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This week's topic is bringing faith to life. All of these woman have given great examples of how they bring their faith into their daily lives. They all admit they aren't perfect, but they try and that's all the matters. My personal journey with God has been a bit all over the place. Up until I was 13 we went to a Catholic church. I went to catechism class, memorized prayers, received my first communion, and started my confirmation classes.
When my mother found out that I would have to pass a 400 question long (or something like that) test to become officially confirmed in the church, she pulled me out. To her that seemed ridiculous. You could have a relationship with God without having to pass a test. The following year we moved from Massachusetts to South Carolina.
We never joined another church after we moved. I had plenty of friends that kept inviting me to go to Sunday school with them. They kept calling it youth group and I was thoroughly confused. Why on earth would you be excited to go to class and have a nun yell at you for messing up a prayer? I finally caved and went with my friend Lindsay to her Presbyterian youth group. Well no wonder she was excited. It was completely different from Catholic Sunday school. It was actually fun!
I spent the next three years going to the Presbyterian church. My high school boyfriend and his family went there so it just felt right at the time. We broke up senior year and I stopped. College had a few sporadic visits to various churches here and there but never anything consistent. After college the hubs and I didn't go to church until our 3rd year of marriage when a good friend of ours started preaching at a Lutheran church right down the street. Our 4th year of marriage we moved.
Just recently (as in, we've been twice), we started going to a Methodist church. If you couldn't tell, I have no idea what denomination I am. Catholic, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Methodist...seems I'm trying a little bit of everything. I can't rattle off bible verses or recite all the prayers from memory. I don't belong to a bible study or go to a specific Sunday school class. So how do I bring faith to my life?
At my old job, I would often have to cover for a coworker (or five) while she was out of the office. She would have these daily emails in her inbox from the Christian Working Woman. For a long time I would just delete them and move on. That job became increasingly stressful and one day before I even realized what I was doing, I had read the email instead of deleting it. It was so encouraging, like He knew exactly what I needed to hear that day. It gave me hope to get through the day. I decided to sign up for the daily email myself. I don't always read them everyday, but I try to. It helps keep everything in perspective right when I want to fuss about a customer or coworker.
She Reads Truth is another daily reading. With the ease of technology, I just downloaded the YouVersion bible app on my phone, search for the current She Reads Truth plan, and follow along. I can go back to their blog and discuss with others, or even talk about it on twitter with the hashtag #shereadstruth. Again, I have fallen off the bandwagon with this one plenty of times, but I know I can keep trying and that's all that matters.
A little while back I posted 30 things before 30. While some are frivolous (like get my second holes pierced), there are three important ones that I'm working on as well.
#7. Read the bible
#15. Find a church we love
#21. Start a prayer journal
How do you bring faith to life?
I am so excited to read this. It shows me one major thing. God is clearly after your heart and you are after His. Don't give up. Keep pursuing Him and you will find the right fit. I've never been a denomination. I am proud follow of Jesus Christ - a Christian not by our culture's terms but shooting for how Christ designed it. One that serves the poor, loves his people unconditionally, forgives, does not judge, etc. I am far from perfect but I just want to be like Him and shine His light so far. I am so proud of you for risking so much and pushing through awkward moments to find truth.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Courtney, I was raised southern Baptist, but after long talks about faith and what it really means to be a follower with my husband, my mind changed. I don't have to align with a specific denomination, I just have to follow His word and live by the example he set. Courtney definitely says it best, but I just wanted you to know I feel the same way. Thank you for being so honest and sharing your heart. I'm a huge fan of She Reads Truth, too!
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