Growing up Lutheran

I have no memory of my father ever attending a church service other than for a wedding or a funeral. I have no doubt the love my father had for God. I can look back now and clearly see the goodness of God working through my father.  He required that his children have a religious upbringing and the family church was Lutheran. 

I was baptized July 19^th, 1970 by Reverend Mueller at the Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Harvard, Illinois. My godmother was my cousin, Sandy Knull and my godfather was my cousin Mickey Vest. My soul was indelibly marked as a child of God and I was firmly set upon the road to Damascus where I have wondered aimlessly for the past forty-four years.

My “official” religious training started when I was three years old. I was enrolled in the Sunday school program at Trinity and never missed a week. I went two weeks a year for vacation bible school and added Wednesday nights when I got to confirmation age. Davey and Goliath will always hold a special place in my heart.

                                                       

Confirmation years were tough to say the least. My parents had separated and then divorced. My mother listed her religion as Buddhist although I think she cherry picked what she believed from multiple religions.  The intellectual side of my brain was warring with the creative genius side of my brain which resulted with me being one of the weird kids. The church became a sanctuary where I could escape a strained home life as well as the slings and arrows hurled by my normal peers.

On confirmation day we went from being children of God to adult members of the church. Mid-week school and vacation bible school became memories of our youth. We were now expected to actively participate in the adult service and were no longer allowed in the children’s classes. I missed the intimate instruction and really didn’t care for the service. My church life plummeted faster than a rock thrown down a well. Now an adult, church attendance was left up to me and I chose not to darken the doorstep of any church for a good eight years.

I had pitched my tent in a nice grassy spot along the road and had decided to settle. God had other ideas.