Darbi's Journey

All around the world people have different clubs, groups and different organizations that there a part of that can make them who they are. The subculture that I decided to write about is Christianity. The main focus of this ethnography is to show people what Christianity is and to learn about the culture. Some characteristics of Christianity are faithfulness, kind, peace, honest, generous and loving. On Sunday March 6, 2016 I had the pleasure of interviewing someone from New Spirit Revival church she doesn’t have a role or position because she just joined a month ago, but she was thinking about joining choir, besides going to church every Sunday she has a husband and one child and she’s also a kindergarten teacher at Oliver hazard Perry elementary

I have struggled with things I didn’t know how to overcome and had to leave in the hands of God. I had to put my trust in God when my great aunt had to have emergency surgery. She is ninety years old and the doctors didn’t think she would be strong enough to recover, but she recovered faster than they would expect a heathy, young person to.

I had lost a group of friends who I grew very close to seeing as they looked at me in a different aspect. "She's going to judge us" , "She's too good for us now", "I don't want to sit with someone who's going to preach to me" , these were all phrases that got passed around the tiny halls of my middle school after I had committed my life to Christ. My "social life" had digressed and people didn't want to be around me, but that's the moment I came to a realization. I was looking for love somewhere there wasn't any, I had put my foot in a path that was dry on appreciation where I had thought there was plenty, and the heartbreak I had taken from the loss of three great friends had got healed by one awesome Father. There are some worldy heartbreaks when accepting Christ, but they become heavenly appreciations after you realize why the Lord has detached you from

Darbi and I have just started getting comfortable with one another, it is our fourth week of school and so far we have hit it off pretty well. The only problem is our religious views. She is a political science major with a minor in journalism and another minor in law. She claims to be an avid atheist and she has a passion for debate. I, on the other hand, am a Global Studies major who has been a Christian since I was four. I have found that she really enjoys debating my theology, yet, it almost seems as if she knows very little of what a Christian actually represents. I have found that she tries to keep her home life private but through small fragments of conversation, I have pieced some of it together. She told me that she grew up in a one-parent household which left her mother with a lot of stress. In turn, I believe this put quite a bit of responsibility on Darbi herself. Her

Fast forward to my senior year. The summer going to into my senior year I found out my step dad had lung cancer. It hit him quick too. By september he had lost so much weight and did not look like himself. In september they gave him a month to live so his last wish was to marry my mom. They got married in October then a week later he died. It was tough because he was on hospice so I was home when he passed away. I did not cry though when he died. It was jjst not real to me for him to die so soon. I cried at the funeral and then I went into my quiet mode and avoided my feelings. I questioned a lot in my life and thought about the direction my life was going. I became jealous of everyones life around me because it seem like their life was better than mine. “will he satisfy my hungrer.” or will He bless others and leave me empty.”(Pg.48) I felt like I was living a good life and doing what I was told. “Is God good, or will He leave me in isolation? Will He offer His presence to others and leave me alone.”(Pg. 49) I eventually got the courage to sit down in my quiet place and cry out to God. It was probably the best

My belief (or disbelief) in God must be understood backwards, so I shall start from the beginning. From birth, my relationship with God was set in stone. Being raised in a moderately strong, Catholic family, and going to a Catholic pre-school and middle school, I had basically inherited my love for God from my parents, and they from theirs. I was taught in school and by my family that God should be at the center of everything. That God loves us more than us mere mortals can ever imagine, and that it is our sole duty to love him the best we can in return. This was so easy for me at a young age because my relationship with God was so unspoiled. It was not hard for me to love God when He had not thrown any real hardships my way. I had been brought up believing in a perfect God. One who was “all loving”, “all knowing”, and “ever-present”, and because of this, I believed my relationship with Him to be invincible. But I was wrong. The day my parents divorced, was the day my inherently perfect relationship with God was ruined. The first traumatic experience in my life sent me on a whirlwind that caused me to doubt all the love that God had supposedly had for me; the love that I so foolishly believed in.

My Christian upbringing has enabled me to learn and embrace God’s love in my life. I know and believe that God exists and has good plans for his children (us). I also believe that I am God’s child and He is always there to assist me and comfort me whenever I need Him. All I must do is call on him. Being brought up in a Christian family, I practice prayer and read the Holy Bible for guidance. I believe that doing this has brought me closer to God and has made me have undoubted faith in God. My faith in God has allowed me to experience the

When I was really young, probably 5 or 6, I always looked to God for help. My mom took me to church a couple of times and that was enough to get the ball rolling. My mother had a drug addiction problem and even though I was still in my first years of school, I felt responsible. I prayed that I would be a good boy and do anything to be with my mom when I was in Child Protective Services, even though I wasn’t sure who I was praying to or what prayer even was. Yet, I now know that The Holy Spirit guided me every step of my journey.

