Statement of Faith

As a little girl I went to church. It was there at church that I learned Bible stories and memorized Bible verses. We had Sunday school in the morning before services, a class based on age in the evening, and during summers there were Bible Schools. But although I learned about the Bible during these times, I learned to know God through other means. As the daughter of a schizophrenic mother and a father with a hot temper, there were many times my life was seemingly turned upside down. Times that for a child were very devastating, but through it all I recall a friend who was always there. Now some people might think this friend was just a child’s imaginary playmate, not real, because no one could see him or touch him. Yet I have always known otherwise and never once I have I ever doubted the existence of God. At night, as I would lay in my bed alone and crying I would pray to him. In fields he walked beside me, as I searched for Indian arrowheads on the ground, and as I would sit alongside the Stillwater River, I would speak to him. I could have been born anywhere on this planet, could have been left on the streets alone to fend for myself, could have been handicapped, or maybe I could have been starving in a distant land like Ethiopia, but I wasn’t – and that tells me that I had someone watching over me, someone who cared enough about me to put me in the life I now have. My life wasn’t always easy. Although I grew up in the 70's we had no indoor plumbing (used what they call a chamber pot), no hot water (washed in basins), hand me down clothes, and there were times when I was petrified that my mom would freak out and do something weird. I always feared my dad would just get fed up and leave us, or that his hot temper would cause him to do something rash, but for everything I went through a lesson was taught. I truly believe that in the end I am stronger for the trials and much more “faithful.” God kept our family together, he taught us humility through poverty, yet we never felt poor. He gave me the empathic ability to see other’s pain and to know that “everyone has their crosses to bear.” Also, no matter how hard you may have it – there is ALWAYS someone else who has it worse. Today, I feel blessed by God’s love and guidance. If I could go back in my own history I would not change a thing. All those experiences made me who I am today. They brought me closer to God. My parents, they are gone now. Mom was lost to lymphoma and six months later we laid dad to rest. They were excellent parents, doing the best they could, with what they knew and what they had. It upsets me to think that people today seem so ungrateful, especially in the wealthier countries. They say they base their government on God and his teachings (Christian, Jew, Moslem, Buddhist, etc…), but I have never known God to teach hatred and war…and it is not the teachings of God to keep taking from the poor in order for the wealthy to get even richer, nor to condemn a person because of the color of their skin,…..I often wonder – if God returned today to this world what would he say? What would he do? Jesus Christ would have been of Middle Eastern decent. He would not have spoke English, nor would his skin have been white. He did not lead a life of the wealthy – he actually threw the moneychangers out of his temple in disgust.


Please let me know your views.....................