Thank You.

After having a few days to think about things, I’ve realized that my three-part story morphed into something a little different than I intended it to. It was a lot harsher and more negative, maybe.

I was trying to be brief for my readers’ sake, so I only highlighted the things I thought would be helpful to show a bit of my background. However, I realized how negative sounding it all came out and that I left out much of the very positive foundation of how I became the lady that I am today.

I am incredibly afraid that I broadcasted myself sounding as though I was regretful that I was brought up in a nonreligious home and that I made it seem like that was a detrimental aspect of my life.

I want to say very clearly: It wasn’t.

What I did intend to show by stating those things was that when I did come to know Christ, I just didn’t have considerate knowledge of Him prior to that. While I did grow up in a nonreligious home, my parents were never against me coming into contact with any type of religion. I did attend VBS most summers of my childhood, and I went to a few church services throughout the years with my grandma.

And also I feel like it is important to share that my parents did not really raise us (my brothers and me) to follow any certain views on life, whether that would be creation, evolution, “the big bang theory,” or any other views that are out there.

I’ve learned that what they did intend to do (successfully!) was teach us to discover our own thoughts and beliefs on how the world and its people were created. They did not want to force us to believe what they, or anyone else, believed. They wanted us to figure it out on our own, so that we could think independently about such an important matter that would shape who we are for the rest of our lives.

In all of my previous posts I have ceased to mention how thankful I am that my parents raised me like they did. I have mentioned that for many months I was skeptical of the whole creation story because of my background. I am SO thankful for that! Being skeptical meant that I was weary to just jump right in and believe the first real religious belief that I would encounter. I had the opportunity to dig deeper, open a bible, and really discover who God was before I ever committed my life to what I believe is the ultimate Truth of this universe.

Not only did my parents teach me how to think for myself, but also they are the ones who molded me into who I am today. They are the ones who taught me to have the morals that I have used to shape my life and they are the ones who taught me to live an honest life.

My parents are the ones who taught me what it meant to have a good work ethic and how to provide for myself by encouraging me to work for the things I wanted, rather than to just ask and receive. I am so thankful that I learned at a young age how to be financially responsible and how to work for what I need and want, rather than going into debt and living miserably because of it! They raised me to be independent, which, coming from a girl who got married right out of high school, I assure you has been very helpful in the transition out of high school and into college and the “real world.”

Like I said earlier, my parents gave me the morals that I have today. And while I did have some rebellious years, the ultimate reason that I changed my life at that point was because I couldn’t stand the hurt that I knew I was causing my mom, and I was tired of continuing to lose her trust.

They only ever wanted the best for me, and they knew that meant that I needed to stay out of trouble. At the time (middle school years), it angered me because that often kept me from hanging out with the people I wanted, but once I put those people behind me I realized exactly why my parents were trying to keep me from them. It was done with their best intentions, and who knows what I would be like today if they were careless about what I did or who I hung out with back then..

So ultimately, wanting to gain my mother’s trust back was what originally made me snap out of the inappropriate ways I was acting. It was then, in high school, that I found that great group of role models: Karly Heidemann, Ky’Lee Baumert and Bailey DeKoning. In my first post I didn’t mention their names, but I hold such high views of those amazing girls that I feel they deserve the acknowledgement for also morphing me into who I am. And then, as I mentioned in the second part of my story, after Ryan and I begun dating, we also pushed each other to be a better person.

I could continue on, but I think this is a decent place to end. I just really felt compelled to let everyone know that I am not only very blessed and thankful to have Christ dwelling inside of me now, but also I am so thankful for the way that I was raised. My parents were my main guidance for 18 years and without their love and support, I would not be the person I am today and I cannot even imagine how differently my life would have turned out.

So, mom and dad, THANK YOU. I love you both so much.