Chaldean from Iraq.
During college is where I began to practice my religion a little less. I moved to Orange County and my “local church” was no longer local. I kinda used that as an excuse, to be honest. In reality, I didn’t even bother looking for a local church.
Being Catholic
Now, as I’m experiencing new ventures in my life and realizing what I have my hands on, I became to realize how truly blessed I am.
In my personal opinion, being faithful/religious is very much like building a strong relationship with someone. And we all know that relationships require intentionality and commitment. This means speaking to God as you would speak to your friends.
I once heard somebody say “If faith is such an important value in your life, why do you only practice it 1 hour a week?” This quote really got me thinking about how I can strengthen and prioritize my faith.