An Apology from a Christian

[ This post was originally written as a Facebook status and grew into something much longer than I intended. I felt the need to share it on my blog, even though I haven’t posted in quite some time. ]

I’m sorry.

To those of you who have been badgered, judged and attacked because of what you do or don’t believe that may be contrary to Christian beliefs by Christians.

To those of you in the church that feel so unloved, unwelcomed, unwanted and unimportant to your church body – like you’re invisible, like you wouldn’t be missed, like you don’t matter, like you have to pretend every second you are around “those people”.

To those of you who have been severely, deeply, unbelievably hurt and scared by the church because of any lies, backstabbing, gossip and hypocrisy – things that made you leave the church because it was so contrary to what they taught, things that made you turn and run because those in leadership treated you poorly and made wrong decisions, things that made you question whether God really was love because of how the people in the church were running things.

Holiday Roadtrip Extravaganza

I’ve been on many a long trip with my family – we would drive from the very tip of Maine (Presque Isle, to be exact) down to Blowing Rock, North Carolina once a year growing up. I’ve made many long trips with choirs over the years in middle school and college bringing me all the way down to Florida and back. I’ve driven myself from here in New Hampshire down to Blowing Rock and back more recently and it was a blast. But I’ve never really done what I would consider a “roadtrip” – stopping at a bunch of different places over a decent span of time with someone else around during the long and short drives… I’ve always wanted to, but never found the time or places to go or someone to go with. But that’s about to change!

This Friday, my wonderful boyfriend Derek and I will start a two week, nearly 4,000 mile roadtrip for the holidays, stopping to see friends and family along the way! The trip idea first came to my head at the end of the summer and when I brought the idea up to Derek, he agreed (probably not really knowing all that he was getting himself into :P). So, the planning began and we began mapping out our route which gradually expanded and shifted and changed to what it is today. The whole trip seemed so far away as I began making preparations, but now there are just three days left until we leave! I’m so excited!

The Absence of Summer 2012

You may (or may not) be wondering why it’s been so long since I’ve posted anything. Because we all know (or at least are about to know) that I love writing and blogging and telling/sharing stories. Well, there’s one word that sums up my absence: SUMMER.

No, I’m not on some kind of school vacation (I graduated from college 3 years ago) or some sort of beach holiday where I spend every free moment at the beach (though I do love the beach). The reality is that summer is not only wedding season, but also SoulFest season, and being involved in these two lovely things tends to take up a fair bit of my time.

Dreams Come True (or Change)

This past week I’ve been hit by how much change one life can go through… Just looking back on my life, I remember so many dreams I had and so many things I knew I didn’t want…

• When I was 4 years old, I wanted to be a ballerina [say what?] and wanted to be wherever my parents were
• When I was 6 years old, I wanted to be a police officer and wanted to move back to North Carolina
• When I was 10 years old, I wanted to be a blue alien named Deena and never wanted to leave northern Maine
• When I was 12 years old, I wanted to be a singer and wanted to move back to northern Maine
• When I was 15 years old, I wanted to be a graphic designer, wanted nothing to do with ministry, didn’t want to go to a Christian college and wanted to get as far away from New England as possible