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1. List three words that describe your faith.
Deep. Mine. Immovable.
2. Describe one belief about which you are very certain and one belief with which you struggle.
a) Jesus died for my sin, rose from death and ascended to Heaven.
b) Occassionally I find things I might question for a moment, but I can’t say I struggle. I have a genuine peace about them and I know the answers are either not mine to know or will come according to God’s will.
3. What is your mission in life?
To hear and heed God’s direction for my life, whatever, wherever and whenever He calls.
4. Describe one thing that interferes with you authentically living out your faith.
The world who lives without God and seeps into my sphere of influence, and ultimately Satan who will stop at nothing to see me fail.
5. What is your favorite story from the Hebrew Scriptures? Why?
Creation. Beyond all doubt, God’s creation of the earth and all its creatures inspires and thrills me.
“Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, _and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters_ .” (emphasis mine)
6. What is your favorite New Testament story? Why?
Stephen’s story in Acts 6 & 7 gives me such hope for those who have sinned greatly and not yet come to Christ. Stephen’s stoning was a small part in the bigger story of Paul to come later and I love how God used this persecution to shape the great Apostle.
Stephen – “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him.
7. Describe a meaningful action you took because of your faith.
I severed my secular relationships that drew me to drugs and alcohol and moved across the country based on a very specific urging from God to leave the past and start anew in the Midwest where I met my Groom a few weeks later and have pretty much lived happily ever after (in a spiritual sense)! :)
8. Does your faith differ from that of your parents? If so, how?
My parents are atheists for the most part, agnostic on their better days. They raised me to believe I was my own God. The problem with that was that when I succeeded it was all my glory, and worse, when I failed, it was all my fault. To this day they’re baffled that I’ve committed myself so deeply to anything much less any kind of god. Such is my witness.
9. Who or what was most important in the development of your faith.
Experience. Parents can teach a child to live right, but it takes that child making life-changing mistakes to realize the parents were right. God spoke to me for years but it was my own mistakes which taught me about His grace as well as his merciful wrath in letting me suffer my own consequences.
10. Pass it on! Tag at least two other religious/faith bloggers.
I’m tagging: “Nathan](http://sonspring.com and “Mary](http://maryyerkes.com/blog
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Hello Natalie. What are your views on parents who force religion onto their kids? Children sometimes rebel against their parents and choose be atheist. So couldn’t it be argued that kids who have overbearing atheistic parents are more inclined to become religious? What is a person to do?
Thanks!
That’s a great question. In my opinion moderation and consistency are the most important things. You can teach children not to drink alcohol and some will become drunks. The important thing is to teach them without pounding it into them. We try to teach my daughter who Jesus is and how He makes our life wonderful. She sees it in us, and she sees where we fail too. I know someday she’ll have to come to Christ on her own and she’ll probably have to make some of the same mistakes I did. My job is to show her the right way and let her run with it.
As for my parents, I don’t think their beliefs would have made a difference ultimately because my heart longed for my Creator for as long as I can remember, even before they adopted me. I just saw the way they lived, the superficiality, the divorce, that was the witness to me, not their beliefs or what they told me. They taught me by how they lived. I want to do the same for my daughter, but by living according to God’s will to show her how awesome life is when you do.
Hi Natalie. This is my first time to visit your blog. I really appreciate the things you have to say, and I wholeheartedly agree with your latest comment. After having seen a number of “Preachers’ Kids” leave the church, I realized the fine line that exists between “training your child in the way they should go” and shoving them down that path with their arm twisted. If a child isn’t reared to love God for him/herself, they are in trouble…
Keep up the good work in writing, your personal walk and certainly in raising your daughter to do what’s right.
God bless.
Jacob thank you for that affirmation. Although I have a reasonable amount of confidence I think mothers particularly need reassuring when it comes to training their children. It’s a tough and often thankless job, especially in the area of faith where so many >in the World< see it as brainwashing poor defenseless children. ;)