isnt it weird...

[xxRachaelxx]

isn't it weird how some things turn out

my sister and i have both been brought up the same...went to the same catholic primary school etc etc....
however....at age 16 (how old i am now) my sister was totally different to me...lets jst say she was a ''rebel'' and now she is not religious AT ALL...and it annoys me how she was brought up the same as me and even though i am 6 years younger than her, i am the one telling her not to say the word ''paki'' and stuff....

the other day she said it, in a racist way and i told her not to and she replied ''why?'' as though i was being stupid even suggesting it!

she has totally lost her faith...and...if my sister has, that must mean many other people have too..and thats jst....sad


im even finding that my dad isnt very religious either! gosh, what is happening to the world!!! i just pray that i dont take the same path

 

[Dream]

It just goes to show that we truly have free will.

You could have the best Catholic parents in the world, but you could still end up rejecting the faith and living an extremely sinful life. On the flip side, you can have really crummy parents but still end up living a Christ-like life.

 

[Acceptance]

Rachael,
Isn't it hard growing up? You have to find out that that the ideal world you lived in as a child isn't necessarily all it seems. I came to that point several years ago and it was a cold hard reality check. I should tell you though, that too frequently when people get to the age where they move out of the house or go to college, they are faced with faith challenging life events. We no longer live with the support of the home and family we always knew and it becomes easy for outside people to make us doubt our faith (or at least our church). Pray for your sister, she really needs it now. At 21, I was absolutely positive the Catholic Church was wrong about just about everything and when I went searching for the truth (to decide what Protestant denomination I belonged to) I realized the Truth lied within the Catholic Church. Now at 25, I'm one of the most devout Catholics I know (in RL that is ). So keep your faith strong and pray for your sister.

As for your dad, yuck doesn't that stink too?! My heart sunk when I came to the realization that the man who raised me to be Catholic didn't himself believe in much of the Catholic doctrine. But I can say that since we started discussions (read: debates) about Catholic theology I know his stance, at least on some issues, has changed. (Ex: he used to consider a fetus before the third trimester to not be a life, now when we talk he's recognizing that that couple week old "gummy bear" is indeed a life). So keep faith and pray for your dad too. He needs it as well.

In the mean time, I'll pray for you. I'll pray for you to have strength and to be able to live as Christ would want you to even in the face of challenges. May His wisdom and strength be with you.

 

[plainswolf]

How is that my own children, all three of them from the same parents can be so completely different than one another??

God I love my little heathens!

J.M.J.
plainswolf

 

[Chrystal-J]

I know how you feel, Rachael. My mother once said that the bible was "a book of stories"--she meant like myths or fables. It depresses me sometimes that she doesn't believe. And my father refuses to even discuss religion! (Yet, he takes my mother to mass a few times a month!) My father was raised Catholic and my mother converted. Yet, neither one seems to have any belief in Jesus and His teachings. I don't understand why they even go to mass. (But, I'm glad they do!) My siblings don't believe in anything at all (that I know of). And if I bring up Jesus--most of them get annoyed! It's all so sad!
I just keep praying for them to see the light soon.
Take Care,
Chrystal

 

[Tinkerbell222222]

It can be both a good and bad thing that people who are brought up the same turn out differently. My sisters and I have all been brought up Dutch Reformed. One sister completely rebelled(), the other is devoted Dutch Reformed, and here I am converting to Catholicism. Odd how that works out, huh? We were all brought up being told the same things about God and religion, yet somehow we have each taken a different path. (Although some suppose my path to be a terrible and rebellious one as well.)

 

[kaitoke]

I feel for you.

I am one of 12 (7 Brothers and 4 Sisters). All brought up in a very devout family. The rosary was said every night and at times our home resembled a presbytery with priests and nuns popping in all hours of the day.

Out of the 12 of us only 2 are practising Catholics. One of my brothers has joined some weird Cult and the rest of the family have turned away from all religion. I pray for them a lot and have done for a number of years. In some ways my prayers are being answered. Several of my neices and nephews are showing a lot of interest in The catholic Church.

