Hello to anyone out there reading,
This is not a guide towards the Catholic faith. This is quite simply the ramblings and thoughts of a 21 year old female who is going through RCIA currently. So if something sounds like I said it wrong, tell me, I am learning. If something sounds like I grasped it alright, go ahead and tell me that too...so I know. This blog is more to document my journey into the Catholic faith and to see my understanding level of each thing we learn. Thus, each week I will have a new blog discussing what we talked about in class that week. However, classes started August 14th so I will be playing catch up first. I appreciate your patience with me, for anyone who is reading my posts.
Well this would be all for this post so I am going to go ahead and explain my walk with Christ. When I was a child I was sent from different foster homes with different faith levels, from none to extreme. When I was in these homes some cared for me deeply and others just assumed abuse me. I was adopted in October of 1999 by a single parent mother, although her mother lived with us and did a lot of the child rearing while my mother was at work and on travel. By the time I was adopted my mother was a Lutheran. I was raised in this church for maybe one or two years before we switched to the Baptist church community. I was extremely happy there. We sang, we danced, and truly vocalized our faith in God. I was around age 10 when I went to the ABY (American Baptist Youth) camp. Although I knew a lot about God, thanks to Bible Baseball, this was where I truly found my faith. I learned so much in that weekend. I knew that I had a purpose in life and that God would lead me to it if I just listened to him. I came back from camp and told my pastor that I wanted to be baptized. He ask me many questions about my faith to make sure I was ready. After a few meetings with him I was baptized. When I was a teenager I attended a church retreat called Chrysalis. This was so moving for me. You see although I loved being a baptist I didn't understand why my mother said all these different "jokes" about Catholics to my aunt and uncle (who are Catholics). This was because on this retreat we weren't Baptist women, Catholic women, or any other denomination. We were Christians rejoicing in the love and mercy of Jesus Christ. After leaving there I didn't see the point in the stigma against other Christian faiths. To this day I don't.
When I moved out of my home to go to college I started searching for a church. This was because in my hometown having school friends was okay but not important to me, my church family was. Losing them was devastating. I can't really say I lost them but I moved far enough away it was difficult to drive down just for Sunday School and Service. After seeking a baptist community I was nervous. I couldn't find any church that was truly as accepting and full of faith as my hometown. I joined a Catholic Club on campus that wasn't really denominational although the name was. Then I met my boyfriend, Tomasz. One of the greatest things to me was that he and his family had a strong faith. Although, I was worried because it was that of a Catholic faith. My mom complained about us being together for quite a while because of his religion. I never knew it was such a big deal to people. I had started attending Mass at the church they went to with them at times. I felt so confused and lost though. I also really disliked that I could not partake in communion when I could in my Baptist church. Finally one of his family members recommended I go to RCIA classes to learn more about the Catholic faith, as you DO NOT have to join the church, get baptized, or anything else if you choose not to afterwards. I decided it was worth trying. This was the start to my current journey in the Catholic faith...
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