Day 9 - Your beliefs

Wow. Not that this one is a deep topic for first thing in the morning...

Day 9 - Your beliefs

I'll start out by saying that I grew up Roman Catholic. I went to Catholic school from kindergarten through 6th grade, and my family went to mass every Sunday. There is really only one time I remember missing church when I was growing up, and it was one Christmas. I remember my grandmother (my dad's mom) calling, and my dad saying "Don't tell her we didn't go to church!" Haha. My grandparents were pretty devout Catholics.

So I have always believed in God. It was never really something I questioned. I have had questions from time to time about things like the inerrancy of the Bible, or whether Christianity was the one 'true' way to heaven, but I never remember ever questioning whether there was a God.

When Josh and I started dating, he started going to my church with me (still a Catholic church). When we got married and bought our first house, we decided to check into some different churches before settling on someplace to go together. Josh grew up Christian, but he didn't go to church every Sunday like I did. We wanted to find someplace where both of us felt comfortable.

We ended up at First Presbyterian Church in Hernando, Missisippi. And it was definitely God's providence that led us there. The teachings of the Presbyterian church really clicked with both of us, and we both grew in our faith tremendously. Joining that church also started us down the path to Josh changing careers and going to seminary - which is what led us down here to Jackson.

I won't go into lengthy theological details here. The Apostle's Creed is a good summary of my beliefs. And I believe that we are all sinners in need of salvation, that there is nothing any of us can do to earn our way into heaven, and that we are only saved through the grace and forgiveness of Jesus Christ. I don't believe there is any heirarchy of sin, and I believe God loves ALL of us. I believe suffering is part of everyone's life, but that faith can give you the peace and strength to handle any circumstances that you face.

I believe in prayer, and I pray for you - even if you don't know it and even if you don't share my beliefs.