Personal Narrative: Growing Up In A Christian Home

Since I was a child, I loved making friends. Whenever I saw someone new, I would run up to them and immediately become best friends with them. As I grew up, I recall some occasions when I felt left out. I remember being so sad that they wouldn't include me. From that day on, I made a commitment to make everyone feel involved because that feeling of being left out was one of the worst feelings a young boy/girl could ever have.

Today was a boring and very uncomfortable day for me. Everyone know my last day here at Grace Christian Center is tomorrow so everyone is telling me that they’re sorry that I’m leaving. I’m not sure if its true or not , but its nice to hear. When I walked through the doors of GCC I went straight back to my seat and started cleaning out my desk. I don’t have much in there but I want to make sure that I leave it in better shape than when I got it. Just because I’m leaving doesn’t mean that I have to leave my work area cluttered. After cleaning up my area I decided that I was going to go downstairs to eat lunch with the rest of the staff member, which was odd because that’s something that I normally run away from. Me and the staff ate

Walking through the forest, a lone owl hoots at my presence. There are thousands of creatures accompanying me in this dense wood, yet my eyes catch only this owl. The leaves crunch under my feet; the predators and the prey of the forest watch in curiosity as this strange intruder stamps across their land. I know they’re there, somewhere, yet they stay shrouded in their leafy homes. It was in that moment that I found what fascinates me the most: why am I here among these creatures? It wasn’t a feeling of alienation, rather, a lack of understanding for the purpose of our existence.

I am an atheist, but it wasn't always that way. My entire life there was a constant pressure on me to accept that there was a supreme being that created all. Even at a young age I couldn’t bring myself to fully believe this. I continued grasping for straws because, just like every other religious person, I was scared of the “consequences” that would come with not believing. My Non-Denominational Christian Church promoted telling this to everyone, even children.

I became a Christian in 1982 while in high school. I had never attended church prior to Easter 1982. I found something interesting in the whole of the service and decided to read a Bible. The Bible made some sense to me. I had a few questions about some of the stuff that had happened and was given Evidence that Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell. Well that answered most of my questions. I was also given Mere Christianity which answered more questions. I felt convicted by the Holy Spirit and asked G-d to come into my life and forgive me of my sins.

Growing up going to a Catholic school and being a part of the Catholic faith my entire life has undoubtedly shaped me to the person that I am today. I have always done service without hesitation because it is just part of who I am and what I have been taught to do throughout the years. Throughout the years I have been apart of many different service organizations and projects. Some examples oh the community service I have been apart of would include Luke 18, Vacation Bible School, PSR teacher assistant, and School events that require student aid. The total amount of service hours I have on record with St. Dominic is one hundred and five hours as of Junior year.

poverty and I assumed that it only really existed in other far away countries. Everyone

Over the past several years I have had a series of dreams that seem to carry the same theme and very similar settings. These visions are glimpses into the work which, I feel, God has called me. In one of the visions I was walking up flights of stairs and meeting a woman or a group of women on every landing. Each landing was designed to portray the state or the plight of the woman. These ladies came from every walk of life imaginable, some were rich, some poor, homeless, sick, and of different races, cultures, and religions, some had children, and some did not. I found myself listening to their stories, very intimate details of their lives. A couple of them gave their names, most didn’t. They had a level of trust in me that I could not understand.

I had the opportunity to interview Andrea Kier who is the Children’s Pastor at Manor Church. She has been working there for five years. Previously she worked as a Children’s Pastor at a Korean-American church in Chicago. She is very passionate about children’s ministry and about equipping parents to be the prime spiritual influencer in a child’s life.

It was the Spring of my 8th grade year, and while most kids in my grade would consider Algebra as something they learned, I got to learn a life lesson about self-control. I was attending a private Christian school that year, and had been there since 4th grade. I had a few close friends, but also made a few enemies. I had a real issue with one student named Ethan and he would consistently get under my skin every chance he had by saying negative comments or making jokes about me. Instead of seeking help from teachers, I would just try to forget about it and move on. But every negative comment and joke they made really did get to me. During middle school I often dealt with anger and insecurity. Eventually all of these comments built up in me

On Sunday, November 2 at 10:00am, I attended Shepherd’s Community Methodist church in Lakeland, Florida. It had been several weeks since I had attended church and I was looking forward to worshiping and learning from the message that would be delivered by the pastor. At a United Methodist Church the first Sunday is “Communion Sunday” and I was excited to take part in the sacrament of Holy Communion at the service. Pastor Mark Reynolds was the pastor that delivered the sermon titled “The Best Investment”.

On March 27th, 1997, I was born. I was baptized on June 24, 1997, at Holy Face. Growing up, my family were strong believers in the Catholic faith. My sisters and I attended Catholic school from Kindergarten through 12th grade. We attended Mass every week, biweekly while we were at St. John's. My parents raised us as Catholics, with God at the center of everything that we did.

Ethics are what I believe are the foundations of human life. These principles guide us as we grow into adults and throughout the course of our lives. I personally believe that in general, everyone was born with the will to be and do good. No one is born to hate or do evil upon themselves or others. I believe they are taught that and grew up around instances that had influenced them.

Since I was born I was raised in the United Methodist church. I was baptized before I could walk and I attended church every Sunday. Looking back, I can not think of a time where I was not acutely aware of the Holy Spirit's presence within my life. The primary thing that has probably held me back was me taking this for granted. My primary source of growth for this time was that I nurtured a good prayer life and had many excellent spiritual mentors over the years. I grew up in a Christian household and worked part time at camp Loucon since I was 16. I have had my share of doubts and struggles in this time, the primary one being my father having a stroke. This tested my faith greatly, as he is still alive, but I have to watch him struggle to

And, that knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we first believed. Romans 13:11