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I grew up a Southern Baptist/Catholic. In the era of my childhood, SB preachers stood on an altar that was raised and screamed and shouted that you needed to repent and accept God into your life. You were going to hell if you didn't shout like they did. Meanwhile, the Catholics have a very different view of God than SB did. The good thing about C though, was the communion wine. I was a very confused child. I am even a very confused adult on occasion. So what does this have to do with other blogs? Read on, because this was just a way to let you know that I don't still don't have many answers, but I do have faith.

I was reading a blog from one of our homeschool moms. She actually is the one that got me interested in having a blog. She has a couple that she does and uses it to keep family and friends up to date with the things that she and her children are doing. I liked the idea very much and have decided to use it as my own.

Her blog was very well written and seemed to be very well thought out. I was very impressed with the style of her blog as well. And what surprised me the most I think was the extent to which she shows her spirituality on the blog. She quoted scripture, used examples, and appears to have given her ideas a lot of thought and consideration. I know she is a Christian, but I was not prepared the outpouring of her faith.

Her blog is extremely faith based. Every one of her entries has scripture in it. Not only does it have scripture, it quotes the verse(s) and offers a little teaching on the verse. I thought that was very interesting. Although she is normally a very quiet person, she isn't on her blog, if you know what I mean. She is very out there with her faith on her blog. It almost scared me a little.

I know for some people, faith is a very personal journey that takes years and years to come to terms with. The seed of my faith was planted many years ago by a very good friend of mine that not only loved Christ but willingly shared that love with others. She was able to see her life, her walk with Christ as a privilege. She loved the life that God had prepared for her. When she passed, although it was a sad day for the many people who loved her, it was a happy day for her. She was able to share the love of Christ with many and let her love show through her words and actions.

Although the seeds of my faith were dormant for many years, it did start to sprout when the man who would be my husband entered my life. Many of you know the story of how we met. For those of you who don't, we met in a bar. We were shooting pool, drinking beer, and getting really, really drunk. I caught him stealing a look down my shirt and asked him if he saw anything he liked. He blushed, poor shy baby, and walked off to the bar. I shouted for him to buy me a drink and he did. And he has ever since.

That was fourteen years ago, and I am still convinced that God brought him into my life. There would be no other way for me to meet him. God presents us with opportunities and we have to decide which path we are going to take. I know I took the right path. Have we always been happy? No, actually we have been on the verge of divorce twice. Not many know that either. But we took a really hard, honest look at our lives at that moment we were in and decided what was going to happen with our family.

We are stronger people for loving each other, our family, and our God. We decided together that what was lacking in our lives was Christ, and the love of God. We decided together to go to church, to find a church family. We decided together to be baptised as a family, and join our church. And it has been the best decision of our life. Our church is struggling right now, financially and spiritually. But all we can do is pray for God's knowing grace. The kids love being there, we love being there, and we have indeed found a family.

But, I digress. This blog was not meant to be a preachathon, but we are all moved in different ways. That's my witnessing for the day. My friends blog started me thinking about my faith, and the faith of my family, and how our lives revolve around that faith. I know some of you have a relationship with God, but you aren't a "practicing Christian". That's fine. And I know that some of you have no relationship with Christ. I hope that one day you do. But I know one thing for sure.

God created us all in his image. I am not one of those Christians who think that if you don't go to my kind of church, act the right way, be like I am, or think the way I do that you can't have that relationship. I do not think that all people who don't know Christ right this instant will go to hell. I think that God gives us a little leeway in our lives. I think He knows when we will come to realize that He is our maker and that Christ is our salvation.

All I ask is that you take a look at your life and decide what is right for your life. Will I still love you if you decide that this is not the road for you? Absolutely! I love you because of you. Sometimes I love you in spite of you. And sometimes I love you in spite of myself.

Have a great day!