Hi all!
So I will try not to write a novel ... lol
I grew up without much for religion. I had an aunt who was a little off and every time I saw her, she made me accept Jesus into my heart (I've done that probably forty times, no exaggeration) and really scared me a lot with talk of hell. I spent the first 28 years of my life completely terrified of religion, Christianity in particular. My mom would occasionally take us to church, but it was far from a pleasant experience and I was bullied mercilessly in Sunday school (by students, not the teachers!)
So anyway, around age 28 I decided to stop feeling guilty about having a sarcastic sense of humor (never mean or bullying), to stop worrying about it all. I called myself an atheist and I was pretty happy.
My brother died in a motorcycle accident in 2012 and to be honest it reinforced those beliefs (or lack thereof.) I believed he was just dead, no heaven or hell. Just gone. I still kind of do. I can't explain why I feel this way. I feel betrayed, I guess.
But anyway that brings me to the here and now. I homeschool my children, and was looking for curriculum and found one I liked. It's not secular but I liked it enough to look into religion a little more. Then I found a homeschool group for them that I love, but it is also religious. We start going to formal groups with them in the fall and I figured I better teach my kids at least how to pray before we go. But... I don't even know how.
And then I started looking into local churches. All the churches near me are either Mennonite or Church of the Brethren. I've been reading about Church of the Brethren and I like it. I feel really excited and positive about trying them out for the next few Sundays, see if there's one that clicks. I hope they don't judge me for knowing absolutely nothing at all. I hope they don't judge me for not having church clothes, and for having tattoos and an eyebrow piercing. I am a little scared. I will probably be up all night worrying.
Thanks for reading... I guess I did write a novel even though I didn't mean to.....
So I will try not to write a novel ... lol
I grew up without much for religion. I had an aunt who was a little off and every time I saw her, she made me accept Jesus into my heart (I've done that probably forty times, no exaggeration) and really scared me a lot with talk of hell. I spent the first 28 years of my life completely terrified of religion, Christianity in particular. My mom would occasionally take us to church, but it was far from a pleasant experience and I was bullied mercilessly in Sunday school (by students, not the teachers!)
So anyway, around age 28 I decided to stop feeling guilty about having a sarcastic sense of humor (never mean or bullying), to stop worrying about it all. I called myself an atheist and I was pretty happy.
My brother died in a motorcycle accident in 2012 and to be honest it reinforced those beliefs (or lack thereof.) I believed he was just dead, no heaven or hell. Just gone. I still kind of do. I can't explain why I feel this way. I feel betrayed, I guess.
But anyway that brings me to the here and now. I homeschool my children, and was looking for curriculum and found one I liked. It's not secular but I liked it enough to look into religion a little more. Then I found a homeschool group for them that I love, but it is also religious. We start going to formal groups with them in the fall and I figured I better teach my kids at least how to pray before we go. But... I don't even know how.
And then I started looking into local churches. All the churches near me are either Mennonite or Church of the Brethren. I've been reading about Church of the Brethren and I like it. I feel really excited and positive about trying them out for the next few Sundays, see if there's one that clicks. I hope they don't judge me for knowing absolutely nothing at all. I hope they don't judge me for not having church clothes, and for having tattoos and an eyebrow piercing. I am a little scared. I will probably be up all night worrying.
Thanks for reading... I guess I did write a novel even though I didn't mean to.....