Personal Narrative: Growing Up In A Christian Family

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.

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

I used to be very apathetic when it came to my beliefs. I would consider myself to be an atheist. My mom was not very happy about this at first but over time she grew to accept it. One day that all changed. I came home after school and immediately upon entering my house I heard my mother's voice.

When it comes to my religious beliefs, I am Catholic and after taking this class Religious Imagination class with Professor Martin. I can say that I have gained new insight to the different religions that we have learned throughout the course of the class. This class really opened and broadened my perspective on different religions because never experience or even learned about these different religions before taking this class. The specific religions that I have gained insight on were Hinduism, Buddhism and Primal religion. Before taking this class I heard of these religions but I did not actually know what they were. Each Religion that we learned helped me is the amazing ways people believe in God. I found the Primal religion extremely interesting

After writing the personal awareness paper I learned about who I actually am. I also learned more about Gods purpose for me and the path in which is in front of me.

Ever since I was a young girl, I fell as a victim to cyberbullying and hate. It got to the point where someone made a Facebook page labeled as “I hate Sammi Zhao!!!”, which a majority of my friends and fellow peers marked as “Like”. This occurrence, let down and backstabbing of my friends, led me to suicidal thoughts and depression. I was accustomed to the mindset that every person I met would end up leaving me as time passed by. However, I was fortunate enough to find hope in Christianity, the religion that greatly benefited my journey of overcoming my struggle.

Growing up in the Western Christian Church, I always thought that God was a He. A large, white, wrathful, powerful man dressed in white, scepter in hand, and ready to zap anyone who committed an evil deed. God was a man to be appeased. And then a shift came—my later adolescent years were ones where I began to view God as a Father. Kindhearted, open, loving. Ready to pick me up and carry me—His precious child—at any time. And then, this Father also became my King. I, His daughter, a princess whose daddy offered both a dwelling place of safety, but also the spectacular experience of the Divine. As my education continued, my horizons expanded, causing me to ask: God, what if you are a she? A mother—the picture of compassion, love, and nurturance—but

Growing up in a devout Christian family with a father who is an extreme right on the political scale was tough for me. I went to church 3 times a week and when I came home from my private Christian school I was to read the Bible for homework. I felt as if this life was being force upon me and I begged my mother for months if I could go to a public school. My wish was granted and in 8th grade I went to my local public middle school, and I was amazed, completely astounded at what school could be.

I grew up Catholic. My church was very traditional and it was a place of worship. Jesus is still a part of my life. I was baptized, confirmed, and assisted in the music ministry. However, I wasn’t a very good catholic. I do not pay attention in church. Whenever the priest begins his sermon, my mind jumps into another place and time. I half hear what is said and everything is routine. However, the true catholic church like the one in St. John Cantius in Chicago and it was an entire different experience for me. Latin mass was daily and the Cantique de Jean Racine echoes in the chapel as many servers come weaving in and out among the mass. Hundreds of people come to see the mass with the best clothes. It brings my childhood memories of my old church to shame.

Someone’s religious affiliations and backgrounds can be fairly diverse and complicated. My own religious background in Christianity, however, is fairly simple. My parents only played a minor role in my religious practices, but the biggest influence on that would actually be the friends that I have made while here at Iowa State University.

“Are you convinced that allowing God to drive is best? If so, I challenge you to let God

The Catholic church is the one I grew up in. Attending the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has brought a fullness to my soul from the couple times I first went to the mass. I prayed everyday asking Heavenly Father if his plan for me is to be baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. My answer came to me when attending mass with one of the State Conference’s. As simple as I wish it was, challenges have come up ever since I have received this sign. My family tradition of the Catholic religion is causing difficulties in this decision, no matter how I explain why I am making this decision. Plans are changed; now when it will be the time I am of age to make these decisions thoroughly, I will get baptized. Even

As two days ago, I join new office in kunduz one of my neighbors suddenly has seen me in office around and last evening he spread this in area that I am working with Christian people and this guy relatives have link with Taliban and others Group so I see my life in danger in future as regular office attendance ,

Just to give some background, I grew up not in a religious family at all. We went to the kids camps at church to mainly make friends, but when I left for the day that's where it stopped. I also as terrible as it is to admit, have not been to church in a very long time, which I would love to change. My family is Christian, I suppose if you had to put it in a category you would say non-denominational. My husband grew up from a Catholic turned Christian family. I have never experienced going to Catholic mass or any other variation of Christian church in my life. He is from Oklahoma, where chowboy churches are apparently a thing. Being from Indiana, I have personally never heard of this before in my life. So being a believer and wanting to try something new, I took it upon myself to find one we could both enjoy around our house. At first, I thought he was making this up completely, however after running into a few of these churches while driving, I was now interested. We found one called 3C Cowboy Fellowship, that prides itself on getting rid of judgement and just wanting to do what was intended and praise God. Being someone that has not gone to any type of church in awhile, I was skeptical, even though that was their saying that they did not judge. I swallowed my pride and attempted to