Take You To Church

My biological father was a Baptist but he practiced Catholicism. My biological mother was raised Catholic but dabbled in other faiths. One of my other moms (more on this later) prays, lights candles and has a deep faith, but she also didn’t go to church regularly. Me? I was baptized as a baby and raised Catholic, but I didn’t go to church regularly and I didn’t make all of my sacraments. I guess you could say that I always believed in the idea of a higher power, however, none of the religions or faiths I had exposure to, ever stuck with me. When I made the decision to attend a private Christian college, I didn’t know what to expect. Honestly, I wasn’t attending because of religion (it was a part of the curriculum, though), I was impressed by their environmental studies program, the student body, and the beautiful campus. I was going to attend class, work, live in a dorm, and be free for the first time in my life. I had my path planned out. What I didn’t expect? To discover God and fall in love with faith. Enter New Life Covenant church. I found Pastor Choco and his profound book “Amazing Faith” — both had a huge effect on me. I started attending services on Sundays. I kept it secret for a long time. I don’t know why I didn’t share it with anyone, maybe at that time, it was something I needed just for me. I still don’t know. When I attended service, I felt peace, I felt safe, I felt this incredible call to serve. I was in awe of the inclusivity of the church, the programs so powerful and full of teachings, bible verses, and beautiful music which touched my soul. I felt like I was home.

I eventually shared my newfound spirituality with one of my moms. I invited her to attend service with me and she did. At the time, the new church was being built and services were temporarily held in a local high school. We sat in the upper rafters and during service, I saw she was sobbing. I didn’t know why and I thought maybe she was overwhelmed. She was sobbing because when she saw me lift my hands in prayer and sing... she knew I found a piece of myself that needed awakening. She was overwhelmed with gratitude that I took her to church and shared this part of myself with her.

When we find joy in places we never thought we would, we should share it. Share it with the people we love. Be vulnerable and show another dimension of ourselves. Sometimes when we open up and invite others in, we also awaken parts of ourselves that we didn’t know existed.