tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11658365.post8033505543303737216..comments2023-09-24T02:28:39.450-07:00Comments on conversations @ the real zoo: i don't want anybody over for dinnermdwinnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16616801581233886302noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11658365.post-8087363092388208572007-09-08T17:56:00.000-07:002007-09-08T17:56:00.000-07:00Oh... Excellent post. I've been thinking a lot la...Oh... Excellent post. I've been thinking a lot lately about whether my life has gotten better or worse since I pushed the idea of God out of my head... To be honest, it's impossible to say at this point.<BR/><BR/>I miss the comfort of feeling like there was some overriding cosmic justice system that would right all of my wrongs. And I guess I miss thinking that someone hears my prayers at night--even though most are pretty terrible.<BR/><BR/>Your honesty is admirable; I think that, of all things, brutal honesty just may be what makes everything better.<BR/><BR/>Hearing what you're saying,<BR/>MintyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11658365.post-79928978852055340372007-09-05T13:31:00.000-07:002007-09-05T13:31:00.000-07:00I am right here with you. Leaving the church has b...I am right here with you. Leaving the church has been one of the hardest things I have ever encountered. Church was my everything... but that is kind of a wrong way to live isn't it?<BR/><BR/>Shouldn't my God, my spirituality, my beliefs, emotions all make up who I am and be what I consider my "everything." I struggle with the same feelings of being alone in certain situations and experiences in my life.<BR/><BR/>The weirdest thing is... I felt more alone when my everything belonged to the church.<BR/><BR/>I am always here for you. I haven't been through much, and although I am young - we are at similar stages. I am glad to release my identity from work, church, and people around me. I am glad to have started the process of becoming me, myself, and I... but that is what it is... a long, rough process. There is finding, there is losing, and there is winning, but throughout it all we have each other.<BR/><BR/>I love you, Michael and Darla, for always being there for me, loving me, and accepting me for Daniel. Thanks for consistently listening and constantly caring. Your friendship means more to me then you know.<BR/><BR/>Lets do dinner or coffee sometime SOON. We have even more talking and catching up to do.<BR/><BR/>How do you like your soul? Raw, Medium, Medium-Well? Lets go with raw - I am tired of mine been over-cooked to the point of being unrecognizable, and all because of the "church."<BR/><BR/>"Freedom reigns in this place, showers of mercy and grace, falling on every face, there is FREEDOM."<BR/><BR/>:)Daniel Sethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04575439654818726889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11658365.post-17601855211169880292007-09-05T13:24:00.000-07:002007-09-05T13:24:00.000-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Daniel Sethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04575439654818726889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11658365.post-65617135686434990652007-08-22T12:47:00.000-07:002007-08-22T12:47:00.000-07:00amen to goteeman and amen to this post... it is al...amen to goteeman and amen to this post... <BR/><BR/>it is always so good to hear your objectivating thoughts... thank you for sharing.Jacquihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04660795121068347079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11658365.post-68757106222388208462007-08-22T09:19:00.000-07:002007-08-22T09:19:00.000-07:00Michael - great post. I felt much the same at tim...Michael - great post. I felt much the same at times after leaving church... I even called it a "detox"... and it has been a long process. It has also changed the my view of relationships and who my "real friends are". What I have been made most aware of is that living out of who I really am leads me into the right perspectives and relationships. <BR/><BR/>At times, I still fall back into old patterns, but when I do, I am reminded gently, by Dad, of who I am, and I begin to move back into the grace to go forward again. We are blessed to have a Father and Husband who is so good to us, so kind and forgiving, and such an excellent example of what we are and how we should relate to our families as father and husband. At the times I am struggling, I commit to you to remember you and pray for you. <BR/><BR/>Here is what I hear the Lord saying about you today:<BR/>Michael is the man God I made him to be, and he is fully equipped to respond in the love and grace that I have filled him with. His name is "Strength". He is a man among men, and I have made his life and family a testimony to the love and good heart I have placed within him. As he leaps boldly with wreckless abandon into the fullness of My love and peace, all doubt and fear will be utterly eliminated.<BR/><BR/>Blessings!<BR/>JeffGoteeManhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01747967100881479615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11658365.post-24744643648012715272007-08-20T19:39:00.000-07:002007-08-20T19:39:00.000-07:00"love came to dinner". A lovely expression of chur..."love came to dinner". A lovely expression of church. I'm growing disillusioned with church myself...does that always happen to people, I wonder?Annehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11863765417484706397noreply@blogger.com