Asking?frightening?questions within a safe environment During this time I was very involved in a the?Christian?student organization called Ichtus. This was an incredibly enriching experience for me! I met intelligent people who dared to ask questions. I was allowed to doubt, pull out all the stops and I strayed further and further away from the person who I had been and what I had believed. This would have been much more frightening if I had had to do this on my own. I am so thankful to Ichtus that I was able to do it there. Without being cut of, but still part of the group. Searching for Eva
In that time, a good friend of mine died in a car accident. She was someone I looked up to very much: passionate about her faith,?enthusiastic?about God, very convinced! When she died, I was crushed and by absorbing myself in God and faith, I tried to come closer to her. I tried to savor who she had been, and thought that since she was with God now, she was still ‘accessible’ in one way or another. Later on I realized this was part of my grief process and I ended up […]
Sara is my sister(-in-law). She was raised Christian, but a few years ago she faced the fact that she no longer believed. I asked her to write her story down to see the other side…when the story doesn’t go like you think it will. I wanted to hear how she had gotten to this point. How she had faced her doubts and what she did with them.
Ex-christian. A terrible word, but that’s what I am. Naomi asked me to write down how I came to this point. It’s turned into a long story. I tried to keep it short, but it stays quite long anyway because I want anybody reading this to be able to follow the whole process. I don’t want to make all too big jumps.
Normal doubts and questions
As a teenager, I very naturally had my doubts. Do I want this life, as a Christian, where I will never be like my classmates? Do I want to be the outcast that believes in God? I doubted because of my?gigantic?need to be liked. To be like everybody else. Besides that, I also had?substantial?questions, the typical ones like: “How can God be […]
You can read part 1 of Sara’s story here
Around my 16th birthday I glided into a depression as a result of emotional abuse. This time was unbelievably dark and hopeless. It is strange to think how sickness can alter a person. My parents and sister were at an utter loss what to do. How do you relate to a child/sister who does not see even a glimmer of hope and who doesn’t seem to appreciate your help or your presence?
Although I was surrounded by people who loved me and who would have a really hard time if I were not to be here anymore, it got more and more difficult to get through the next day. Sometimes people say ‘Committing suicide is so selfish!”. And I have to admit I used to think the same way.
But isn’t it terribly harrowing that people sometimes just can’t face life anymore, in spite of the presence of family and loving friends, and that their help and support doesn’t even soften the pain?
The fact that sometimes, people don’t see a way out anymore, sometimes because of depression, and decide to take their own life…
I have been on […]
Bethany Grizzard : Imago Dei. Jesus Follower. Dreamer. Beat Photographer. Avid Reader. Adventure seeker. Travel junkie. Art lover. Advocate for justice. Lover of people. You can visit her at duoimagery.com
I starting knowing Jesus when I was really young. Both my parents are passionate Jesus followers and as their greatest gift to their children, they introduced him to us. It was subtle and sweet, just what a child would be able to understand, and by the time I was only six years old I discovered that I wanted him to be my friend. It was at Christmas time, and we were celebrating advent. We would light a candle and read part of a story, talking about what Jesus went through to rescue us.
?I remember it so clearly. I was taking a shower and about to jump into my snuggly Christmas pj?s when I realized I wanted to tell Jesus he can live inside of me. I came out and told my parents and they helped me ask him to, and I know from that moment he did.
Being so little, my relationship came in stages, but I?m glad it did. You never get to really know someone […]
Every time I open my bible, which I try to do daily, I see this note:
It’s a message my grandparents gave me along with the bible. They sent this bible to me when I was baptized. We were living in Minnesota at the time, so they couldn’t be there.
They wrapped it up and taped a note to it and sent it over. But I loved it so much, and I wanted to be reminded of who I got it from and see the precious message inside each and every time I open my bible, I glued it in.
For those of you who can’t read Dutch, I shall very kindly translate:
“Congratulations to Naomi with her baptism. May this Bible be a daily reminder of your grandpa and grandma in Belgium who love you very much”
My grandparents don’t believe what I believe. But they support me in believing it and hope my bible is a daily reminder of them. There have been times where it was the only reason I did open my bible.
And even now, although I open it to meet my Father, ?and hear His […]
Happy to introduce Becky. She has a passion for God , love for people ?and vision for Belgium . She works part-time for the Christian youth organization?BREEZE.be?and studies communication at the university of Leuven.
I would almost start by saying that my story is not really that special. But then I stop. A meeting with Jesus that isn’t special, isn’t that impossible?
Like so many, I was raised in a Christian home. I am so grateful to my parents for the special way in which they gave me clear limits and still allowed me so much freedom. I have never felt boxed up in the little Christian world. The opposite, in fact. It has been the place where I have found myself and now, I see it was not really me but mostly God through me.
I could tell you about dozens of camps, weekends and youth nights that I went too. And undoubtedly, they all helped build me into the person I am right now and the ideas (or theology, if you will) I have right now. On one of those, I raised my hands and prayed the prayer to let Jesus into my […]
Linking up with Lisajobaker.com to write for five minutes on the word ‘Ordinary’. No editing or over-thinking.
Go.
I have done my quiet time ever since I can remember. It’s one of my parents’ wonderful gifts to me. It’s a given to have time with God each day.
Because I’ve always done it, though, it is a given. It was a requirement, one of the rules you follow to be a good Christian. And it took me a while to make it my own, instead of doing it just because my parents told me to. I would feel guilty for not hearing God’s voice, for not being inspired every time. That made me a bad Christian.
But you know something wonderful??It didn’t make me a bad Christian. It made quite ?time normal and good and human. It gave me perseverance.
Just like you say ‘in good and in bad days’ in your wedding vows, so it is with God. You keep on meeting Him in moments where you are tired because your baby kept you up all night and in moments where you feel super inspired and energetic. God meets you either way.
I […]
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