My "Conversion" Story

Joy Beyond the Cross had asked for my conversion story so....  Why the quotes in the title?  Because as I was a baptized Christian before coming into the Catholic Church, I don't consider it a conversion.  I look at as a mutual acceptance.  I accepted the Church, they accepted me.  So, please don't get your hopes up about my story as it's not nearly as touching or exciting as others you've read.

I was a Metho.dist and then I attend a Presb.yterian Church in college.  Then after college, I was deeply involved with an Episcop.alian church and then I bounced between the three until I met my husband.  But, I'd briefly toyed with the Orth.odox Church and then met a seminarian right after college who I performed yoga with on the beach and he said since I was going to an Anglican church, I might as well go all the way and be a Catholic.  I didn't really concern me much at that time but I kept it in the back of my mind.

One of the major reasons I pursued my husband (and not just date him for a few months) was that he was a believing Christian.  Where ever you are from, Church-going men might be in abundance but in the big cities where I was living, it was rare.  And they might have some wacky beliefs they stray too much from what I think is basic Christian doctrine.

When we talked about getting married, my husband and I arrived at the decision that I would do the RC.IA class.  At least that's how I remember it.  It was just kind of easy.  I wanted us to worship together and Catholicism wasn't foreign to me and I think it's important to assimilate in marriage.  The latter just always felt like a good marriage principle to me.  Romantic, no but practical, yes.

I was not impressed with the R.CIA class as they seemed to jump to odd topics and never followed a logical program like I was used to in other learning situations.  However, my sponsor was my sweet, special friend Holly and we traveled that journey together and learned a lot about each other.  She is a deeply faithful Catholic with a tremendous amount of love in her heart for all of God's creatures.  Holly's the best!

In short, I'm a Catholic and I appreciate the Church in many ways such as how they support marriage.  As you've read before, I don't believe Church teachings should push into the legal sphere.  I recognize that it's a human organization and people make mistakes and large organizations make big mistakes.

My relationship with Christ is something I'm constantly working on and I take a lot of comfort in knowing that He's in my life and I can depend on him, even though sometimes I don't.  Wow, I'm starting to sound really pedestrian.  Anyhow, that's my story.