My family has gone to church off and on my entire life. Most of the time, it was the same church. Chestnut Ridge Baptist Church off of 57 and Chestnut Ridge Rd.
I remember being a kid and going down into the basement for Sunday school, always getting to do new fun things that I didn’t get to do at home. Afterwards we would go upstairs for the main sermon which includes talking from the pastor, singing and worship with the group and a prayer. I participated in summer activities at the church with other kids. There are only a few periods in my life that I went regularly, but I did go back through multiple periods of my life. I gave Celebrate Recovery a try when I knew traditional recovery wasn’t working.
When I was a kid, I remember my grandma letting me ask the pastor a few questions on the way out of church one Sunday. I was paying attention, but there were some things I couldn’t work through logically in my head. I heard A.D. stands for after death of Christ. One of the questions I had was “I see we have B.C. and A.D. and the way we measure history goes from 1 B.C. to 1 A.D. – what happened to the thirty years Jesus was alive walking the planet, and why isn’t that accounted for in history? I know now A.D. stands for Anno Domini – Year of our Lord – and is when Jesus was born. I wish the pastor had this graphic to show me when I asked.

I had asked a few other questions that I don’t remember specifically off the top of my head.
I decided at 12 years old that I would accept Jesus into my heart. I was baptized in front of the entire church during a Sunday service. When I turned 18 the church gave me a letter that I knew was coming since I was baptized at 12 years old. I didn’t know exactly what to expect but the general feeling was it had something to help me out as an adult going into the world. I was excited when I opened it, having waited 6 years. My mom had the envelope from the church. As I opened it and saw what it was, my heart dropped. It was a Barnum & Bailey’s ticket to see a show. They happened to have stopped doing shows at the time I opened the ticket.
I moved out at 17 and was living with a friend from high school. I know my mom hated me with a passion. Thats why I left. Something inside me tells me that it wasn’t supposed to be an expired ticket the church gave me.