Spice of Life

 You might think you know what you think about something...until it get's close to home.  About 5-8 years ago I started to question what I had always believed about people who are gay (I had been taught in church that it is a sin).  I had seen more and more hatred, judgment and discrimination of the LGBTQ+ community by many who are "Christian" and it didn't sit right with me.  I started to read books, I asked people I trusted what they thought and I started to wrestle with it on my own.  After a while of this, my cousin randomly texted me that she had been in a relationship with her (female) friend and they later got married.  I was very happy for her.  The further I went on this journey, it started to come down to one question for me: what would my response be if one of my kids were gay? Along this journey I started to hear an author I love speak more and more about her thoughts and opinions.  Jen Hatmaker came out in full support of the LGBTQ+ c...

 I remember when I was in middle school one of the popular songs of the time was "Losing My Religion" by REM...I feel like that is an appropriate title for this blog.  It's no secret that over the last few years I have been on a "deconstruction" journey as far as my beliefs are concerned.  For the first time in my life I felt like it was okay to ask questions, to doubt, to be unsure.  I have never lost my faith in God or my love for Jesus but I have seriously questioned the "religion" I grew up with. In recent weeks I have taken to listening to The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill podcast on my drive to and from work but I'm taking a break because it's really bumming me out.  The more I have read and listened to people evaluate "Evangelicalism" the more disturbed I become.  I definitely grew up in a Christian sub-culture where "secular" music, fantasy books or movies, Halloween (basically anything not overtly Christian) was evil a...