Visiting My Family This Weekend

Happy Labor Day 2017!

This past Saturday I spent time with my family members, many of whom I hadn't seen for many years. For the most part, we had a great time together and I just wanted to share about it. What I'm sharing here is about people who never were a part of any GCx Church but I feel like what I experienced from them were some very valuable observations about moving on (and not moving on) from dangerous religious groups.

I saw my cousin Susan for the first time in many years. I didn't even recognize her at first. The young girl I remember is now a grown woman with grandkids. But what amazed me about her was that she apparently has completely thrown off the legalistic constraints of the Church we attended. That place was very much caught up in the appearance of women. If you were a saved, spirit-filled Christian woman, you didn't wear jewelry, makeup or pants- only skirts or dresses. And Church members, male or female, were not supposed to drink. I became involved with that Church when i was in high school and stayed there for six years (then joined GCx) but because Susan's dad was a minister there, she grew up in it and was still there when I left that place. Anyway, When I saw Susan, she looked beautiful, wearing her jewelry and pants! And she drank wine at the family dinner! I was so glad to see that she had thrown off all of the legalistic, ridiculous constraints that Church tried to place on her life. It's so great when anyone comes out of a bad Church and can be free to live their life.

Also at the gathering, I saw my brother. Unfortunately, his case is much different. I think he was only at the Church for about 12 years. At this point, he's been gone longer than he stayed there. But he has worn me and all of my family members out talking about what that Church did to him. He simply can't get over it. And it doesn't help that he's a conspiracy theorist who can't accept the truth that's right in front of him.

I just wanted to share these stories because I know that some people here have dealt with some very difficult, abusive, controlling experiences from GCx. As a result, some people have had a difficult time going to Church anymore, anywhere. For those of you who have been able to move on and put the past behind you, I say thank God for your healing and your recovery. You are in a truly wonderful place to not be held down by a bunch of rules and standards decided on by people who couldn't see- and maybe they still can't- how big God's heart of acceptance can be for who you are and where you are right now. And for those who can't move on- even if the hurt happened years ago-, I don't know what happened to you that wounded you so badly but I hope and pray that you can seek out counseling to help you finally let go of whatever it is that happened. You deserve to be free. God bless you!