Testamony of an ex-Catholic

My father was Cath and my mother converted a few yrs after they married. When I was born, she said "she couldn't get me to the church fast enough" to be baptized. I attended a parochial school through 7th grade receiving communion & confirmation. Honestly, at this point I thought 99% of the world was also Cath, all the ngbhrs seemed to go to our church. I had only once been to a different denominational church (for a wedding). At 14, my mother allowed me to visit a friend's church (Baptist), my reaction - "hmm, well nice people but very odd". Of course, I attended Mass first. Anyway, I attended the RCC regularly no matter where I was even through my teens, sometimes bringing friends w/me who I'd partied with just the night before. Always, I obeyed the 10 Commandments, I believed as long as I did that I was going to make it to heaven.

When 19, my attendance became sporadic and I had long since stopped going to confession -- this continued for several yrs. However, at 23 and expecting my 1st child I began to experience a spiritual hunger...I began going to church each Sun again. When Christmas came that year, I realized for the first time in my life that Mary's baby Jesus was a sacrificial gift. I continued attending Masses after my son was born but often felt very lonely there. My husband would occasionally attend with me...he was not raised Cath although his father was. Through these years, I can see in hindsight many seeds the Lord planted: a sister who gave me the book Joni, the ngbhr who I'd inadvertently interrupted while studying her Bible and the only bookstore in town was Christian and so the books I'd bought about babycare & childrearing had that perspective, a 700 Club show I watched in the middle of the night while I nursed my baby (yes, I prayed one of those prayers in tears w/Pat Robertson but my growth was slow)...

When my son was still under a year, I went to visit some family for an extended visit and while there decided to take turns going to my sister's and mother's churches. When I attended my sis's church, I was so amazed. Never before had I seen JOYFUL people at church and they were YOUNG, like me. I really related to this and was so impressed when I also attended a women's Bible Study with my sis. I could not get over how nice and decent these people were and was very struck at how they actually read the Bible, practiced its precepts and prayed...aloud...for one another...and just everyday life events -- a new concept for me, wow!

I went back home & continued at the Cath church while occasionally visiting churches of other denominations. This went on for several yrs till I was expecting a 2nd child. The spiritual hunger kicked in again and I knew there had to be a church out there for me and finally I found one that I felt comfortable in. Through attending a Bible study on Proverbs & Parables I came to know Jesus more and more through His word. Not long before this, a friend I had made in TX had sent me The Living Bible translation (ah, food for a hungry heart). I used this through the study and read it all the way through using a 1-yr plan. And one day, during the study, it just clicked... It was like the verse that says "he who has ears to hear, let him hear". I felt my ears had been opened and all of a sudden, for the first time I realized that God had done this for me. Somehow it became quite personal and the realization reached to the very depths of my soul and I appreciated the gift of Jesus, my Savior, more fully.

That about sums it up, after several yrs I no longer felt I was growing in this particular church (God bless them for the role they played in my spiritual life) and have now been in a reformed church for the last 11 yrs. I am "confident [in] this, that He who began a good work in [me] will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Phil. 1:6

My experience may be different than others as I did not leave the Cath church because of doctrine/theological issues that did not match up with Scripture. I discovered these discrepancies a little while later; they did prevent me from returning to it. Thanks for giving me the chance to share and reading through this.

He that lives in hope danceth without musick. ~George Herbert