My brother who is involved in a cult is starting to make more more and more contact with us. (for years he would not even talk to us). He is even asking questions about the church. Prayer is a very powerful thing. The answer may not always be clear but God works in a mysterious way.

 

[Epiphanygirl]

Do you have a Green Scapular? These would be great to give to your family and they help towards the purpose of converting hearts. If you can, say the prayer for it then give it to her, you can also give one to your parents or hang one in their room.
May God bless you and always keep you close to Him.

 

[ukok]

I was a rebellious teen, and when I say rebellious, I really do mean it. I was obnoxious and rude and a complete pain in the rear...on the other hand my brother was placid,academic, reasonably well adjusted and conservative...he went to university, bought a nice house, has a lovely family, got a great career through sheer hard work and determination... but I have no doubt who got the better deal...he's an atheist/agnostic (i can't tell which because he rarely visit's either my parent's or myself and lives a fair distance away from any of us) and getting more cynical about everything by the day...you just wouldn't credit it would you, but i have far less materially, academically, monetarily, but I wouldn't trade places with his cynicsm and his materialistic, and dare i say 'shallow' (without sounding pompous) way of life any day of the week.

Pray for your sister

 

[Plan 9]

Rachael, my brother and I ended up with almost diametrically opposed spiritual beliefs and, for that matter, worldviews. I often worry about him, and I'm sure that, as my big brother, he worries equally about me.
What I realize now that I didn't when I was younger is that we always had very different outlooks, even at a time when outside observers might reasonably have concluded that we were following the beat of the same drummer. Because of this, I don't think you should be overly worried about finding yourself taking the same path as your sister.

It is weird, though.

 

[princess_ballet]

I hate to break it to you, but your sister and you didn't go through the same things. You were around different people, you had different experiences, and you grew up in different worlds, especially being 6 years apart. You are also two different people with two completely different personalities.

How well do you really know your sister? Do you know why she's fallen away from the Lord? Or has she really? Or has she just chosen a path different from yours? Perhaps you should get to know her better.

I was my brother's confirmation sponser. The two of us our world's apart. But I learned a lot about him, and I still don't know everything about him. Sure, he still irks me, but I suppose I understand now that he's led a different life than I have and things are different for him than they are for me.

You might be surprised.

 

[xxRachaelxx]

I hate to break it to you, but your sister and you didn't go through the same things

lol u say that like it would hurt me....i didnt mean it like we are twins and were around the same ppl...jst meant...same upbringing...

How well do you really know your sister? Do you know why she's fallen away from the Lord? Or has she really? Or has she just chosen a path different from yours? Perhaps you should get to know her better.

i know her rather well...and to be honest...i hope i dont turn out like her....and i hate to say this about my own sister! she may be confident, but shes also racist and can be very mean. when i told her my boyfriend was indian she said ''thats disgusting! dont u dare have sex with him!''...and i have jst seen her in a new light and im not comfortable around her anymore.

i dont like being like this with my own sister...but...not everything in life works how you want it to

 

[princess_ballet]

lol u say that like it would hurt me....i didnt mean it like we are twins and were around the same ppl...jst meant...same upbringing...

Well I know, but I just didn't want you to take it the wrong way.

i know her rather well...and to be honest...i hope i dont turn out like her....and i hate to say this about my own sister! she may be confident, but shes also racist and can be very mean. when i told her my boyfriend was indian she said ''thats disgusting! dont u dare have sex with him!''...and i have jst seen her in a new light and im not comfortable around her anymore.

Well if you know her well and don't want to turn out like her faults, then that is fine. Surely we can see faults in other people that we don't want to one day see her in oursevles, but that doesn't mean that we can't love love them; does it? I love both of my parents a great deal, but that doesn't mean that I would always make the same choices as them, even as something as silly as what color to paint their bedroom to more serious things like how they treat family. So, I guess my advice would be to love her with her faults, but learn from her faults and grow as a person from them.