Saturday, April 5, 2008

the book that is rocking my world

hope and i have been reading the most incredible book over the past week. it's fairly addicting and therefore we are finishing it quite fast. if you are reading this blog, i would STRONGLY encourage you to go out, as soon as possible, and get this book and read it! i am not one to make book suggestions. because let's face it, i dont read alot. but this is one book i absolutely think you need to read, if you haven't already.

i had no idea how informative it would be, but let me just say that this book is officially rocking my world. whether you are straight, gay, christian, non-christian, or whatever, you absolutely have to check this book out.

"What God Has Joined Together? A Christian case for gay marriage" by David G. Myers and Letha Dawson Scanzoni

wow wow and then more wow. holy wow in fact. this book opened my eyes even further to what God thinks about homosexuality. and then God took me a step further: what He thinks about gay marriage. it was amazing to read how every single argument i've ever heard against homosexuality can completely be dealt with and proved wrong. 

i have a newfound confidence and God so affirmed who i am with this book! that's why i want you all to read it. regardless of where you are in life or who you are or Whose you are, check this book out. it's the real deal. tons of evidence and science, coupled with tons of scripture and spirituality.

aside from reading this book, Hope and i have been praying like crazy for our families and friends. i doubt i'll come out anytime soon, so i figured i might as well start praying that God would soften the hearts of my loved ones in the area of homosexuality. 

i am extremely close with my entire family and they would be devastated to hear that i have embraced my gay identity. everyone in my family, everyone in my circle of friends, and i'm fairly sure most people in my church think that homosexuality is a sin. i can't blame them, because i agreed with them for 20 + years. i just pray now that they would be enlightened as i have been. i have such a burning and yearning for my parents to know. especially my father. that would be such an amazing thing to be able to confide in him. he's the kind of guy that would still love me through it, while also praying i would "be convicted of my life of sin." so that would be ridiculously hard. 

i am convinced that the rest of my family would NEVER even remotely consider the possibility that homosexuality is ok with God, barring some unforseen miracle. and i know God is big enough and that nothing is impossible with Him. i have just had such an increasing burden for my family and friends. 

i am so thankful for cecilia's blog (ceciliainthecloset.blogspot.com) because it has so encouraged hope and i. how awesome it was to read how she told her family and no one died from shock. i am praying the same for me, some day in the future.

tonight hope and i will be cuddled up on the couch with the movie "for the Bible tells me so". i've heard a ton of awesome stuff about this movie, so we're so excited to finally be able to watch it and see what it's all about! i'm a little nervous because it's a touchy subject. but i'm ready to see it. i so long for the day when christiandom quits marginalizing GLTB. 

thanks to all of you who have been commenting on my blogs. i seriously can't even begin to tell you all how much that means to me. i really had no clue how to start blogging and i was nervous to bear my soul to complete strangers. but God has amazingly enough used blogging to begin some serious healing and freedom in me. though i am in the closet and hidden from everyone, i feel like i have an on-line community who i can be real with. i love being myself with you all. thank you for not judging me. thank you for accepting me, but not only that, thank you for going above and beyond and actually encouraging and affirming my faith and sexual orientation. 

i'm getting better and better about admitting who i really am: a daughter of the Most High God who is gay. wow. 

more to come in the upcoming blogs: my favorite snippets from the book i was telling you about; my response to the movie i'll be watching tonight, and also the heart break i felt from hearing a sermon about lying and deceiving. more later... must go watch movie now...

3 comments:

daisy said...

Your blog, and many other I read, simply confirm for me what I have always somehow known to be true: we as the Christian community are WRONG to judge our brothers and sisters who are GLBT.

I have not been able to express a reason for this certainty, but I'm so glad to find people who are bold enough to be the frontrunners in this quest for acceptance and equality.

Thank you for blogging. I look forward to more of your thoughts.

Joan K said...

I've enjoyed reading what you've written. I am a former nun, now an out lesbian, married in Massachusetts (to my wife) and an Episcopalian.

I'm glad to see you've found someone special and that you've intigrated your sexuality and your faith. It is a process and takes time.

I'll look for the book you mentioned.

I look forward to reading more of your blog. May God continue to Bless you!

Anonymous said...

"For the Bible Tells Me So" is an excellent movie. I thoroughly enjoyed it. As a straight male, it felt very good to be affirmed in my own beliefs and support for those I love who were differently blessed to find partners of the same gender.

I would love to hear your thoughts on the film in your blog, especially in relation to your conversation on the sermon that convicted you this past week. You are not alone in your struggles, and I hope that you continue to wrestle with what God is calling you to in this place.