Not only do the positive or neutral experiences in our lives build our character, but the forces in this world that stand to demoralize or threaten us also hold a place in our hearts. These negative forces can bring about shame, depression, anxiety, and other mental burdens that are normally avoided at all costs. I grew up a Christian but truly found God in the seventh grade. This marked a monumental swing in how I viewed myself, the world and those around me. My choice to follow Christ brought persecution into my life, but that opposition was met with strength and perseverance from my faith. I had to leave behind some of my friends that I no longer felt comfortable spending time with, but those friends were replaced by incredible people who wanted nothing more than to see me prosper. Whenever I was met with opposition from those who would try to bring me down, I had reassurance that those who struggle are also those who are blessed. Middle school was a difficult season in my life, but I have no regrets because it built into who I am four years later.

I found myself beating myself up and hurting relationships if I failed because it was a letdown. I was baptized at the age of 14 and was trying to live a Godly life, but the Baptist Church that I was a part of was a little….backwards, racist, and stuck in the 1960s! In 1994, I attempted to get my Associates Degree, but I was working 2 jobs and didn’t have my education as a priority- which was partying and hanging out, so I dropped out of school. My mother, God bless her, didn’t give up on me. I eventually went back to school in a vocational computer program and I did much better. I was working only one job and going to different churches trying to find a bible believing church; which is harder than it sounds. In 1996, I started working for the State of Florida (this past August makes 20 years invested)! I had backslid and was not living a Christian life. One night, I decided to stay out all night and became extremely ill; I thought I was going to die. It turned out that it was a gastric disorder and in the process, the physicians discovered my heart was five times the normal size! The diagnosis, atrial defect; which is where you have a hole in your

Nicole is a 21 year old female, who grew up in the church all of her life. Her parents held very traditional views, which was reflected in her upbringing. She was dedicated as a baby, she attended church every Sunday, was baptized at the early age of seven years old, and accepted Christ as the head of her life and the foundation of her existence. She was active in the church very early on, participating in Sunday school, the usher board, and singing in the youth choir. Even so, Nicole’s spiritual journey has not been smooth sailing as she has encountered many detours along the way. Oftentimes turning to secular behaviors and activities, seeking self-gratification, not attending church for years at a time, and ultimately becoming a single unwed mother. Through it all, the highs and the lows, Nicole is still a devout Christian; on a journey to rededicate her life to Christ, removing unhealthy people and situations from her life, focusing on God, and fully going after the life that God intended for her.

For my Religious Experience Paper I decided to discuss similarities and differences with a neighbor of mine. Her name is Ruby and she is a practicing religious person. Our children play together all the time and she is one of the few people I trust with them. She has encouraged me to keep going and is extremely supportive. Her childhood was very traditional. Her dad worked and took care of everything exterior to the home including garbage, mowing, tree trimming, etc. Her mom stayed home and had a daily schedule of what she took care of (laundry, folding clothes, dusting, vacuuming, etc.). She made dinner every night except Friday and Saturday nights when they would go out to eat. Her parents have been together since her mom was 14 and her dad

At a church retreat I attended a few years ago, a guest speaker lamented what a pity it was that as people get older, they question God. I tried to alter my worldview to fit the speaker’s agenda after I heard the sermon. I felt guilty for not fully accepting God as I once had. Therefore, I tried to believe in God like

My relationship with God has been the same all my life. My family and extended family are religious, I went to mass every week, and I went to Sunday school as a child. I've alway been felt pressured to believe in God because I did not want to upset my family. Even though I went to a public school where God was only brought up in history class, I still had a relationship from God. I rarely pray to him for support and help, but I still free a connection to him. I feel like I have an ok relationship with God, but in a lot of points in my life I don't feel close to him. I just don't see how God helps me in life and I truly don't understand the reason behind why I'm going to mass every week. The only thing that comforts me is that he is always there for you when no one else is, and the thought of life after death. I never take anything

My personal experience of God is based on my life experiences and a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I have experienced God’s presence in my life and I have felt the Holy Spirit guiding me. I first felt God’s call as a teenager and prayed that one day I would become a pastor. But my new Christian faith was not strong enough and I soon succumbed to the desires of this world. I refused to recognize God’s call and it took decades for God’s prevenient grace to bring me back into fellowship with God’s Son. More than a decade ago I felt God’s call again but this time in a completely different way. This time my faith was strong and I had that personal relationship with God’s Son. During my Emmaus Pilgrim Walk in 2007 my teenage prayers came back to me. Calmness overcame me like none I had ever experienced and for the first time in my life I knew that God had set me aside for this purpose. I felt God’s call in a way I had never felt before and I knew that the Spirit had been preparing me all these years to become a pastor. I realize now that God saw me as I could be, not what I was at that time! God never gave up on me and I now believe that God answered my prayers so that everyone else would know that only God could have changed my heart and the direction of my life.