Religious Autobiography

I am Thomas Wayne Rice, Christ follower, senior, camp counselor. I first started following Christ in the 1st grade, I had always know of Christ, I was raised in church, but half way through my 10th grade year I learned what it meant to actually have a relationship with Jesus. That is when it all changed for me I stopped living my life for myself and began a new life. This is the story of my salvation and where God is leading me.

Thank you for sharing your reflection. I did take a different look at my spiritual autobiography. When I think of my living, I have always seen my entire life as my spiritual life. Though I do recognize that when many ask about one's spiritual life, they are asking about those things associated with church life or the maturation of a relationship with Christ and not the temporal experience of life. However, I do not see the difference. If there is one God, "who is over all and in all and living through all" (Ephesians 4:6 NLV), then God permeates all aspects of our lives.

To say my faith life has been completely revamped in the last year would be an understatement. I had views and ideas about faith that seem somewhat vile to me know with the experiences I’ve had. From just lectures to the retreats my spiritual side has gone from that of a holiday catholic to a Campus Ministry Student. From little things to big ethic topics I’ve changed in a multitude of ways, my Spiritual Autobiography looks like looks like someone else wrote it compared to any year before it. I think faith is one of the most important aspects of our life and it took me until last year to realize it.

I was a Christian, but I would tell myself I was not nearly as strong in my faith as some other people on the mission trip were. I had shut God out of life for an entire year and wasn’t sure if I’d get him back. However, I found out that all you have to do is say yes to God’s plans and He will take care of the rest, no matter how inexperienced, unequipped, or unprepared you think you are. Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “To be yourself in a world that is trying to make you something else is a great accomplishment.” That quote I have lived by. I use to give in to society and be someone I knew I wasn’t. I now know I am that happy and bubbly girl that has the most contagious smile. I know I am a girl who lends a helping hand to those who need it most. I know I am a girl who has future goals and accomplishments. I want to stay close with God and continue to pursue a career as a psychiatric nurse, and alcoholic dependency counselor. I want to be able to save lives that are worth living for, something that I didn’t have. Though my life has been no were near perfect, I was still able to find out who I

Religious/Spiritual Identity(R): On any given day my own religious/spiritual identity hovers somewhere between atheist and agnostic. However, I was baptized and raised Catholic for the first eight years of my life and I went to church and Sunday school weekly. I made my first confession and communion through this church. When I was a little bit older my Mom decided to start taking us to a Presbyterian church. We went to this church less frequently than we used to go to the Catholic one, but my sister and I still attended a children’s bible study on Wednesday nights and went to services on Sundays with our mom. In addition to these religions, I am also fairly aware of how the Southern Baptist churches operate. In other words, I am familiar with

it was late, and my ears were still ringing from the scream-fest my mother decided to have with my dad.

profession of faith in Jesus Christ. I was about six years old, but I believe

I find religion redundant and superfluous. Inevitably, my parent's Mexican and catholic values have contaminated me. While attending church every Sunday is not on my to-do list, I do believe in miracles. I do not pursue a religion, but miracles are real. I know this because I am one. My predators are not bullies or drugs. Instead, my predator is hardship itself. I’ve shaken the hand of death and prejudice, but I yet haven't shaken the hand of my college professor.

I was born August 24th, 2001. I learned how to walk around 1 and a half. I started talking a lot around two. When I was 3 through 4 years old when my family and I would go camping I would always wonder off and explore with them I was a adventures child. I moved to Hawaii when I was six years old. My dad was deployed into Hawaii when he was in the Army. He was also deployed into Washington when I was 7 I didn’t like it, but it was fun when my Dad wasn’t drunk. When I was seven years old, I discovered video games.I hardly ever went outside to play games. I would just sit there playing games. I would play games all day every day until I was 11. I put on a lot of weight but took it off around age 12 through 13. I scootered a lot when I was 12 through 13.

I’ve always had a very vague understanding and relationship with Catholicism. Growing up, my family never did anything to practice our faith. For example, the only time we would go to church would be for family events like baptisms or funerals. I didn’t think much of it and whether it was good or bad that we didn’t practice. I also never understood why my parents put my sister and I into catholic school instead of public school. Whenever I asked, they would answer with “We went to catholic school so we want you guys to get the same education too.” I would always wonder why I went to a catholic school if my family never did anything to show our faith. Not trying to say that catholic school was bad for me, but shouldn’t kids who practice Catholicism a lot attend the schools.

I study the bible , pray and worship God, it's my favorite thing to do every day,besides teaching everyone I know what I have learned from Gods word. I have two grown daughters from a previous marriage who inspire me always to continue in the word of God. I am blessed to be married for the last 25 yrs.

When I walk into my human geography class every morning, I make sure to say hello to a friend of mine before I sit down. This friend is special to me. To my knowledge, he is the only person in my school who has pronounced as being gay. He stands alone in our school. Only he and a few others in our community have had the courage to stand apart and exclaim that they are interested in the same sex as their own. Just so you know, I am a Christian and I was raised in a loving family with a mother and a father who taught me the ideals of a devout Christian. As a follower of Christ, I am instructed to love my neighbor as myself and I try to live up to that expectation. One social issue that is of most importance to me is the harassment of people from

My family and I were never constantly or overly dedicated participants of religion, but every now and then my mother would take my brother and me to the catholic church on the reservation that we lived on. I was ten or eleven when my mom stopped bringing us, simply because of

Then, the preacher held an altar call. Moved by the Holy Spirit, my hand shot into the air. It was so very sudden, but inside, all I felt was a peace and love like nothing before. Since this moment, I have never been the same. It took something radical to completely change my heart, and since then, I have never looked back.

Both my parents worked extremely hard to allow us to have the amazing lifestyle we have today and to show the amazing things that God has done for us in our lives. For as long as I can remember I was taught the Catholic way from my parents and have been in private catholic school all my life. I learned everyday about God from Pre-k 4 to eighth grade from my old catholic school, St. Bonaventure Catholic School. My parents and my education at St. Bonaventure allowed me to have a stronger connection to God and to have a better understanding of my faith. God was, and still is a major influence in my life, and that's how it was for me at my years at St. Bonaventure Catholic