Personal Narrative: Growing Up In A Faith-Based And Christian Home

I grew up in the Christian faith, where at a young age I probably accepted Christ, but it wasn’t until my twelfth birthday when I decided to rededicate my life to Him after a friend wrote in a birthday card, “Remember what Jesus was doing when He was twelve?”

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.

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.

rowing up as a little Christian girl. As a little girl I was ambitious, I was a leader and very outspoken. Growing up shelter is a good and a bad thing. This good Christian girl starting to encounter life experience. Being a teen mother at a such young aged. Not finishing my education. Just not being financially stable to care for a family. Having the fear of the unknown keep's you in those situations.

I was raised in a catholic family. Our parents raised us to believe that the catholic religion was the one and only true religion. We went to church every Sunday and was expected to find a person to marry within our religious beliefs. Which meant finding someone who was already catholic or convert them to Catholicism. As I grow older and started to question some of the catholic beliefs and expectations. So when I found the person I wanted to marry and we had to petition the Catholic Church to see if we could get married. My fiancé was not catholic and had been previously married. Two no no’s within the catholic religion. I couldn’t believe that a questioner was going to decide if I could marry the love of my life. We decided to get

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

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.

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

I grew up in a Fundamentalist Christian home where we were subject to some very strict rules. For example, we were only allowed to have Christian friends and could not date. Interest in science was stifled and I hid books so they would not be thrown away. This environment held me back during my first few years of college as I stepped into what seemed like an alien world.

Since my youth, I had been an active member of a religious tradition that emphasized salvation by works— I grew up in the Catholic Church, but I went only because mom said to. I had more of an agnostic view of God -- I believed in God, but I didn’t try to learn about Jesus. I didn’t know the truth about Him.

I grew up in a conservative Christian family. I was raised going to church every Sunday morning and with a set of core values and opinions, that I did not question, mostly because I was afraid to. Growing up and experiencing the world made me start to see everyone's different stances on different topics, including religion, and I started to wonder if all of my pre-decided beliefs and morals where what I actually believed in. Questioning everything I had ever known was the scariest thing I have ever done, but I am so thankful that I was brave enough to do it because I wouldn't be the person I am today if I hadn't.

I would share what I learned to my family by letting them know about school. My mother plays a big role in helping me out with my daughter when it's time for me to do my school work she takes her for me because with my daughter I can't really just sit and tell her why mama needs to do school work with her being so little. When it comes to work and my boss I would honestly have to do most of my work before the deadlines just because i work full time 12 hour shifts in a factory most the time.So when working I really have to juggle work and school to even out between those hours. When it comes to sharing my learning skills with friends some don't think I learn as much with me doing online classes instead of actually being in the class.

Growing up in a Catholic home, going to a Catholic grade school, and attending Mass every week all resulted in everything being handed to me. Receiving a religious education was a given, and did not truly matter to me. When it came time for high school, I started attending Timberland High School, which was a complete shift. I went from a class of sixty to a class of five hundred and I was in shock. I knew zero people and it was all up to me to make friends and fit in. At first everything was fine, but as the weeks went on I realized that I felt miserable. I remember crying in the bathroom every morning before leaving for school because I was so alone. I told my parents that I wanted to switch schools and they agreed to send me to St. Dominic

Growing up as a Christian, I was always told that we were in the middle of a war, with God on one side, and Satan or the Devil on the other with no middle ground. This, of course, was not an actual war. Yet, during the summer of 2012, I felt as if I was fighting the devil.