PSS: Ya gotta have Faith

The question came from Kim this week… “Tell us about at least 1 religion, other than your own, you respect and why. “

I am going to modify my answer a bit because this is something I have thought a lot about the past couple of years and I have made some changes to my life because of it.

A little background… My dad grew up being Catholic. My mom was Methodist. When they got together, my mom became Catholic. My brother and I were both raised Catholic although when we moved here and my parents got divorced, I was the only one who went to church anymore (and my dad bounced around religions like he did wives… Linda-Mormon, Jolene-Baptist, etc).

When my ex-DH and I got married, religion was a big conflict. His family is LDS and I remember conversations of “if you marry her, you wont be able to go to the temple and be sealed to your family” and whatnot, but he barely graduated seminary and didn’t go on a mission so that wasn’t a big thing to him. There was even a time I was tricked into missionary discussions, but we won’t get into that.

Because I was the church-goer, about 6 months after we had a civil wedding ceremony we had our marriage blessed in the Catholic Church. As we had kids, they were baptized Catholic. He never went to church with me and shortly after, I realized how difficult it was to take 2 little kids to church on your own. One would sit and cry as the other would run up and down the aisle. I told myself I would go back to church when they were older and quit going… then I went through my divorce.

I couldn’t think of a time more than then that I needed to go back to church so we returned for a while. Even though divorce is not a sin in the Catholic Church (being remarried without having it annulled is) I still felt like I wasn’t not wanted or a part of the church anymore. I was going through a difficult time and didn’t feel I had the support I needed… so again, I stopped going.

I had heard good things about the Lutheran faith. They were open to worshipping with divorced people, single people with kids, homosexual people, didn't matter. They just want people to feel welcome and to praise the Lord with them. It didn’t matter what color, race, or history you had.

It just happened that I moved down the street from Ascension Lutheran so I popped in there one Sunday morning to see what it was like. First shock to me was the Pastor was a woman. It took me by surprise, but it was also comforting. Other than that, everything was very similar to what I had been used to my whole life, same songs, same order of things, etc. People have said that Lutherans are like Catholics, just without all the rules.

I took my kids back the next weekend and they LOVED it. They sat through the service, no fussing or complaining. They liked the snack after service and all the activities that went on in Sunday school. It got to the point where they were counting down to when Sunday was so they could go back.

Around Easter, we went through some classes and became part of the Lutheran church. It was the best move I could have made for me and my family. The people at church have been wonderful. They are very welcoming and loving. They have been such a source of strength while we have been going through mom’s cancer.

I respect the Catholic religion, but I have learned from experience that it’s not the place for me anymore. I am glad I have found somewhere I can now call home.