Nearly every Sunday morning I sit down in the pews of our church with ease, knowing that I am safe and loved. But that doesn’t keep me from sometimes being blindsided with songs, Christian jargon, and even Bible verses that I find to be triggers to some of the darker days of my spiritual past. … [Read more…]
When we moved into our new home in April, we were totally in love with the fenced-in yard on a corner lot that came with it. Three massive oaks line the front yard and five white pines offer shade or our spacious side yard. Scattered in between the bigger trees were a varied assortment of … [Read more…]
If you have ever been on my blog before, you probably know that I feel like I have a complicated “faith story.” (If you are new to my blog, you might want to start here.) After walking away from “fundamentalism” in my mid-twenties, I’m now in the process of letting God reconstruct my faith as … [Read more…]
It was two years ago today, on July 19, 2015, that we stepped into Grace Bible Church for the first time. I remember the date quite vividly because it was a series of random-yet-God-scripted events that led us there to our church home. This past Sunday, our pastor said these words: It all started with … [Read more…]
In my last post, I talked about Church XYZ – a church we thought would be our church home, but ended up being a less-than-ideal fit for our family. I think that I knew it wasn’t working long before my husband did. So now, I have to tell you the story of a church detour … [Read more…]
To continue on telling the story of how a recovering legalist moves forward in faith, I must share the steps (and missteps) that our family taken in regard to church. What I will share in this post is not meant to be a scathing exposé. Rather, it is meant to be an explanation of the … [Read more…]
In 2013, I spent 2 1/2 months pouring my hurt and angry heart out on screen, bleeding through the painful 7-year history spanning from the time I left for college at the age of 18 until the time I came to leave behind legalism at the age of 25. I look back on that 26-year-old … [Read more…]
A few weeks ago a fellow faith blogger asked me to write a guest blog for her some time about my faith journey. “I’m particularly interested in your journey to finding Jesus…how grace has changed your life…or something of that nature.” I readily agreed. That was a month ago and I haven’t written a word…until now. … [Read more…]
This morning I drove to church – alone, feeling guilty. Between working all week on moving things over to our new house and my having to play the piano for both Easter services at our church this morning, “Easter” activities for the kids got the short end of the stick… By short end, I mean … [Read more…]
Hot angry tears were rolling down my face as we went back and forth, round and round. It was one of those conversations that needed to happen but was hard for both of us. We were both hurt – although, I probably more than she. We were both struggling to understand each other. The tears … [Read more…]