I was moved to write this story in an effort to educate people about God, His laws and how it caused me to separate myself from a religion I practiced for nearly 40 years. I also hope to inspire others to gain an interest and perhaps, as I have obt...
I nearly died when I was born. My mother told me I tried to jump rope before I was born. I had the umbilical cord wrapped around my head. I was a "blue" baby. I had to stay in the hospital for some time on oxygen until I could go home.
My family lived in southwestern New York. My parents, bless their memory, were non-church goers. My paternal grandmother Violet, bless her memory, was the religious center of the family. Grandma Violet's "policy" for her grandchildren was that they had to be potty trained before they could come and stay the weekend with her and go to church.
As the story goes, I was about 3 years old and was very stubborn about this issue. That was until a neighbor girl decided to sit on my potty chair! It is true, girls can get guys to do just about anything. And so it was, I was now qualified to spend the weekend with Grandma. She fixed me up with some nice Sunday duds and I looked pretty cute, if I do say so myself.
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Figure 1 Me at Age 3
My grandmother, at that time, attended a local Assembly of God church. I attended there off and on until my teenage years. My family also had a hunting cabin in Pennsylvania, which I would spend time with my parents on some weekends. I had faith in God, but wrestled with prayer as it was hard for me to imagine what God was and what perhaps He looked like. I struggled to figure out if God really heard my prayers and cared about me. Nonetheless I was fairly consistent in praying morning and evening. I tried to be consistent in reading the Bible, but was much less successful in this effort, but I did work on it periodically.
