More on my decision

I didn't make it to church this past weekend like I wanted to but I'm ok with that. I've been doing some more thinking and have had some good conversations with 2 of my friends. I told both of them that I've gone pretty much all of my life without being a religious person and that I'm doing just fine without it. They both essentially told me the same thing, but in 2 different ways, that I may think that I'm doing alright without religion, but I just don't see what I'm missing yet.

One of my friends that I talked to (who is also a fellow oily user), related this to people who don't use oils. They think that they are doing perfectly fine in life with oils but then all of a sudden they try them and boom, they work for them and now that person can't imagine life without them. So maybe I just need some sort of experience like that to make me realize that I do need religion in my life.

Part of me still thinks that maybe the reason I'm having these thoughts is because I need to meet some new people and gain some new friends, but I don't know. I recently bought and received a book of Bible stories for kids. It has 2 different levels of reading it. You can read through it and just read the words at the top for younger kids which is a shorter version of the stories. Or you can read the bottoms of the pages as well for older kids. So I'm going to start reading through this book with Big E and just see what information from that she picks up.

Then this summer I'm going to find at least one vacation Bible school for her to attend so she can learn more there. A friend also suggested that I start by asking her simple questions like "Do you know who made the trees, the clouds, etc." And then next Christmas, I will definitely be talking about the true meaning of Christmas with her. I think by then she will be able to understand a little more than she will be able to now.

The main thing that has been going on in my mind is that as long as my kids know right from wrong, I'm happy. The simple lessons like "treat others the way you want to be treated" and saying "please", "thank you", and "your welcome." As long as I raise my kids to be good people, I know I've done my job as a mother. There is a lot of bad in this world and I don't think it is ever going to get better. But I can sleep easy at the end of the day knowing that I taught my kids to do the right things in life. And to me, it doesn't matter if we go to church or not. Just being taught the good values in life is the most important thing.

Here is what I have decided

This post is a follow up to my previous post, A kind of uncomfortable post. So if you haven't read that one yet, read that one first and then come back to read this one.

I texted my hubby while he was away for work last Thursday and told him that I was thinking about maybe checking out a local church with my mom. I told him about the blog post I wrote and wanting to start reading the Bible. I asked what he thought about that and mentioned the fact that we never talked about religion before. I also told him that I was nervous to even bring up the subject because I didn't know what he would think. Well, he said he isn't interested in it at all. And I am totally ok with that. But it got me thinking: why do I all of a sudden have an interest in religion and reading the Bible?

Part of me just wanted to stop having thoughts about religion and just forget about it all. I mean, I'm going to be 28 soon and for the past 12 years or so of my life, I haven't gone to church or read the Bible and I'm doing just fine. It just got me thinking, what am I going to gain by going to church? Well, one thing I'm thinking I could gain is new friends. As I've written about before, I've been struggling with my friendships recently. I was just telling my husband the other day that I actually don'e even know who my friends are anymore. Sure I have some people that I text and talk to on Facebook regularly, but then there's also people that I talk to way less now than I used to. And it's been a while since I've seen a lot of my friends or hungout with them. So maybe by going to church I'll meet some new people and maybe that's just what I need.

So I've decided that I'm going to keep using the Bible app that I found and follow the "Bible in One Year" plan. It's been a bit hard keeping up already but I'm determined to stick with this. I'm going to even try to get a day or 2 ahead every now and then so I can stay on track. Also, next week I'm going to go to a local church with my mom for an event they have for new members. It is a non-denominational church and I think it is going to be a great fit. They have what seems to be a great children's program so I'm excited to learn more about that.

I'm also going to start watching Veggie Tales with Big E and see what she picks up from watching that. I can maybe look into getting some children's books that would introduce her to the idea of God and religion. My aunt suggested finding a vacation Bible school this summer so I'm' definitely looking forward to doing that!

I still don't think the reason I want to jump into this is 100% clear to me yet, but I'm excited to see where this journey will take me! Like I've said many times before, everything happens for  reason so eventually I will find the reason for wanting to pursue these thoughts!

A kind of uncomfortable post...

A few months ago I had started writing a post like this one but then for some reason I just scraped the whole post. I decided to write this post again because it's something I've been thinking about recently. When I was younger I used to go to church and was even part of a youth group at one point. I'm not sure why I ever stopped going to church in the first place. I had never seen myself as a religious person. It's not like I don't believe in God, because I do. I just don't go to church or pray or even read the Bible.

Within the past few months I was around some friends that were talking about God and religion and it just got me thinking about all of this. Yes I've been doing fine going about my life without praying or reading the Bible, but I just have to wonder what I could gain by doing those things. I'm not saying I'm going to go super religious and change every aspect of my life, but it wouldn't hurt to read the Bible.

And that is exactly what I plan on doing. I have the app YouVersion Bible on my phone and I plan on using that app every day. They have all kind of plans to go through and I have chosen the plan called "Bible In One Year 2018". Each day has a devotional to read and then some passages that go along with it.

I'm not exactly sure yet what doing this is going to do for me. I haven't even told my husband how I feel about this. He isn't the religious type either. But a time is going to come when we need to discuss this and figure out how we are going to raise our children in regards to religion. A part of me felt guilty during the holiday season because we didn't talk at all about the real reason for Christmas. I know the story of Christmas (and I'm pretty sure my husband does as well), but like I said, religion just isn't something we talk about. Big E and Little E don't hear about religion from anyone. And I honestly don't know how to introduce them to God or Jesus. Big E got a book at my baby shower called "Sweet Dreams Princess: Bedtime Bible Stories, Devotions, and Prayers". Maybe I just need to start with that. I'll start reading through the book with her and go from there. I'm not sure exactly what she is going to think or be able to understand from it. She actually understands more than I think she does sometimes. So she may surprise me!! And then I think I should see if they have a version of this book for little boys and I can start reading it to him when he is a little older.

Do you have any tips on how to introduce your little ones to God? I think what is making it hard for me is that it's not something that has been naturally in our house from the time our kiddos were born, so it's not just new to them, but new to me as well. I'll take any tips you have!!!