The Beginning

You are probably wondering what this whole "journey" thing is about. I wanted to start by blog by telling you how I got here. I was raised in Christianity my whole life. I even accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Savior at a Young Life camp when I was 13. I thought I always had a grip on what it meant to be a follower of Christ. Just as I started making progress in my high school years, I was tempted into years of sin. Thus began a "too serious" relationship, partying, drinking, and smoking. People were noticing this "lifestyle" I chose, mainly my family. My aunt confronted me one evening about my drinking, and smoking, and everything else. Of course my defenses were up, and I denied most of it. Then it got to a point where even my own friends didn't recognize me, which I realized after one New Year's. Who had I become?

Soon after, my father invited me to be a part of this "new" Young Adult Group that was starting at his church. I agreed to give it a shot. I can't say I completely stopped the partying then, nor did I for a few years following, however, it slowed down tremendously. That young adult group was a fresh start back down the road I should have been following all along. I became a part of a wonderful church family, and even got involved with middle school and high school youth. I had a passion for the youth and didn't want to see them go down the same nasty road I went down.

A few years later, an acquaintance of mine that I met through karaoke, decided to become more than just acquaitances. He was a Catholic. SHOCK!!!!! I never thought I would date a Catholic. This Catholic was different. He was more spiritual. Perhaps some of it was hiding, but I knew it was there, and slowly he was open to learning more and more about Christ. The desire was always there. He just needed some guidance. At any rate, he brought me into the Catholic church. I think it raised some concerns from some people, but I took the RCIA class, and I realized that there were many strengths in the Catholic church. In fact, I don't think the Catholic church is any worse than any other institutional church. I don't want to get into all the Catechism stuff, however, the parish I was involved with was very different. Even though they had "rules and guidelines," it was more Holy Spirit driven. They were able to sway from the "law."

My husband (my fiance at the time) and I decided to take the "Life in the Spirit" seminar. At the end of the 6-weeks, they prayed over us. When they prayed over me, one woman envisioned these walking sneakers. She said I was on a journey, and it wasn't about the journey of marriage, which of course was a journey, but this meant something else. Hmmmmm. I couldn't understand what that meant, but okay. I accepted it.

I don't think I realized this "journey" until about 18 months later, when my spiritual foundation was shaken. It was easy to get caught up in the rituals and liturgy and lose sight of why I was really at church on Sunday mornings. Then I went through a period of bitterness against the "institutional church." I kept telling myself they had it all wrong. Was it right for me to think that way? No, but I did. What made matters worse, was that my husband and I were not on the same page, so I just had to keep crying out in prayer. Was something wrong with me? or When were my husband and I going to see eye to eye?

Then his foundation was shaken. A questions weighed heavily on his heart, "why do I believe what I believe? Do I believe because I believe or because that's what I was taught my whole life?" It was this very question which caused us to take a short-term vacation from church all together. We met with my aunt or attended my father's bible study once a week instead.

After some time, we decided to check out a different church. It was a non-denominational church. We liked it. There were some things that didn't seem to fall in place, but we were planning on attending the following week, until my aunt told us about a church she visited. She told us we should really check it out, so we did. It has been some time now, and we haven't stopped going since.

My husband and I agreed, this was church! This is what we've been looking for. No church is perfect and I'm not saying this one is, but it is perfect for us. I've never experienced a sense of community like I did here. People noticed we were new, and they talked to us. Each week, they made themselves known and invited us to become a part of their smaller community, link groups.

We found a wonderful link group with families like us. There were also couples and singles to add some diversity, which I think is important. This church teaches DISCIPLESHIP!!!!!! They teach Christ in simple form. It's not about going through the motions, it's about living!

I can't say I've solved all of my problems, but it's a step in the right direction. I will never have it all figured out, but as I wrestle with thoughts and ideas, I have a family to wrestle through them with me and encourage me and perhaps lead me to truth.

One thing I must mention, the churches I've left behind are still a family to me. Even though we have left the Catholic church doesn't mean we've stopped loving our Catholic believers. It just means God has taken has taken us on our own journey, but in our separate, individual journeys, I hope that people of all denominations can come together on those core foundational beliefs and become the church Christ has called us to be. We should be encouraging one another, even if our journeys and purposes are not the same.

Forgive me if I've left out certain pieces of the story. I just felt they weren't relevant to this particular topic, however down the road, I may decided to fill in the gaps.